Page 29 - Discover Botswana 25th Edition - 2025

For me, the most iconic sound of the
Okavango is the call of the African
Fish Eagle. It is a cliché I know,
but all the honking of hippos,
chirring of Woodland Kingfishers,
even the majestic and sometimes
chilling roar of a lion cannot compare with the
instantaneous feeling of connection with the
wilderness I feel on hearing that call.
Much has been written about the Okavango,
Botswana’s wilderness gem in the heart of the
Kalahari. About its hydrology, wildlife, birdlife,
photographic opportunities and fragility in the
face of increased human presence and pressure.
It has been mapped, measured, quantified and
photographed from every angle, but please take
a moment to think about what it means to you.
From a spiritual perspective.
The Okavango is a contradiction on many
levels. It arises from a few small crystal-clear
lakes in the heart of Angola, barely 400 meters
above the alluvial fan we know as the Okavango
Delta in Botswana. So how does all this water
manage to flow into the Kalahari plateau, when
every other river in Southern Africa flows away
towards the oceans? Second, it flies in the face of
reason that the Okavango is at its highest water
levels in the middle of the dry season. And
finally, how is it that one of the largest rivers in
Southern Africa has managed to remain largely
unpopulated and largely unexploited by man
into the 21st century?
OKAVANGO