Camping in the Okavango Delta

By a coincidence of geography and geology, Botswana has within its boundaries one of the world's great inland waterways, the Okavango Delta. The Okavango River drains water from the Angola highlands into a depression or trough which collects in a delta spreading over 10000 square kilometers. This is a happy accident because this area would otherwise be an arid desert like much of the surrounding area.

It is also a happy accident for all the wildlife, providing the life giving element of water and concentrating vast herds of game. All this happiness extends to the safari tourist who has the privilege and pleasure of seeing all these animals in a sublime and unique setting of water, islands, and savannah. For this safari visitor, there are many fantastic and luxurious camps to accommodate them. Abu, Vumbura and Eagle Island camps are synonymous with the best safari accommodation available.

There is another way of seeing the Okavango, perhaps a more natural way which is closer to nature and a greater wilderness experience; mobile camping has been established in this area for decades. The great advantage is that you have your own personal safari driver and ranger who will stop at any interesting observation point for watching game, or for a picnic or lunch or just to stretch your legs and at the end of the day, you will settle down to an already erected tented camp. You will there enjoy meals prepared by some of the best safari cooks in the industry. The variety of food which these cooks prepare in a pit oven is truly amazing. Slumming it, you are certainly not. Sleeping in nature on a comfortable bed and mattress with the night stars and animals for company, you will awake with a camp servant bringing you fresh, warm towels and water. On one memorable occasion, our own Nicky Searle found she couldn't get to sleep as she was too excited by the noise of an elephant with a rumbling stomach who had settled by her tent.

This is the stuff of real safaris. The bonus for me was traveling by mokoro (dug out canoes) through an arm of the waterways and watching the game drink peacefully and in harmony with nature. Many people yearn for adventure yet in our busy urban lives do not have the skills or capacity to do their own camping safari. For them and for many others who just simply want an unhurried and natural safari experience, mobile camping is the answer.

Camping in the Okavango Delta