Okavango Delta Safari Guide
A UNESCO World Heritage inland delta — the world's largest, where annual floods from Angola create a labyrinth of waterways in the Kalahari Desert supporting extraordinary wildlife.
Top Highlights
Best Time to Visit Okavango Delta
June to August when the annual flood peaks, creating the best conditions for water-based activities and concentrating game on islands. The dry season (September-October) offers exceptional land-based game viewing as water recedes. Green season (November-March) brings rain, birds, and lower prices.
Okavango Delta Safari Budget Guide
The Delta is Botswana's most expensive area. Luxury fly-in camps $800-3,000/night all-inclusive. Mid-range mobile safaris $400-700/day. Budget mokoro excursions from Maun start at $50-100/day for community-run day trips. Most visitors fly in and stay 2-3 nights.
Getting to Okavango Delta
Fly to Maun Airport, then bush plane to camp airstrips (20-40 minutes). There are no roads into the permanent Delta. Some eastern-fringe camps are accessible by 4x4 in the dry season. Helicopter transfers available at premium lodges.
The Okavango Delta is one of the planet's most remarkable ecosystems — a vast inland delta where 11 cubic kilometres of water from Angola's highlands spread across the Kalahari sand each year, creating a 22,000 square kilometre labyrinth of channels, lagoons, and islands that pulses with life.
The Delta's magic lies in its dual nature. Gliding silently through papyrus-lined channels in a mokoro, eye-level with water lilies, with a Pel's fishing owl hunting from an overhanging branch — this is a water experience unlike anything else in African safari. Yet step onto one of the Delta's wooded islands and you're in prime Big Five territory, tracking elephants, buffalo, and predators on foot or by vehicle.
The flood timing creates fascinating wildlife dynamics. As surrounding areas dry out from May onwards, the Delta's rising waters attract huge concentrations of game to its islands and floodplains. Lions swim between islands to hunt buffalo, wild dogs chase impala through shallow channels, and herds of red lechwe — an antelope uniquely adapted to swampland — splash through the shallows in their hundreds.
More Guides in Okavango Delta
Ready to Plan Your Okavango Delta Safari?
Connect with verified local safari specialists who know Okavango Delta intimately. Get personalized quotes and expert advice — completely free.