The Okavango Delta, in brief

We got to the Okavango Delta by way of Maun, Botswana, flying there from Jo'burg to meet up with our flight into the bush in a six-seater.  

The 40-minute flight - at no more than 3000 feet - gave us our first glimpse of this special place.  The Okavango is an inland delta (unlike the Mississippi or Nile, whose deltas finger out into oceans or lakes), formed when the Okavango River flows from its origins in Angola and spills into a flat, almost depressed grassland, forming a complex system of pools and temporary waterways.  It's one of the few such inland deltas in the world.

The flight also showed us the reality of the rainy season in the delta .. check out this local downpour.  We feared we were in for a drenching experience. 

Sure enough, after we landed at the dirt airstrip and were taken the Little Kwara camp, we went on our first "game drive"... in constant, soaking rain. 

Nonetheless, we had some good animal sightings, including these zebra.  Note the heavy rain. 

Little Kwara is operated by the Kwara company, which has the "concession" (a multi-year lease) from the Botswana government to operate in this reserve.  As the name suggests, it's a small camp, five fairly luxurious round, thatched-roof rondeles and a common building where we socialized and ate meals.  Twenty-two staff support 10 guests, including very good chefs, guides, mechanics, grounds-keepers, "tent ladies" who clean the rondeles, and managers.  Our room was VERY comfortable! 

Our days comprised four periods: a 4-hour  morning game drive that started around 6am, brunch and siesta from about 10:30 to 4, 4pm "tea" and the afternoon game drive, and dinner around 8pm. Our transport was a Toyota Land Cruiser, driven by our appointed guide, TJ, with our tracker, Gift, hanging over the front.  As you see, it was wet, very wet. 

And often, the Land Cruiser operated more like a Water Cruiser!  Sometimes we were motoring in such deep water, TJ had to open his door to let the water drain out. 

"Sundowner" was  a civilized affair, a break toward the end of the afternoon adventure, when Gift would make gin and tonics and we'd review the day's experiences.

And we saw some brilliant sunsets over the delta.