Central Okavango

Central Okavango Delta Safari Trips & Tours

Central Okavango

Live out your safari dreams in one of the Central Okavango’s private concessions.

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Central Okavango Delta Safari Trips & Tours

Where uber-stylish lodges offer a range of iconic experiences and exceptional wildlife is the cherry on top

The Okavango in a nutshell, the central Delta offers an all-singing, all-dancing safari experience you probably thought only existed in travel documentaries. A network of vast, private concessions peppered with papyrus-fringed waterways, vast floodplains, waterholes and beautiful forests, vehicle numbers are incredibly low – and animal numbers, incredibly high. We’ll let you do the maths, but it’s safe to say that wildlife sightings are frequent and fantastic whether you’re seeking out big cats, looking to tick off a lifer from your bird list, or simply having fun counting the elephants that lumber across the floodplains. To really make the most of the terrain and its inhabitants, most lodges offer a combination of land and water excursions allowing for game drives, walks, mokoro safaris and boating trips, and, with no restrictions on timings, night drives. Then there are the lodges and tented camps dotted sparingly around the concessions. These are some of the continent’s smartest safari camps, where exceptional style and luxury is as much of a given as a light footprint and top-notch sustainability credentials. Welcome to the Delta!

Things to do

What to do in Central Okavango

The safari superstar of Southern Africa, the Delta sets the standard for wildlife and activities, and the Central Okavango offers the best of it. Experiences are largely water- or land-based and the lodges tailor offerings according to their geography, whilst most offer both options. Seasonal mokoro safaris lead the way and are in their prime from April to October. Boat safaris are also possible but exploring at eye-level in the small, dugout mokoros is magical, taking you closer to the wildlife congregating on the banks and over 400 bird species - ‘lifers’ are often checked off along the way. On land, day and night game drives will have you flexing your binos. Four out of the Big Five are common (not rhino), as well as African painted dog, zebra, unusual antelope (roan and sable) and a menagerie of birds. For big cats, daytime sightings are fantastic, but head out at night to catch some of the real action when leopards and lions are on the hunt. Make time for a walking safari to get into the nitty gritty of the animal kingdom and admire the juicy scenery – at some camps, you could join rescued elephants for a stroll. If there’s any time left, there are options to add hot air balloon flights or horseback safaris to your itinerary.

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