Okavango Delta Botswana!!!

Happy New Year to everyone!

I have just returned from The Okavango Delta located in the north western corner of Botswana. The Okavango Delta is a combination of lagoons, channels and overgrown islands teaming with wildlife. It is largest inland delta in the world which is in the shape of an open hand as seen in the map to your right.

I stayed in three unique places that are all located within the Delta. Sandibe Safari Lodge, Xugana Island Lodge and Nxabega Safari Camp. Flying into the Delta was insane! From the four seated charter plane we could see herds of elephants playing in water holes, hippos swimming and several impala...it was unbelievable!

My first destination was at the Sandibe Safari Lodge. I stayed in 1 of the 8 beautiful cottages that they have. The cottages are tucked away in a forest full of wild palms and fig trees located right on one of the permanent channels of the Delta. At night I could here hippos grazing around the cottage and lions roaring from a distance...it was thrilling!

Tsobe was my game ranger at Sandibe, he was born and raised in Botswana. He is very educated about the wildlife and the land and made it a successful trip as we saw Lion, Leopard, Giraffe, Zebra, Wildebeest, Elephant, Vervet Monkeys....several birds. The list could go on and on!

The second place I stayed at Xugana Lodge is located north of Chief's Island on a separate island. The highlight at this lodge was seeing the hippo pools. They took us out on a 45 minute boat ride from the lodge to reach some of the best hippo pools in Africa! We spent about 10 minutes at each pool as you have to leave before the hippos get agitated. Hippos are the most dangerous animal and Africa, they are very territorial if they are bothered with a situation they will definitely come after you. We went to five different pools with at least 15 hippos in each pool, to be honest I felt a little on edge and nervous in this situation but of course it was totally worth it and I would definitely do it again!!!

The last place I stayed was at Nxabega Safari Camp which I absolutely loved! I stayed in an elevated canvas tent that seemed like living in a tree house. The most memorable moment at this lodge was when we followed a pride of lions hunt a full grown giraffe. It was about 6:30pm and a lightning storm was coming on. We watched the lioness chase the giraffe down as the other lions followed but they were unsuccessful in their hunt, again we were all amazed! Botswana is a magical place and I definitely plan on returning.

My mom arrived safely in Cape Town on January 2nd! Today we made a trip down to Simon's Town where the adorable African Peguins are located. We are looking forward to visitng the winelands and all along the eastern cape! Thanks for reading and I hope all is well!