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Travel guide
The Okavango Delta
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to October (flood and dry season)
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Welcome
The Okavango Delta, in a few days
A river that rises in the Angolan highlands dies in the Kalahari sands without ever reaching the sea, spreading into up to 15,000 square kilometres of channels, islands and floodplains. You travel it standing in a poled mokoro canoe, at eye level with water lilies and elephants.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The channels by mokoro · 2 to 3 hA flat-bottomed dugout, now moulded in fibreglass to spare the trees, poled from the stern along channels opened by hippos.
- Afternoon · Moremi Game Reserve · a full dayCreated in 1963 by the Batawana people to stop poaching; lagoons, mopane forest and floodplains with elephants, lions, leopards and wild dogs.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Cresta Riley's Hotel€110 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Khwai Community Area · a full dayRun by Khwai village on Moremi's north-east edge, where, unlike the reserve, off-road driving, night drives and guided walks are allowed.
- Afternoon · Chief's Island · several daysThe delta's largest island, about 70 kilometres long, once the Batawana chief's hunting ground; wildlife gathers here as the flood rises.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Thamalakane River Lodge€130 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · A guided bush walk · 2 to 3 hTwo to three hours on foot at dawn behind an armed guide and a tracker, reading fresh tracks, burrows and elephant-stripped bark.
- Afternoon · Maun and the Thamalakane River free · about 1 hThe gateway town strung along the Thamalakane, where donkeys cross the main road and light aircraft leave for the camps every morning.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Island Safari Lodge€100 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · A scenic flight over the delta · about 1 hForty-five minutes to an hour in a small Cessna from Maun, the only way to grasp the delta's fan of channels, islands and green floodplains.
- Afternoon · The Panhandle and Shakawe · several daysThe river's papyrus-lined corridor in the north-west, the least visited part of the delta and the best for birds, including the rare Pel's fishing owl.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Samochima Bush Camp€110 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Seswaa: beef or goat boiled for hours, then pounded into shreds, the national dish.
- Pap (bogobe): a stiff porridge of maize or sorghum, served with stews and seswaa.
- Game meat cooked on the braai, the southern African barbecue.
- Morogo: wild leafy greens, cooked down with onion and tomato.
- Rooibos tea, and the traditional sorghum beer.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Book camps and mokoro trips months in advance: capacity is small by design.
- Self-driving is only for experienced 4x4 drivers: sand tracks and deep water crossings are the norm.
- Never get out of the vehicle in wildlife areas unless your guide says so.
- Travel in the dry season if you can, and expect high prices: Botswana deliberately favours small numbers of visitors.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Setswana
| English | Setswana |
|---|---|
| Hello | Dumela |
| Thank you | Ke a leboga |
| Please | Tswee-tswee |
| Yes | Ee |
| No | Nnyaa |
| Excuse me | Intshwarele |
| Goodbye | Sala sentle |
| Do you speak English? | A o bua Sekgoa? |
| I don't understand | Ga ke utlwe |
| How much is it? | Ke bokae? |
| Where are the toilets? | Ntlwana e kae? |
| The bill, please | Tuelo, tswee-tswee |
| Help! | Thusa! |
| Cheers! | Pula! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyBotswana pula (BWP)
BudgetAbout €375 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to October (flood and dry season)
PlugD/G/M · 230V
Tap waterTreated in towns, but bottled or filtered is safer in the bush
TippingAround 10% in restaurants; guides and camp staff are tipped separately
Emergency997 / 999
EntryVisa-free for up to 90 days for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports. The passport must be valid six months beyond arrival, with three blank pages. Anyone travelling with a child must carry the child's full birth certificate.
HealthHepatitis A and typhoid are recommended. Malaria is present in the north, including the delta and Chobe, so prophylaxis is advised. Repellent is essential. A yellow fever certificate is required if you arrive from a country where it is present.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/okavango-delta
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.