Day 1 – Okavango Delta
You will be Depart Maun Airport on a scheduled light aircraft flight to the Okavango Delta. On landing, you will be met and transfer to your safari accommodation and if time permits, enjoy an afternoon activity offered. (D)
Accommodation: Zarafa Camp
Zarafa Camp is an intimate, four tented suite camp located on the private 130,000 hectare Selinda Reserve in northern Botswana, an area linking the Okavango Delta and the Chobe/Savute corridors. Few camps rival the location of this little gem, which together with Duba Plains and Selinda Camps, is one of only three Relais & Chateaux properties in Botswana. Overlooking the crystal waters of Zibadianja Lagoon, the source of the famous Savute Channel, every area of camp has a magnificent view. The lagoon is also the water source for a tremendous population of wildlife – dry season sightings boast buffalo and elephant by the hundreds.
This exquisite camp is the brainchild of the founders of Great Plains Conservation, who pooled their collective experience on safari to create what they deemed to be the best and most environmentally innovative camp. Only recycled hardwoods and canvas were used in the construction and all the camp’s electricity comes from its solar farm while ‘bio gas’ plants recycle waste into usable cooking gas. Zarafa Camp has no equal in terms of its environmental credentials and its careful appointments.
Selinda Reserve, at the crossroads of some of northern Botswana’s most prolific wildlife areas, boasts staggering wildlife populations year-round. Home to some of the classic species, such as leopard, lion, elephant, buffalo, Red lechwe, zebra and giraffe, it is also a refuge for some of the more uncommon species such as African wild dog (which usually den each dry season near camp), cheetah, roan and sable. And for birders, it will not disappoint. Our nearby African skimmer colony is a highlight, as are the antics of the Black egret on the shores of Zibadianja Lagoon. From camp, hippos are visible in the Lagoon and elephant wander through regularly. Night noises will either lull you to sleep or wake you from a deep slumber. It is an exciting area, and guests are in the heart of a wilderness wonderland.
Day 2 – Okavango Delta
Enjoy morning and afternoon game activities. (BLD)
The Okavango Delta –
The Okavango Delta is a vast and varied ecosystem created as the Okavango River flows into the Kalahari desert in Botswana. Rich in wildlife, this World Heritage Site is a sanctuary to some of the world’s most endangered animals and birds.
The Okavango Delta is a unique pulsing wetland. More correctly an alluvial fan, the delta covers between 6 and 15 000 square kilometres of Kalahari Desert in northern Botswana and owes its existence to the Okavango (Kavango) River which flows from the Angolan highlands, across Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and into the harsh Kalahari Desert.
Each year the Okavango River discharges approximately 11 cubic kilometres (1.1 × 10¹³ litres) of water into the Okavango Delta. Most of this water is lost to transpiration by plants (60%) and by evaporation (36%) with only 2% percolating into the aquifer system with the remainder finally flowing into Lake Ngami.
The Okavango Delta is affected by seasonal flooding with flood water from Angola reaching the Delta between March and June, peaking in July. This peak coincides with Botswana’s dry season resulting in great migrations of plains game from the dry hinterland.
Generally flat, with a height variation of less than two meters across its area, dry land in the Okavango Delta is predominantly comprised of numerous small islands, formed when vegetation takes root on termite mounds, however larger islands exist with Chief’s Island, the largest, having been formed on a tectonic fault line.
The 1000th site to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2014, the Okavango Delta is an important wildlife area protected by both the Moremi Game Reserve, on its eastern edge, and the numerous wildlife concessions within Ngamiland.
An oasis in an otherwise dry environment the Okavango Delta is known for its superb wildlife, with large populations of mammals and excellent birding particularly in the breeding season.
Selinda Game Reserve –
A vast and picturesque wildlife sanctuary between the Okavango and Linyanti river water systems.
The Selinda reserve lies between the Okavango and Linyanti water systems, and it protects the Selinda Spillway which runs through the heart of this vast reserve – 130 000 hectares (1 350 square kilometres) of pristine wilderness. It is a beautiful environment – tall palm trees look onto open grasslands and riverine forest. In the dry season the game viewing is fantastic.
The reserve’s camps are situated in the east of the concession where game viewing is aided by the large expanses of open ground dotted with tree islands. The west of the reserve is dense leadwood and mopane forest. The Selinda Spillway (or Magwegquana) is a fascinating fossil channel which routes water between the Linyanti Swamps and the Okavango Delta. Often dry, it connected the two water lands again in 2009 after heavy floods.
Day 3 - End of your Zarafa Camp Safari
After breakfast, you will transfer to the local airstrip for your scheduled light aircraft flight to Maun and your onward arrangements. (B)