Vegetation thwarts game viewing
MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff writer
Though it has been raining and the bush is beautifully covered in green, Botswana Tourism Board advices that it is not the best time for game viewing. Information Officer at Botswana Tourism Board, Ottom Maruping, told Mmegi that starting from October to April, there are few tourists coming into the country because it is hard for one to locate animals during this time.
"There are a lot of rains and there is water everywhere. Trees and grass are growing big and green, which makes it difficult to spot animals," he said. His advise is that winter is the best time for game viewing as animal life is concentrated along the flooded areas as the vegetation would have dried out.
However the best time for birding is during the rainy season (November to April) as the migrant bird populations will be returning and the plants will be green and flowering.
While tourists are still allowed to go to the delta during this time, Maruping said they will however struggle to see animals.
He added that the recent high temperatures have not affected the delta. "Even in dry seasons, the delta is not affected. This is because it receives water that flows from as far as Angola, and when it rains there, the delta will definitely receive water," he said.
According to the Okavango-delta.net website, the Okavango Delta is one of the world's largest inland water systems. It's headwaters start in Angola's western highlands, with numerous tributaries joining to form the Cubango river, which then flows through Namibia (called the Kavango), and finally enters Botswana, where it is called the Okavango.
The delta's floods are fed from the Angolan rains, which start in October and finish sometime in April. The floods only cross the border between Botswana and Namibia in December and will only reach the bottom end of the delta in Maun in July, taking almost nine months from the source to the bottom.
