The Okavango Delta is enjoying its third consecutive year of high floods, the result of high rainfall over the Angolan heights in southern Angola. The Selinda spillway is full, as is the Savuti channel which is bringing water down to the Savuti Marshes. The volume of water is so great that Lake Ngami and the Boteti River are now full, both of which were dry. The Boteti River is the water course than drains the Delta and it is estimated that only 3% of the water that enters the Delta in the Okavango River runs out down its channel. The rest waters the area, creating a huge, lush floodplain rich in flora and fauna. It is estimated that the Delta contains over 50,000 islands in its vast network of lagoons, swamps and channels that covers over 15,000 square kilometres.
The higher floods are part of a cycle, with a peak in water levels expected in about 2020 when the levels will start dropping off once more. A result of the floods reaching the eastern areas of the Delta has been an increase in the animal and birdlife inhabiting the Boteti River area, a direct result of the increased flora.
These recent large floods and start of a higher rainfall era have come as welcome relief after the droughts of the ’80’s and ’90’s led to a sharp decline in wildlife numbers, especially affecting wildebeest, ostriches and giraffe. Poaching has also been blamed. A recent survey, carried out using digital cameras mounted on low flying Cessna planes, also noted a drop in kudu and warthogs of over 80%.
On a more positive note the elephant population, the largest of any country in the world, remained stable at c. 130,000 and the zebra population has grown. Research is now being done to establish whether these declines and increases are part of the natural cycle due to the prevailing weather and rainfall, or more directly attributable to the actions of man on the landscape.
The Okavango Delta remains one of the world’s finest areas in which to view African Wildlife in pristine and unique environments. Its inaccessibility means few visitors, its camps are remote, beautifully located with vast tracts of land to themselves. You can explore by vehicle, foot or boat – normally using the traditional wooden “mokoros” cared from a single trunk.
While getting around during the wet season can be disrupted by the floods, it is still a great time to visit on a Botswana safari holiday. The landscape is green and verdant, the birdlife prolific and the game-viewing excellent. It is also a unique African landscape, to see such a green, fertile area surrounded by some of the world most dry and barren deserts.
