Luxury Okavango Delta Safari – these are some of the most magical safaris possible!

Luxury Okavango Delta Safari with AfricanExplorations.com

Flying across the delta, looking at the bejewelled waterway beneath you – landing on an island and immediately seeing a myriad of wildlife around you and you could be forgiven for thinking you had just landed in paradise – because that is exactly what it is!

There are so many very beautiful camps offering all sorts of different experiences in the Delta – from lodges with gorgeous architecture to a private tented, simple tented camp to a private camp which has persian rugs in your room and silver candelabra on the dinner table for night dining – with your own private vehicle and guide – this is all that awaits you!

Luxury Okavango Delta Safari with AfricanExplorations.com

Then you can go out on an elephant-back safari for three or four days where you watch and become part of the herd or even go out with a zoologist one day for a couple of hours, walking with his herd of elephant. There is even amazing riding in the Okavango Delta too.

Combine this with the Kalahari Desert and you have the safari of a lifetime!

An Okavango Delta safari offers even  the most widely travelled safari traveller one  of the finest ways of exploring wildlife and its environs!  This jewel in the crown of Botswana  is fascinating because it consists of a  7000 square mile complex of waterways and wetlands seasonally fed by runoff from rains in the Angolan mountains,  forming one of the great ecological wonders of Africa. Apart from the Okavango Delta being an area of extreme beauty, it is incredible to visit during and after the floods. The floodplains are totally transformed: entirely under water during the floods (when mokoro or poled canoe travel comes into its own) then gradually drying out to plains.

Okavango Delta safari by Nicola Shepherd's AfricanExplorations.com

There are so many ways of exploring the Delta – on foot, by mekoro (a wooden, dug out canoe used by the river folk for centuries) – and a wonderful vessel to explore this pristine waterway with the heavy scent of waterlillies permeating the air. Watch the vibrant coloured undergrowth and nests of the carmine bee eater at eye level, or colourful reedfrogs at the end of a papyrus stalk – and all in silence! Perhaps catch a glimpse of the rare, shy and elusive Sitatunga antelope with its splayed hooves, specially adapted to walking on reeds.  In contrast, view wildlife in close proximity by vehicle, which is open and allows all the wonderful plant smells of wild sage to waft through the air. The wildlife is superb and this region includes the Moremi Game Reserve, renowned for its elephant population, cheetah, lion and – Africa’s most efficient predator – the African wild dog. Birdlife is quite superb – with approximately 450 species – which of course includes your wetland species and waders – with specials such as the white backed night heron and Pels Fishing owl and the more common African Jacana which walk on the lilly pads. Another beautiful sight is to see the otters frolicking in the water!

Okavango Delta safari by AfricanExplorations.com

In terms of where to stay, there is such a plethora of choice! From a private, camp complete with bedroll on your own private island with your private guide just for you, to lovely tented camps on a private mobile camping safari, to luxurious lodges which line the Delta. Then we can also offer walking and canoeing or mekoro safaris on the Delta itself. One of our favourite regions is the northern reaches of the Delta, more commonly known as the panhandle, where fishing for Tiger Fish is exceptional as well as having a great concentration of African Fish Eagles, with their haunting cry. One can also walk with Elephants in the Okavango Delta – one of the most wonderful and humbling experiences on earth!

Okavango Delta safaris from AfricanExplorations.com

An Okavango Delta safari takes place in one of the most beautiful places on this earth – somewhere every should visit at least once in their lifetime!

Well, of course the World Cup is coming up – love it or not (and we won’t be drawn on that one!) – but there are other reasons to visit southern Africa, whether entwined around the soccer or as a stand-alone safari; in either case an Okavango Delta Safari in Botswana will surpass all expectations.

Why the Delta and why that time of year? June/July is a wonderful time of year to go: the temperatures are “just right”, the grasses have died back so the gameviewing is excellent and the Delta, fed by the slow seepage of rainwaters falling in the Angolan highlands some months before, ought to be flooding so water levels should be good. It’s an excellent time of year for a Botswana luxury safari generally, but the Delta is the jewel.

A Luxury African Safari Camp - Okavango Delta Safari by AfricanExplorations.com

The accommodation in the Delta is lovely, ranging from highly luxurious, permanent, small (some very) and amiable tented camps to genuine mobile safaris, the latter being great fun and a “must” at some stage for every safari lover. All are superbly guided but there are some highlights that we will especially mention below.

Luxury African Safari - Mekoro Ride During an Okavango Delta Safari by AfricanExplorations.com

The Okavango Delta is excellent for activities ranging from game drives, mekoro trips (this is the minimal-draught poled canoe that is ubiquitous to the Delta), wonderful walking, boating or stand-alone houseboat trips, horse riding and special interest activities such as the superb and uncontrived elephant interaction that we love introducing our clients to.  Here, in company with Doug Groves who is one of Africa’s leading cognoscenti on elephant behavior, one can really get close to and just start to understand these huge, gentle and wonderful  mammals; this is another experience that is, honestly, unmissable.

Superb Uncontrived Elephant Interaction - Okavango Delta Safari by AfricanExplorations.com

The Delta is a short flight from the Kalahari Desert (and especially the  Makgadikgadi Pans) or, i f  one wishes to go to the ocean, Mozambique is an easy journey via Johannesburg.  Otherwise Botswana is bordered by South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe so there are plenty of “add on” options to an Okavango Delta Safari! Call us now on 01993 822443 or email at info@africanexplorations.com to discuss a uniquely tailored Botswana luxury safari.