Okavango Delta
Water
A river that never reaches the sea.
The Okavango river flows from the highlands of Angola into the Kalahari desert of Botswana. There it spreads out into a maze of channels, islands and lagoons, and the water sinks into the sand or dries up in the sun.
The flood arrives in the middle of the dry season, months after the rain fell far away. Just when the land around is at its driest the delta turns green, and elephants, buffalo and lions come from all sides.
- when the flood is high
- 15,000 km²
- World Heritage since
- 2014
- place on the World Heritage list
- 1,000th
- 1
People travel through the delta in a mokoro, a narrow boat pushed along with a pole.
- 2
It was the thousandth place to be put on the World Heritage list.
- 3
Many of the islands began as termite mounds.
Question 1 of 2
Where does the water of the Okavango end up?
- Victoria FallsThe Smoke That Thunders, on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- SossusvleiRed sand dunes as high as skyscrapers, in the oldest desert in the world.
- Table MountainA flat-topped mountain watching over Cape Town.
- Congo RiverThe deepest river in the world, through the heart of Africa.
It is in Botswana.
Read about Botswana