The Khwai area of the Okavango lies along the northern boundary of the Moremi Game Reserve. This is an unfenced boundary allowing wildlife to move freely between the woodlands in the wet season when water is plentiful and back to permanent rivers and lagoons in the dry season. The Khwai is a very beautiful area that is popular with those in the know and has the added advantage of being a private concession which means the ability to do walking safaris and night drives.
Due to the varying habitats found throughout Khwai, from riverine woodland to open savannah, from mopane scrub to leadwood thickets, there is an immense diversity of flora and fauna to be found here.
The dry season of July to October brings many elephants down to the river, often numbering in the hundreds, whilst buffalo are often found almost always being tracked by the many lions in the area. Due to the large numbers of impala found in Khwai, the leopard and wild dog populations is excellent, and rarely does a safari in the area not encounter at least one of these on a game-drive. Occasionally there are roan and sable antelope that come down through the mopane woodland towards the river, for a drink.
Khwai is an area that always conjures something up for anyone who visits, and being here on safari, with the ability to operate your own timetable with your private guide either by vehicle, day or night, or on foot, will give you an experience you will never forget.
Situated in the northwestern corner of Botswana, the Okavango Delta is a World Heritage Site as it is the largest inland delta in the world. The magnificent Okavango River sprawls out over the dry sands of the Kalahari Desert forming this flourishing waterlogged oasis featuring countless meandering waterways and crystal clear lagoons studded with water lilies, as well as fertile floodplains and reeded islands inhabited with abundant wildlife. The Okavango Delta stretches over an impressive15000 square kilometres. Visitors can enjoy a number of wonderful activities such as game viewing, fishing, bird watching or taking an authentic guided Mokoro excursion through this wetland paradise in a traditional dugout canoe. Commonly spotted animals include: lion, rhino, leopard, giraffe, hippos, elephants, crocodiles and countless species of bird.
Situated in the east of the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve ranks as one of the most beautiful reserves in Africa. In 2008, it was voted the ‘best game reserve in Africa’ by the prestigious African Travel and Tourism Association.
Moremi Game Reserve is the first reserve in Africa that was established by local residents. Concerned about the rapid depletion of wildlife in their ancestral lands – due to uncontrolled hunting and cattle encroachment – the Batawana people of Ngamiland, under the leadership of the deceased Chief Moremi III’s wife, Mrs. Moremi, took the bold initiative to proclaim Moremi a game reserve in 1963.
It is the only officially protected area of the Okavango Delta, and as such holds tremendous scientific, environmental and conservation importance, and undoubtedly, Moremi ranks as one of the most beautiful reserves in Africa, possibly in the world.
This makes for spectacular game viewing and bird watching, including all major naturally occurring herbivore and carnivore species in the region, and over 400 species of birds, many migratory and some endangered. Both Black and White Rhino have recently been re-introduced, now making the reserve a ‘Big Five’ destination.
Contained within an area of approximately 3,900 sq kms, here land and water meet to create an exceedingly picturesque preserve of floodplains – either seasonally or perennially wet, waterways, lagoons, pools, pans, grasslands and riparian, riverine and mopane forests. This terrain makes driving Moremi’s many loops and trails both delightful and, at times, totally inspiring.
