Wildlife Guide to the Okavango Delta

If it's a sheer, unadulterated wildlife experience you're after then you're coming to the right place. The Okavango Delta is a vast freshwater oasis of lush vegetation in the middle of the Kalahari and home to hundreds of thousands of animals, let alone the herds that move in during the dry winter months (June to October).

Use our wildlife guide to the Okavango Delta to find out a bit more and what to expect.

Wildlife guide to the Okavango Delta: Okavango Delta areas

Shaped rather like a frying pan with its distinctive 'panhandle' atop a classic delta shape, the Okavango Delta has 2 distinct faces: the permanent swamps covering around 2 000 to 3 000 km² and - after the June/July floods - the seasonal swamps covering up to 10 000 km².

Not all the Okavango Delta is formally protected: the Moremi Game Reserve covers much of the eastern and central delta but many lodges are located in private concessions in the south, north and western delta. The advantage of these lodges is that they can offer night drives and go off-road, unlike lodges in the Moremi Game Reserve.

Wildlife is abundant in all areas of the Okavango Delta though game concentrations tend to be greater at the fringes of the Okavango Delta rather than in the deep water areas and the panhandle. Moremi is of course excellent for wildlife viewing but the concession areas can be as good.

Centrally located in the Okavango Delta is Chief's Island, by far the largest island in the Okavango Delta and home to a massive concentration of wildlife, particularly in the north.

Wildlife guide to the Okavango Delta: the Big 5

Four of the Big 5 are relatively easy to spot in the Okavango Delta. Elephants are absolutely everywhere, as are huge herds of buffalo and attendant prides of lion. The abundance of large trees, dense cover and large herds of antelope mean that the Okavango Delta is one of the best places in Africa to find leopard though you're unlikely to see rhino, despite the fact that they have recently been re-introduced onto Chief's Island.

Wildlife guide to the Okavango Delta: Predators

Welcome to Predator City: with tens of thousands of antelope and other prey items all the major predators are present in large numbers. Lions are commonly seen and often specialise in pulling down buffalo in titanic battles. Cheetah frequent the open grasslands and floodplains while leopard haunt the forest margins. You'll see spotted hyena and black-backed jackal everywhere, scavenging and sometimes hunting, and the Okavango Delta is arguably the best place in Africa to see the highly endangered wild dog.

And it's not much safer in the water as crocodiles lurk at every corner - and be sure to keep an eye out for other hunters such as pythons, large eagles and the famous Pel's Fishing-Owl.

Wildlife guide to the Okavango Delta: General Game

Expect to see just about every classic African mammal you can think of: giraffe, zebra, warthog and hippo are abundant and there are many species of antelope ranging from the ubiquitous impala and red lechwe to the extremely rare sitatunga, roan and sable antelopes. Large troops of baboon and vervet monkey are common though you'll need a little luck and probably a night drive to see rarities such as serval, civet, bush babies and aardvark.

Wildlife guide to the Okavango Delta: Birdlife

It doesn't take a genius to work out that the Okavango Delta is a major bird watching destination with a bird count of around 500 species. Part of the attraction is the mosaic of different habitats - open water, floodplains, grasslands, forest, savannah and reed beds - tightly packed together making for a varied and exciting bird list.

The amazing birdlife of the Okavango Delta can be viewed on game drives, bush walks, boat trips and canoe rides but best of all, amazing bird watching can be done from the comfort of your viewing deck or with a gentle stroll around camp.