Okavango Delta finally listed as a World Heritage Site

The 38th Session of the World Heritage Committee, which has been meeting in Doha this week, has agreed to the Inscription of the Okavango Delta as a Natural World Heritage Site. Below is the text of the Minister of Environement, Wildlife and Tourism, the Honourable Tshedkedi Khama’s, acceptance speech following the announcement.

"On behalf of His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Botswana Lt. Gen. SKI Khama, the government and the people of Botswana, I am happy to accept the status bestowed on our Okavango Delta, Natural World Heritage Site. This is evidence that the international community recognizes and acknowledges the natural outstanding universal values of the Okavango Delta.

"...Let me assure you that the government of Botswana is committed to the protection of all its natural and cultural heritage, regardless of whether it is a World Heritage site or not. We therefore assure the committee that we will continue to work with relevant stakeholders, most importantly the communities living in and around the Okavango Delta, and the riparian States of Angola and Namibia to maintain the integrity of the Okavango Delta.

"We are very honored to have the Okavango Delta as one of the World Heritage sites after Tsodilo Hills which was inscribed in 2001. The success of this nomination is attributed to the support of the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), the World Heritage Centre, IUCN, ICOMOS, through the Nomination Training Programme for Africa dedicated to the training of heritage professionals in Africa in the development of nomination dossiers with the aim of increasing the number of World Heritage Sites in Africa in the World Heritage List.

Source: Okavango Delta Listed as a Natural World Heritage Site - Okavango Research Insitute (21 June 2014)
Botswana’s Okavango Delta becomes World Heritage Site - StarAfrica (21 June 2014)

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Okavango

Kalahari Skies 12 day Botswana Special

A very special trip, real adventure is the new: 'Botswana all–in-one'.

12 day Safari – Highlights: Nxai Pan - Makgadigadi National Park | Boteti River │ Central Kalahari Game Reserve │ Moremi Game Reserve │ Bushman Experience │ Mokoro trip │ Authentic Village tour

Day 1 - Nxai Pan NP (camping)

Your guide will meet you at Maun Airport on your arrival. After a short briefing by your guide we head for Nxai Pan NP where we still have time for a sunset drive. During dinner you’ll have a complete explanation by your guide about the rest of the tour and you can ask all you want to know about the country and its people.

Day 2 - Nxai Pan NP (camping)

We make a morning drive in the area where we can meet the Kalahari species: black-maned lions, suricate, honey badger, springbok, oryx,…. Back to camp for lunch and late afternoon we visit the salt pans and make a game drive in the vicinity of our camp. Dinner at the campfire.

Day 3 - Meno a Kwena Lodge

We head South to our destination: a lodge on the edge of the Boteti river overlooking the Makgadigadi NP. We have a interesting walk with Bushmen to learn about their survival skills and culture and who wants can join on a night drive to spot the nocturnal animals.

Day 4, 5 & 6 - Central Kalahari Game Reserve (camping)

We make an early start with coffee/tea and a healthy snack before boarding our game viewing vehicle to head off to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Once inside the Park a game drive takes us to our camp for the night. Dinner is enjoyed around the campfire at our exclusive campsite. Days 5 & 6 are spent game viewing in and around thewell-known Deception Valley area where we have set up camp in the northern section of the Park.

Day 7 - Maun - guesthouse

We leave after a last short game-drive and arrive for lunch in Maun, the gateway to the Okavango delta. For those who want, a flight over the Okavango Delta can be organized at own expense. We book into our private guesthouse along the ThamalakaneRiver, splendid views and a superb sundown are enjoyed on the deck. Time to relax and shower before dinner.

Day 8 - Mokoro trip

We rise early and after a healthy breakfast we once more board our game viewing vehicle: Today we make a short drive to the edge of the Okavango delta where we go to explore the lagoons using dugouts (mokoros). We make a bushwalk on one of the islands and enjoy a picnic lunch. Once back in the village we take a walk to learn how the people live traditionally along the Okavango. We are back at our guesthouse late afternoon.

Day 9, 10 & 11 - Moremi Game Reserve (camping)

An interesting game drive takes us to Moremi, where we have set up our camp for the next 3 nights. The Moremi Game Reserve is the perfect area for large herds of elephants, zebra, wildebeest and giraffe families, not forgetting the many predators that follow them. Early morning and afternoon game drives are planned for the days with brunch and time to rest up and shower in between.

Day 12 - Moremi to Maun

After an early breakfast we game drive out of the Park. We will part from you at the airport for all further transfers to your chosen hotel, flight or other chosen destination in Maun.

