Okavango Delta

Visiting

The mokoro is the reason to come. A poler stands at the back of the dugout and pushes you through the reed channels at water level, reading the hippo routes as he goes. Short trips of up to three hours leave Mboma Boat Station in Moremi, and full-day trips run from Maun.

Camps inside the delta mix mokoro outings with motorboat cruises and game drives, and at peak flood add night drives, walks and fishing. What each camp offers depends on its water, so ask before you book. The island camps are canvas tents, and hippos graze through them after dark.

If you drive yourself, Moremi's camps are unfenced and animals walk through them. The gates close at 18:30 from April to September and at 19:00 from October to March, and you must be back in camp by then. Ask at the gate about the bridges on the Third Bridge road, which can flood or wash out after heavy rain.

To see the shape of the delta, take a helicopter flight from Maun. The doors come off, the aircraft flies low over the channels and the floodplain, and late afternoon is a good hour to go. Do not expect the flood of the photographs in every month: from November to March the water is at its lowest, and the mokoro reaches far fewer channels.