Okavango Delta Safari Travel Advice

For general information on travelling to Botswana, visit our Botswana travel advice page.

Top Travel Tips for the Okavango Delta

Water camps v land camps: make sure you know exactly what kind of camp you are planning to visit. Although most camps offer a range of activities, lodges located at permanent water sites offer boating and canoe safaris throughout the year whereas camps in seasonally flooded areas focus more on game drives and may not offer water activities during the low water season.

Moremi Game Reserve v Private Concessions: Moremi delivers incredible game viewing but the adjoining private concessions offer a similar wildlife experience with the bonus of night drives, guided nature walks, off-road driving for close-up sightings and far fewer visitors.

Bring your binoculars: the bird watching is fantastic in the Okavango Delta thanks to a mix of water and land habitats. Pel’s fishing-owl, white-backed night-heron and slaty egret are among the ‘mega-ticks.’

Get active: an Okavango Delta safari offers the widest range of guided activities in Botswana – enjoy day and night game drives, guided nature walks, motor boat trips and canoe safaris.

Always keep your camera handy: nearly all visitors to the Okavango Delta fly in to their accommodation on light aircraft from Maun, the Okavango Delta’s gateway town. Stunning views of the delta and bird’s eye game viewing begin the moment you take off.

Wrap up in winter: warm clothes are a must from May to August – visitors on early morning game drives and late afternoon boat trips can expect temperatures not much above freezing.

Be prepared for local visitors: accommodation in the Okavango Delta is unfenced and it’s not unusual for anything from elephants to monkeys to wander through the lodge grounds. Adhere to safety rules and remember that you are perfectly safe in your tent and lodge buildings but a guide or manager will accompany you to and from your tent if necessary.

Flights & Getting Around

Did you know you can book your flights through Go2Africa? For more information and frequently asked questions, please see our Flights section.

Maun International Airport: set at the edge of the Okavango Delta, Botswana’s busiest airport is served by flights from Johannesburg, Gaborone, Kasane (Chobe) and Windhoek. Less regular flights in peak season are available from Cape Town. You’ll transfer to light aircraft for the final leg into the delta and then usually a short 4X4 drive to the lodge.

Okavango Delta travel is varied: game drives are conducted in open-sided 4X4s but visitors to these diverse wetlands can expect excursions by motor boat and canoe as well as on foot. Transfers between camps are usually via light aircraft and less often via boat.