Nxabega is a 7,000 hectare private concession located on the edge of the Okavango Delta on the western border of the Moremi Game Reserve. Meaning “Place of the Giraffe” in the language of the Bayei (or River Bushmen), Nxabega is ideally positioned to explore the magnificence of the Okavango.
Image supplied courtesy of CC Africa
Nxabega offers abundant bird watching opportunities – the area is rich in wetland species such as African jacana, malachite kingfisher and openbilled stork. The fortunate will see a sight coveted by birders globally – Pel’s fishing owl, one of only three fishing owls in Africa, which might be spotted while cruising the Delta waterways by powerboat.
Larger herbivores in the area include elephant and buffalo. Lion prides, cheetah, leopard and African wild dog may be encountered. Herds of red lechwe favour the edges of floodplains, often feeding in the company of tsessebe. Hippos reside in deeper channels and lagoons. Honey badgers are observed during daylight hours. Roan and sable antelope favour taller grass in open woodlands while the elusive sitatunga keeps to dense papyrus beds. Families of dwarf and banded mongoose occupy large termite mounds. Noisy epauletted fruit bats sip nectar from baobab and sausage tree blooms and feast on ripe figs.
Moremi Game Reserve is the only proclaimed wildlife reserve in the Okavango Delta, covering 20 percent of the total area. A scenic area with diverse habitats, Moremi offers an excellent year-round wildlife experience. Characterised by a combination of floodplain and the lush indigenous forests of the delta and its islands, Moremi is rich in game and bird life.
Often described as the most beautiful wildlife reserve in Africa, Moremi enjoys a wide diversity of habitat and is well known for the height of the trees in the mopane tongue, which covers the central area. However, the mainland part forms only about thirty percent of the reserve and is in many ways untypical - the remaining area being part of the Okavango Delta. Birdlife is prolific and varied, ranging from water birds to shy forest dwellers. Elephants are numerous, particularly during the dry season, as well as a range of other wildlife species from buffalo, giraffe, lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, hyena, jackal and the full range of antelope, large and small, including the red lechwe. Wild dog, whose numbers are so rapidly dwindling elsewhere, are regularly sighted in the Moremi and have been subject to a project being run in the area since 1989 so these animals are often seen wearing collars placed on them by the researchers. It is claimed that the Moremi area contains about thirty percent of all living wild dog.
Moremi is best visited in the dry season and game viewing is at its peak from July to October, when seasonal pans dry up and the wildlife concentrates on the permanent water. The winter months of May to August can be very cold at night but pleasantly warm with clear blue skies during the day. From October until the rains break in late November or early December, the weather can be extremely hot - both day and night.
Chobe National Park - Botswana’s second largest Park - is arguably the country’s finest destination for game viewing. Famous for its impressive numbers of elephant, with the largest continuous elephant population on earth, Chobe also boasts one of the greatest concentrations of game on the African continent.
The Park is divided into four distinctly different eco-systems: Serondela with its lush plains and dense forests in the Chobe River area in the extreme north-east, the Savuti Marsh in the west, the Linyanti Swamps in the north-west and the hot dry hinterland in between.
The particularly game rich areas are the beautiful Chobe River and the Savuti Marsh area.
Often described as one of the best wildlife viewing areas in Africa today, the Park is home to over 100,000 elephants as well as giraffe, zebra, impala, tsessebe, roan, sable, wildebeest, kudu, buffalo, waterbuck, warthog and eland. Predators include lion, hyena, jackal, bat-eared fox and even cheetah and wild dog.
Unfortunately the Park can have a tendency to get crowded at peak times. Visitors looking for a more remote experience should consider the neighbouring private concessions, such as the Linyanti Wildlife Reserve or the Kwando or Selinda Concessions.
Described by the Kololo tribe, who lived in the area in the 1800’s, as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ or ‘the Smoke that Thunders’, the Victoria Falls - one of the seven natural wonders of the world – are a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, bordering Zimbabwe and Zambia.
From many kilometres away you can see the plume of spray rising into the air and hear the roar of the water, as the Zambezi River plummets over 100 metres down a huge chasm in a waterfall almost two kilometres wide. The wide basalt cliff, over which the Falls thunder, transforms the Zambezi from a wide placid river to a ferocious torrent cutting through a series of dramatic gorges.
For many years, Victoria Falls has captured the hearts, minds and adventurous spirits of people the world over. It was David Livingstone who, after that now famous entry in this diary - “scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight” - claimed it for the British crown and named it after his Queen.
The Falls and the surrounding rainforest have been preserved as a national park, ensuring that they remain virtually as they were when Livingstone first saw them in 1855. Although small in size, the unique nature sanctuary that overlooks the Falls is rich in wildlife, bird life and botanical glories and is a tranquil setting from which to view the cascades of water thundering over the cliff. The spray can be considerable, so protect your camera and take a raincoat.
The volume of water that flows over the Falls varies considerably. At its lowest, between late September and early November, as little as 20,000 cubic metres of water a minute flow into the gorge below. But when the rains are heavy, the flow increases swiftly and dramatically. The Falls are at their most spectacular between February and May, when more than 500,000 cubic metres of water a minute cascade over the edge.
In April and May, the peak of the flood season, the six falls - Devil’s Cataract, Main Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow Falls, Armchair Falls and the Eastern Cataract - form the largest curtain of falling water in the world. At this time of year, visibility from the Zimbabwean side is reduced due to the high level of spray. In the dry season, however, between September and November, almost no water plunges over the Rainbow and Armchair Falls or the Eastern Cataract on the Zambian side.
There are many different activities based around the Falls, including the ‘Flight of Angels’, a short flight over the Falls in a small plane, helicopter or microlight. White-water rafting is run from the ‘Boiling Pot’ downstream of the Falls, through a sequence of rapids. In addition to an adrenalin kick, rafting provides a great opportunity to see Verreaux’s eagle and the African fish eagle, taita falcon, augur buzzard and rock pratincoles. Also on offer are bungee jumps from the bridge that spans the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, boat trips, elephant rides and the popular gorge swing.
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Sample Botswana Itineraries
 Darkling Beetle Trek
Diving Beetle Expedition
Ground Beetle Tracker
Kheper's Adventures
Leaf Beetle Discovery
Scarab's Wilderness Journey
Scarab's Untamed Lands
Siamufumbula's Discovery
Stag Beetle Retreat
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