Okavango Delta Panhandle: Everything To Know

The panhandle is the top part of the Okavango Delta, before it starts to fan out. When exploring this side of the Delta, one can combine it with trips to Tsodilo Hills or even Drotsky’s Caves. The Tsodilo Hills offer about 400 sights of well-preserved rock paintings as well as beautiful scenery. The Western Panhandle is also one of the few places where one can still do fishing. The birdlife is spectacular.

The panhandle is a minor fault line along which the Okavango River flows before emptying into the Delta. During the winter months between May and July, the annual floodwater enters Botswana and Namibia and travels down the Panhandle to the Okavango marshes.

The Panhandle provides tourists with a less expensive option for game viewing in the Okavango Delta, while still providing African wilderness at its purest. Visitors can view game exploring the surrounding rivers and floodplains on a mokoro. Game is spotted in various, interesting environments such as lagoons, palm islands and the drier mainland.

Visitors can partake in the area’s most popular activities, fishing for tiger fish and bream, and birding. Bird life is impressive throughout the year and guests may spot Pel’s Fishing Owl, African Skimmer, Slaty Egret, Whitebacked Night Heron, Wattled Crane and Western Branded Snake Eagle as well as numerous other species.

40km to the west of the panhandle, a rocky outcrop rises 400m above the dry Kalahari landscape. The Tsodilo Hills, a sacred San site, has been declared Botswana’s first world heritage site. The site boasts one of Africa’s richest collections of San rock art. There are over 3 500 individual paintings. This area is perfect for a picnic lunch among the hills. The Gcwihaba Hills and remote Aha range provide more activities for eager explorers.