Okavango Delta in Botswana is a Beautiful Site in Southern Africa!

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Okavango Delta is Rich by Nature!

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The Okavango River makes the beautiful Okavango Delta. It makes both life blooming and death dwelling in its seasonal floods in Botswana and the neighbouring countries it runs through to end thousand of miles in the heart of Botswana's Kalahari Desert, which spans also Namibia and South Africa.

Okavango Delta in Botswana

Lately, in May 5, 2010 the floods of the Okavango River forced the people in twenty villages in Botswana to evacuate their homes.

The floods affected also Namibia and they forced thousands of Windhoek to flee their homes. The river continues to rise every year.

The rains in summer in Benguela Highlands in east central Angola run into the Okavango River and the river runs to cross the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, then into Botswana where it spreads out through the vast Okavango Delta.

As the longest river system in southern Africa, it makes the largest inland delta and the largest wetland in the landlocked country, Botswana.

The delta expanded three times its size between June and August.

The water level rose in May was too early for the estimated period, which makes alerts that the results of the climate change could vary than what the environment experts has expected. Such unexpected results may end changing the unique ecosystem.

The floods of the Okavango River inspired the Bayei people, one of several tribes dwelling in the Okavango Delta, to use a poem to teach their children about the delta.

The inspired poem goes, "I am the river. My surface gives you life. Below is death."

However, the death below refers also to the crocodiles in the region as they are a threat to both, the people and the animals of the delta.

The Okavango River Delta in Botswana has the richest and beautiful nature in Africa. There are many beautiful sites in wonderful oasis in Botswana where beautiful and dangerous species live.

The Delta forms a labyrinth of lakes, lagoons and hidden channels covering an area of over 15,000 square kilometres, making it the largest inland delta in the world.

Okavango Delta is trapped by the parched Kalahari Desert and has no permanent outlet to the sea, and it is a magnet for wildlife, which is dependent on the delta and its regular floods.

Each summer starting from December in the north, and from May in the south, the waters of Okavango Delta flooded. Some Islands disappear completely because of the floods.

11 cubic kilometres of water reaches the Okavango Delta every year. The water is exceptionally clean because there are no crops grown in the way and no industry along the adjacent rivers.

Okavango River Basin Delta

The Okavango River has no basin to the sea. It ends into the sands of Kalahari Desert, irrigating 15,000 square kilometres of it. The water runs south to reach Lake Ngami. 90 million litres of water flow into the delta yearly.

Five ethnic groups, each with its own identity and language, live around the delta. These are Hambukushu, Dceriku, Wayeyi, Bugakhwe, and Ilanikhwe. The first three are Bantus and the late two are Bushmen.

The Hambukushu people of Botswana known as rainmakers of the Okavango have long experiences with the rains. They came from southern Zambia to live on the Okavango Delta.

The rainmakers work as chiefs and ruled their tribe in Zambia, Botswana and Namibia before the formation of the states in southern Africa.

They make the customs and tradition of the area one of the nostalgias in the world. Like many other places in the African continent, they have their rituals as magic and it is believed that rituals attract rain or stop it.

This is one of the world's richest areas in terms of wildlife and these ethnic groups share the land with countless species such as:

elephant, buffalo, hippopotamus, wildebeest, giraffe, lion, wild dog, antelope, zebra, blue wildebeest, cheetah, greater kudu, sable antelope, baboon and many more - including the crocodile.

There are also many kinds of birds including African fish eagle, the crested crane, the lilac-breasted roller, ostrich and sacred ibis.

Through some precipitations, it is expected that rainfall will decrease due to climate changes and the temperature in the region predicted to rise, so delta huge peat bogs might dry out.

This implies a risk that the peat will ignite and release huge amounts of greenhouse gases.

The tribes that live around the delta could be forced to find new homes elsewhere and resettle there.

To survive they will have to adjust their lifestyle, which would have a negative impact on the unique culture that exists among the tribes in the Okavango Delta.

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You can read more information about Okavango Delta and Botswana through the following sponsor.

Botswana: The Bradt Safari Guide, 3rd: Okavango Delta, Chobe, Northern Kalahari (Bradt Travel Guide Botswana)

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