Having set the course of the Okavango River to flow eastward across Africa, a capricious Mother Nature decided on a tectonic reshuffle, flooding the northwest corner of Botswana and creating the largest inland delta in the world.
The Okavango Delta is a boundless lattice of papyrus-lined channels that open into serene lagoons hopping with mammals and over 200 species of birds. On most safaris the game senses the rumbling of your 4-wheel-drive long before you catch sight of it, but the preferred mode of transport in the Okavango is by mokoro (dugout canoe) that allow you to glide silently up to your photogenic prey. The densest concentration of wildlife is found in the heart of the delta, protected by the Moremi Reserve.
In a country parched by the sands of the Kalahari Desert, waterways act as the main transport veins for wildlife, and nowhere more so than in the Chobe river valley. The National Park supports an estimated combined herd of 73,000 elephants and a spectacular array of smaller game. One of the parks most elusive mammals is the deceitfully titled White Rhino, which takes its name from the Afrikaans word weit, meaning wide-mouthed, rather than its colour - dark grey.
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