Why This Botswana Safari Was Unlike Any Other
I’ve been travelling to Botswana on wildlife safaris for over twenty years. In all that time, I have never seen the Okavango Delta like this on any previous Botswana Safari.
This year, unprecedented floods have transformed the landscape. Channels that are often dry are now full, floodplains stretch as far as the eye can see, and the Delta feels more alive than I can ever remember. Botswana has endured years of drought, so witnessing this much water and seeing how dramatically the wildlife has responded has been nothing short of extraordinary.
The Okavango Delta: A Landscape Reborn
One of the things I love most about wildlife safaris at Botswana is that no two seasons are ever the same. This year, water has shaped everything.
We spent more time on boats than ever before, explored waterways that simply didn’t exist in previous years, and even found ourselves laughing as our vehicles became stuck in the mud more than once. The guiding teams handled every challenge with remarkable skill, often driving through water that reached the very top of the vehicles.
It was all part of the adventure.
People often talk about the Okavango as one of the world’s great inland deltas, yet in some years you can spend days there without seeing much water at all. This year, we embraced it completely.
In Botswana, “Pula” means rain. It’s also how people raise a toast. Over the past few weeks, that became our favourite word. “Pula, Pula.” Because there really was water everywhere.
Botswana Wildlife Adapts to a Changing Delta
The floods haven’t just changed the landscape. They’ve changed the wildlife too.
Across all three departures we saw healthy populations of lions, leopards, wild dogs, and cheetahs too (a species more commonly associated with the drier Kalahari region), reminding us why Botswana remains one of the best wildlife safari destinations in Africa.
This final trip was especially memorable. We saw leopards every single day.
Perhaps the most fascinating part, though, was watching predators adapt to this wetter world. Wild dogs swimming between islands. Lions confidently moving through deep water. Leopards crossing flooded channels.
I joked with one of our guides that we might soon have semi-aquatic cats! But beneath the humour was something genuinely remarkable. It was a privilege to witness wildlife responding so naturally to an entirely different landscape.
Luxury Camps in Botswana
This season, we stayed at Okavango Explorers Camp, Selinda Explorers Camp and Duba Explorers Camp, all part of the Great Plains collection.
I’ve travelled with Great Plains for more than a decade and continue to be impressed by how they evolve each year.
Of course, the accommodation is beautiful—everything you’d expect from a luxury safari. The food is exceptional. The hospitality is effortless. But what has always stood out to me is their commitment beyond tourism.
Their investment in conservation, local communities and protecting these wild places is exactly why I continue returning—and why Wilderness Uncut chooses to partner with them.
A Helicopter Safari Over the Okavango Delta
One experience that never grows old is seeing the Okavango from the air.
Each of our groups took to the skies by helicopter, revealing an entirely different perspective of the Delta. Channels weave through the landscape like veins, islands emerge from endless water, and the sheer scale of this UNESCO World Heritage Site suddenly becomes clear. It reminded me just how dynamic this ecosystem really is.
Why Now Is the Time to Visit Botswana
No one can say exactly what next year will bring. The Delta is shaped by rainfall, floodwaters arriving from Angola and the natural rhythms of an ecosystem that has always been in motion. But if this season is any indication, the years ahead promise to be incredibly exciting.
To witness the Okavango so full of life, so healthy, and so wonderfully wild has been a genuine privilege.
And I already can’t wait to return!
SARA JENNER
