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Okavango Delta, Botswana
Sometimes called a 'swamp', the
image such a word conjures does not do justice to the beauty of the
Okavango Delta, one of the world’s largest inland water systems.
Moving, mysterious, placid and beautiful, the Okavango morphs from
a wide and winding river called the Cubango with its headwaters in
Angola’s western highlands, which then flows through Namibia
where it is called the Kavango, until it finally enters Botswana,
where it is then called the Okavango. Millions
of years ago the Okavango used to flow into a large inland lake
called Lake Makgadikgadi (now Makgadikgadi Pans). However tectonic
activity and faulting interrupted the flow of the river causing
it to backup and form what is now the Okavango Delta. At the delta
the Okavango fans out into a series of tiny channels that creep
their way along a wall of papyrus reed, into an ever expanding network
of increasingly smaller passages. The channels link a series of
lagoons, islands, open grasslands and flooded plains in a wonderous
mosaic of land and water. This unique system of water ways supports
a vast array of animal and plant life that would have otherwise
been a dry Kalahari savanna. Palms and towering trees abound, throwing
their shade over crystal pools, forest glades and grassy knolls.
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overall length of the delta from the border to the Thamalakane River
is a little under 300kms, and the cone of the delta is approximately
200km from end to end. The delta varies in size depending on the local
rainfall and rainfall in Angola. The Angolan rains start in October
and finish in April, flooding the Cubango. The floods cross the border
between Botswana and Namibia in December, finally reaching the delta
in July, a nine month journey. The slow, meandering pace of the flood
is due to the lack of drop in elevation, which drops a little more
than 60 metres over a distance of 450 kilometres. The delta’s
water deadends in the Kalahari – via the Botetle river, with
over 95 per cent of the water eventually evaporating. At the driest
time of the year the flooded portion is only 6 000km2, and there is
geomorphological evidence to show that in times past the delta may
have been larger than 22 000 square kilometres.
As the water fills the delta,
wildlife starts to move back into the region. Rare species such
as crocodile, red lechwe, sitatunga, elephant, wild dogs, buffalo,
wattled crane can be seen, as well as more common mammals and bird
life. The best time for game viewing in the delta is during the
May-October period, as the animal life is concentrated along the
flooded areas. Conversely, the best time for viewing birdlife and
vegetation is during the rainy season (Nov.- April) as the migrant
bird populations are returning and the plants are flowering and
green. More than 350 bird species are to be found and guides at
any one of the dozen or more camps are very good at providing unparalleled
advice for serious bird watchers.
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