The Okavango Delta may be both a mirage and a miracle. It is also a metaphor. Just as the tiny minnow powers the barbel run in the river, which sustains the giants that stride through it, so do we all, in some way, enrich the big picture through playing our fleeting, responsible parts. I think back to what Joubert had advised about walking, which is equally true of conservation: looking down and looking up, small picture and big, now and in the future, one step at a time.
Suite at Duba Plains CampOwen Tozer
Crocodile skull at Nxamaseri Island LodgeOwen Tozer
Doing the delta
Condé Nast Traveller-recommended specialist Cherri Briggs, founder of Explore Inc, orchestrated our multifaceted, six-night trans-Okavango trip with signature deftness, recruiting guide Mike Hill of Endeavour Safaris, who has led trips in Botswana for more than three decades. We were dropped by bush plane at Nxamaseri Island Lodge, a modest but congenial fishing camp in the Okavango’s panhandle. On Itsatsa island, Hill set up a lovely mobile camp and bush kitchen. The next few nights we slept in high comfort, first by floating into Duba Concession and Duba Plains Camp, the delta’s only Relais & Châteaux lodging; then Helicopter Horizons whisked us to a wild island inside Jao Concession, where we embarked on a six-mile mokoro ride to Wilderness Jao, steered by its guides. The camp’s design is a feat of engineering and artistry, with five suites and two villas made from wood, glass and recycled material.
Mokoro canoe on the way to Wilderness JaoOwen Tozer
We flew onwards to Ker & Downey’s Kanana Camp on the Xudum River, which is simpler but full of soul – with warm service, expert guiding and small canvas tents porous to the bird and animal life. We walked more than eight miles to AndBeyond’s Xaranna Okavango Delta Camp and were greeted by a splashing breeding herd of elephants in the lagoon outside the main guest area. Our last stop, following another helicopter drop, was Machaba Safaris’ Kiri Camp, a new property in crisp modern-African style. It sits on floodplains known for lion and buffalo encounters, which made it the ideal terrain for a bicycle safari led by Natural Selection’s Kyle MacIntyre, a young and spirited pioneer of the pastime. A trans-Okavango trip can be done nearly all year, but the river is best traversed by boat and mokoro in June and July, when the floods fill the delta and temperatures are cooler. Walking safaris are possible anytime from April or May to December, depending on rainfall.
Explore Inc offers safaris through Botswana from about £1,275 per person, per night; exploreinc.com
