Okavango Delta Holidays

Among the lagoons, channels, woodlands and islands of the Okavango Delta, you will be blessed with some of the most incredible wildlife-spotting in Botswana. There are several different ways to experience the region. Among the most popular activities are the walking safaris where being on foot gives you a completely different perspective.

Motorboats take guests to one of the islands to embark on a hike with an armed ranger. As you cruise along the river you might spot hippos, crocodiles or occasionally the rare sitatunga antelope. The morning light on the papyrus plants and water lilies is always beautiful.

Once on the island, you follow the guide in single-file, stopping to see wildlife while learning about the medicinal properties of the plants. It's a good opportunity to see the smaller things that might have been overlooked on a game drive, like the foam nest frog, which produces a fascinating nest in the tree. You can learn so much from even a pile of dung; you can see what the baboons have been scratching at and what the dung beetles have been busy at.

Seeing big game on foot is always special too – it might be an elephant, a buffalo, a giraffe or even a lion. Occasionally you might be lucky enough to see a full pride. Being on foot gives you a completely different perspective of the size of these animals.

The highlight of the delta for many is heading out on a mokoro trip – you’re ‘poled’ through the shallow waterways in a traditional wooden canoe, gliding through reeds and waterlilies as you pass elephants, hippos, crocodiles, fish eagle birds and other wildlife. It’s a really peaceful way to see the channels. Watching the sun set over the water is one of the favourite sights in the delta.

Camp Okavango has a prime position in the delta and to fully experience its setting, from April to October and for an extra cost, you can sleep out on a deck in the middle of the bush. After a private afternoon activity, you will be driven to the sleep out deck where a candlelit dinner will be served.

It’s about a 10-minute drive from the lodge, in a really remote area, with a double bed and bathroom set up on a raised, stilted platform. The deck is totally open apart from mosquito nets, so expect to hear plenty of night sounds. You can see and hear plenty of wildlife passing by beneath you – hippos grazing on the grassy area around it, reminding you you’re in the Okavango Delta. You may also hear owls, elephants, and sometimes the lion’s roar. It can get cold in the night, so bring lots of warm layers, but there are hot water bottles in the bed to keep you warm, and because it’s the dry season, there aren’t many insects around. Sleeping under the stars in the middle of nowhere might not be for everyone, but for guests after a real adventure, it’s an amazing way to experience the bush. Your guide will leave you for the night, staying close by so they are on call if needed and you will also be given a radio. In the morning, your guide will arrive with tea and coffee.

One of the biggest draws is sleeping under the clear night sky; the stars are very bright here as there’s no light pollution, and you can often see satellites going over. In the morning there’s an amazing sunrise over the delta, as the deck faces the east.

People talk about Botswana as the last true wilderness – of course there are other places in the world that are equally remote, but there aren’t many other safari destinations that feel this wild and cut off. Experience the full remoteness with a helicopter flight over the Okavango Delta. Choose from 30, 45 and 60 minute flights and to make it a little more adventurous, you have the option of flying with the doors off. The unrestricted views are amazing for photography.

An early morning flight reveals the waking wildlife. With unhindered views you can marvel at mighty oxbow rivers and vast networks of channels and lagoons without the presence of mankind. Ask the pilot to fly low and you can virtually skim the fig canopies to get a closer look at the Okavango’s exquisite game. This could include huge crocodile basking on the sun-drenched banks, hippo wallowing in the shallows and spectacular birdlife from great white pelican to diverse species of long necked herons. You’ll often hear the call of a lion roar over the wetlands. Your pilot, a top safari guide will point out where a pride might be roaming or where to capture the best panoramic picture.

Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities don’t come around often. Horse riding in the Okavango Delta is one of those. From Eagle Island Lodge, it’s a ten-minute riveting heli-ride to the stables. The helicopter doors are completely removed so you can take in unrestricted views of the Okavango’s legendary wetlands. After savouring the intricate networks of channels and lagoons, you land and meet your well-groomed horses from glossy Arabians to home bred Botswana Warm Bloods.

The saddles are really comfortable and your new vantage point offers a whole new perspective of Botswana’s extraordinary wilderness. The wildlife here is undeterred by the presence of horses so you can tune into the unspoiled nature like an invisible bystander. Your guide, who’s happiest when in the saddle, will take you through the flooded grasslands and islets while regaling a story or two about the delta’s days gone by.

You may hear the haunting cry of a circling fish eagle or the light splash of long legged lechwe sprinting along the golden floodplains. You can cover great distance galloping at speed, water spraying from under drumming hooves. You might see grazing wildebeest, lumbering elephants trawling through the forest or large herds of zebra, a hazy vision of black and white shimmying through the grass. You may not even think about stopping for lunch but it’s a chance to feast and soak up the scenery which proves to be just as nourishing.

Discover one of the most remote UNESCO World Heritage Sites sleeping out in a camp in the Tsodilo Hills. This sacred area is a significant site for rock art. Available from Nxamaseri Island Lodge, you will depart by boat and then be driven by 4x4 to the sleep out camp. If you wish, for an extra cost, we can arrange a helicopter flight to the camp.

Set above the Kalahari Desert amongst Zambezi teak trees, you will be staying in a traditional Tsodilo pod. Inspired by the dwellings of the bushmen, they have been designed with minimum impact on the environment. Next to the pods is the bathroom with bush toilets and bucket showers.

On arrival, join an interpretive walk along the wilderness trails and watch the setting sun against Male Hill, the highest point in Botswana. As night draws in, your local guides will share stories of the bushmen, the significance of Tsodilo and its ancient rock art. Dinner is served around the fire. The following morning after breakfast there is time to explore the Tsodilo Hills on foot before returning to Nxamaseri Island Lodge.