The annual flooding of the Okavango Delta into the rippling sands of the Kalahari, disperses in a myriad of waterways and twinkling lagoons, creating a delicate web of life. Using interactive maps find out the best time to visit and our recommended accommodation options.
Request a Brochure
Africa and The Indian Ocean
The Chobe River is famous for its huge elephant herds
There is no doubt that the Okavango Delta is one of the best places in Africa for seeing incredible game in a unique environment. The wildlife of the Delta is plentiful, relaxed and superb for photography.
The Delta is one of the few places where you can see all of the Big Five: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. The term "Big Five" was originally used by big-game hunters who regarded these five as potentially the most dangerous of the animals they hunted.
The Linyanti Wetlands, to the North of the Delta, are known for huge herds of elephant and buffalo, particularly in the dry season, while all over the Delta you will find lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena and side-striped jackal.
Certain areas of the Delta also offer a good chance to see the rare African wild dog, while antelope are also prolific, with impala, zebra, wildebeest, kudu, and tsessebe easily sighted. The shy reedbuck inhabit the wetlands and the rare sitatunga can sometimes be spotted in the papyrus swamps. Giraffe, warthog and baboon are found everywhere.
The Delta is also renowned for its fantastic birdlife with little bee-eaters, malachite and giant kingfishers, slaty and black egrets, lesser and purple gallinules and wattled cranes in the watery areas. There are Meyer’s parrots, fierynecked nightjars and Hueglin’s robin; from secretary birds to swallowtailed bee-eaters, you won’t be disappointed.
The Delta and Linyanti areas are home to large numbers of lion prides each with their own fiercely protected territory. The Mombo pride are particularly famous and perhaps one of the largest prides in the Delta. Visitors will often see lions lazing in the sunshine on a game drive, however you may be lucky enough to see lions on the hunt on an evening drive during your time in the Delta. The roar of a lion echoing across the Delta is an unforgettable sound.
Leopard are one of the most elusive animals to spot and although populations are good in the Delta, sightings are never guaranteed. Good areas for leopard sightings include the Vumbura, Nxabega and Linyanti Concessions where you may be lucky enough to see a leopard stalking through the grasses or reclining in the branches of a tree.
The Delta and Linyanti areas are probably some of the best in Africa for seeing elephant herds. Smaller breeding herds of elephant are seen through the whole Delta and you will most certainly see these majestic animals on your safari. The Linyanti has spectucular large herds of elephant in the dry season making the Selinda, Savuti and Kwando Concessions particularly good areas for elephant enthusiasts. Stanleys and Baines Camps offer a fascinating elephant experience and the famous Abu Camp is the only place in the Delta to offer the unique experience of an elephant-back safari.
Buffalo herds are found throughout the Delta ranging from huge thousand strong herds to small groupings of the older bulls who have left the main herd. The herds migrate around the Delta grazing on the rich grasses and providing tempting pickings for the predators. One of the best areas to see this interaction is in the Duba Concession where the lion prides are known to hunt the mighty buffalo, no mean feat as a kick from a buffalo can be fatal for a lion. The best time to see the large herds is in the dry season.
Rhino sadly suffered from poaching in the seventies and eighties in the Okavango Delta however they have recently been reintroduced to the Delta with a special programme set up in the Mombo Concession on Chiefs Island. Chiefs Island is the only place that you may currently see rhino in the Delta but the success of this programme will hopefully see their reintroduction into other areas in the future.
The grass plains of the Delta are ideal habitat for the cheetah and this is a great place to try and spot these cats. One of the shyer cats, cheetah while having the benefit of speed often suffer from other predators and scavengers, such as lion and hyena, coming to steal their prey - these cats definitely do not always have the upper hand! The Vumbura, Kwando and Shinde Concessions are good areas for cheetah although sightings are not guaranteed.
The Delta and Linyanti are also home to the world’s most endangered carnivore - the African wild dog also known as the African hunting dog. Whilst once there were around half a million wild dogs in Africa, there are now less than 6,000 - their demise being mainly due to human overpopulation, habitat loss and hunting. Some of the best places to try and spot these rare predators are the Selinda, Linyanti, Vumbura and Chitabe concessions.