In the north of Botswana are two most iconic wildlife sites of the country, Chobe Park with its herds of elephants, and the beautiful waters of the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Famous for its elephant population, Chobe National Park, established in 1968, is one of Africa’s best safari destinations. In addition to the pachyderms (of which there are about 120,000 and growing), the park is rich in predators and more than 440 species of birds. Four areas can be visited: the Serondela area in the north-eastern end, characterised by plains and teak forests and bordered by the Chobe River, rich in elephants and buffaloes; the Savuti pond area, with large areas of savannah and grassland, where predators (lions, cheetahs, hyenas, etc.) are concentrated due to the high number of animals present. The Linyanti pond, on the border with Namibia’s Mamili Park, is characterised by lagoons and floodplains, rich in hippos, crocodiles, avifauna and the rare sitatunga antelopes. The hinterland between Linyanti and Savuti is an area of wooded plains where alkine antelopes (eland) abound.)
The Okavango Delta, covering over 18,000 square kilometres, is one of the world’s largest inland deltas (second only to the Niger). The Okavango River, also known as Cubango, a landlocked endoreic basin, originates in Angola and, after a journey of over 1,000 kilometres, discharges its 11 cubic kilometres of water annually directly into the Kalahari sands, forming an alluvial plain characterised by channels, lagoons and islands, with an exuberant fauna and flora. The ideal way to fully appreciate its landscapes is to climb aboard a mokoro, a wooden canoe (traditionally ebony or sausage tree), which can usually accommodate two people, propelled by arms with a ngashi, a long mahogany stick, ideal for navigating the shallow waters of the delta’s channels, spotting hippos, crocodiles and elephants.