Rack rate from 4 pax onwards: 3757 U$ pp all inclusive (except international flights, visa, travel and annulation insurance, personal expenses and optional activities). For a private safari with 2 pax Rack is 4970 U$ pp.

- All direct bookings confirmed before 28 February 2014 will enjoy a 5% discount for early booking

Zambezi Traveller Directory:
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An African love story

FAUSTO CARBONE

Anyone who has spent time with one of Africa’s most successful hunters, the painted or the Cape hunting dog, commonly known as the wild dog, will know its crafty hunting techniques and pure determination, which inevitably result in a successful hunt.

On the other side of the scale, weighing about half as much, is Africa’s toughest, bravest and most fearless mammal, the honey badger or ratel; a tough creature indeed that will stand its ground when attacked or provoked, irrespective of the size of the assailant.

So, when you get a determined attacker twice your weight with four times your numbers, the outcome should be easy to work out, right? Read on...

In a quiet area of the Selinda Concession, not far from Selinda Camp in Botswana, a pack of nine wild dog find a pair of honey badgers unusually walking around during the day.

The pack works quickly as a team, and it’s not long before the badgers are separated.

The attacks are relentless, coming from all sides. It’s only a matter of time before fatigue sets in. The female is the first to show the signs. As the attacks continue, the group surrounding the female are getting closer and closer with more bites successfully reaching the loose skin of the tiring badger.

All seems to be lost for the female as her last energy reserves are sapped out of her body. For the first time, as far as I can remember in my quarter of a century as a guide, I feel a sick feeling in my stomach at the thought that she will be killed and the male will be left without a partner. I don’t normally take sides during hunts, but this time I felt for the badgers.

I am getting ready to accept the inevitable when out of the pack where her partner is also fighting for his life, through the dust, noise and pungent smell, emerges the male - heading toward the other group where his partner was about to become his ex. Now he started fighting with that group of dogs while he still has his own attackers following him. There he was, in the middle of this ever decreasing arena, surrounded by nine dogs and an almost unresponsive partner.

With a burst of energy, he grabs his partner and drags her to the base of a nearby tree. Here at least he is protected on one side and can defend his companion.

The fight continues, and the female begins to regain her strength.

As unexpected as his previous act of bravery, the badger chose the right time to execute his final plan. At a slight lull in the fight, he grabbed the female by the scruff of her neck and dragged her toward and into a hidden hole in the ground. The dust finally settled, the canine sounds stopped and, although the badger’s stink still lingered in the air, the bird sounds could be heard once more. I felt relieved. If there ever was an animal award for bravery, this male deserves it!

ALL IMAGES FAUSTO CARBONE

More from the Zambezi Traveller:
Okavango Destination Profile

Patience reaps rewards

Leopard images by Tom Varley

Camping in the some of the best national parks in Botswana has great benefits. We woke up one morning on safari to find that there was a dead impala just a few metres from one of the tents. The tracks around the carcass were that of a leopard. Great excitement rushed through the camp, clients clambering for binoculars and cameras, urgent requests to track the leopard to find it…

Sometimes as a safari guide you have to be firm and advise clients clamouring for instant gratification of a leopard sighting that this is not the best thing to do. My instructions to the clients were clear: we go about our business as usual, checking on the carcass from time to time from a distance, letting the leopard get used to us. The next morning, there was great anticipation in the air as the carcass had been dragged a few metres from our campsite to the base of a large tree. Again, I had to calm the clients and dissuade them from getting too close to the kill. On the third morning, we looked for the carcass but it was not there. We looked up into the tree and there was the leopard finally having its meal. For the next 48 hours we had our own private sighting of a beautiful male leopard feeding on his kill as if we were not there.

Read more about the region in our destination guide:
Okavango

Read more articles from this issue:
Zambezi Traveller (Issue 14, Sept 2013)

Kalahari Skies Okavango and Chobe Green Season Special

Kalahari Skies – Okavango and Chobe – Green season special – 10% discount on all trips

Cheetah (Image credit: Kalahari Skies)

 

Take up this opportunity of a 10% discount on all trips with Kalahari Skies from December 2013 to end of March 2014 - a time when nature is at it’s most beautful, the parks are almost empty and all the top campsites are available. Contact us and quote 'Zambezi Traveller 10% discount offer'.

 

Wild dog (Image credit: Kalahari Skies)

 

Zambezi Traveller Directory:
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Read more from the Zambezi Traveller eNewsletter:
Zambezi Traveller eNewsletter (No5, Aug 2013)

Read more about the region in our destination guide:
Chobe
Okavango