BOTSWANA PARKS: OKAVANGO DELTA

Fifteen thousand square kilometers of verdant wetlands and gently flowing waterways make up the glorious Okavango Delta. This is the world's largest inland delta and it contains 95% of all Botswana's surface water. From a bird's eye view it is shaped like a huge decorative tassle. The 872 mile Okavango River, between Sepupa and Gumare, branches into a myriad of winding waterways. The Moremi Game Reserve with its woods and floodplains is within the delta and Chobe National Park is just to the north east. This is a paradise for wildlife; animals, birds and people!

One of the most popular, and almost the only way to travel over the shallow waters, is by mokoro, the traditional dug-out canoe of this region. Originally made from hollowed out tree trunks they are now often made from other materials to protect the ecological balance here. A safari by mokoro is like no other. You will glide smoothly over the reflective water enraptured by the beauty all around you - waterbirds, waterlilies with birds daintily picking their way over the flat leaves, crocodile and hippo, the gentle splash of a leaping fish, a sight, perhaps, of the rare sitatunga, a web footed antelope - this is a wonderful experience. This is also a good place to see lechwe, a reddish colored antelope that lives in what are called swamps but bear no resemblance to the dank watery areas that we normally call swamps. The waters are also home to many fish and one of the best places for fishing is Shakawe, a village to the north of the delta on the banks of the Okavango where it flows fast. This is an excellent place for game fishing including the infamous tiger fish, which is well known for putting up a spirited fight.

About fifty kilometers west of Sepupa, just north of the delta, are the Tsodilo Hills, where four lonely hills rise from the arid western Kalahari. There are springs here and this was a sacred place for the tribes of the Kalahari. Painted on the rock face and the caves is some of the most important primitive art in Africa. The peripatetic tribes of the past have recorded scenes from their everyday life and religion and some of these scenes are said to have been painted thirty thousand years ago. This is a very important site, both historically and socially, and it is important to treat everything here with care and respect. However, this is not hard, there is something very special about these hills and all travelers treat them with reverence.