Okavango Delta, Botswana

The Okavango Delta in Botswana is one of the world’s great inland waterways. It is formed where the

Okavango River empties onto a basin in the Kalahari Desert. The delta is created from the rains that fill the Okavango River during the rainy season, between January and February. The waters arrives at the delta in March and rising to the peak months of July and August. Most of the water is lost to evaporation and transpiration instead of draining into the sea.

The Okavango delta is famous for its wide variety of wildlife. Species include elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, crocodile, lion, cheetah, rhinoceros and zebra. The majority of the estimated 200,000 large mammals in and around the delta are not year round residents. They leave with the summer rains and make their way back as winter approaches.

Water from the Okavango River is used to irrigate fields as it flows through Namibia’s narrow Caprivi
Strip toward Botswana. Namibia plans to expand agricultural production along the Okavango.