The Okavango Delta Travel Guide: Where to Go in Botswana

The Okavango Delta.

AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST/BOTSWANA/19.3000° S, 22.9000° E

Water arrives here months after the rain actually falls, creeping down from the Angolan highlands to flood fifteen thousand square kilometres of Kalahari sand. You sit in a fiberglass or wooden mokoro while a poler named Kelebone glides past papyrus reeds with nothing louder than the scrape of water lilies beneath the hull. Dry floodplains fold into palm islands, where lion prides track red lechwe across channels so clear you can count the barbel swimming beneath your boots.

Last updated 4 Sept 2026

What The Okavango Delta is about

Twelve ways to read the region. Pick a town below and you can turn any of these into a timed 1, 2 or 3 day plan.

CANOE EXPEDITIONS

Traditional dugouts called mekoro navigate the papyrus channels of Boro River and the quiet channels of the Jao Flats.

LOCAL COOKERY

Tswana staples rule camp fires, from slow-simmered beef seswaa pounded to shreds to bogobe porridge and pan-fried river bream.

BIRD WATCHING

Look for Pel's fishing owls in riverine river-jack figs and wattled cranes wading through shallow floodplains around Chief's Island.

WALKING SAFARIS

Tracking wild dogs and elephant herds on foot with armed guides across Moremi Game Reserve and the dry fringes of Khwai.

BASKET WEAVING

The Bayei and Hambukushu women in Gomare and Etsha weave palm-leaf baskets dyed with natural roots and bark.

NIGHT DRIVES

Concessions like Khwai Community Trust allow spotlights after dusk to seek out leopards, aardvarks, and small genets.

AERIAL SIGHTSEEING

Scenic flights in Cessna 206s out of Maun reveal the maze of hippo runs and elephant trails etching the floodplains.

INDIGENOUS CULTURE

Learn traditional river navigation and spearfishing techniques from Bayei polers along the fringes of the Panhandle.

BIG GAME TRACKING

Spot black-maned lions, cheetahs, and endangered African wild dogs roaming the grasslands of the Vumbura and Chitabe areas.

FISHING

Catch-and-release tigerfish and tilapia on fly rods in the deep waters of the Okavango Panhandle near Shakawe.

SCENIC BOAT CRUISES

Double-decker boat trips navigate the broad waterways of the Thamalakane River and the deep channels of Nxaraga Lagoon.

STARGAZING

Zero light pollution across remote islands lets you trace the Southern Cross and the Magellanic Clouds from camp fire rings.

Where to go in The Okavango Delta

The bases worth booking. Each one has its own field guide with 1, 2 and 3 day itineraries.

Maun