The Okavango River/Panhandle and Tsodilo Hills area, Botswana's north-western region - places of interest that make them attractive to tourists

Photo: Mokoro trail through a water-lily field in the Okavango Delta

Botswana Country & Travel Info

Botswana - places of interest

Read about places of interest in Botswana for sightseeing, game viewing and other holiday activities - select a region to see details:

Central Kalahari - central Botswana

Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Gweta, Makgadikgadi Nat. Park, Nata, Nxai Pan National Park

Chobe National Park - north-eastern/-central Botswana

Chobe River, Kasane, Savuti Area

Ghanzi Area - western Botswana

Bushmen, Trans Kalahari Highway

Okavango Delta - north-central Botswana

Maun, Moremi Wildlife Reserve

Okavango River - north-western Botswana

Lake Ngami, Shakawe/Sepupa Area, Tsodilo Hills

Even though country & travel info concentrate on the regions in each country included in our Suggested Safari Itineraries, they usually apply to the remainder of that country too.

Where to stay in Botswana and around its neighbouring countries is listed under Recommended Accommodations. 

Unique Tours & Safaris, Namibia

Contact Heike by Email:
info@unique-tours-safaris.com

Web: www.unique-tours-safaris.com

P. O. Box 1301
Swakopmund/Namibia
Cell:  +264-(0)81-2122580
Tel/Fax: +264-(0)64-406313
NTB-Registration: TFA 00107

Complete safari proposals can be found under

Suggested Itineraries

Botswana - country & travel info - PLACES OF INTEREST

Okavango River

Quick links to info
on places of interest
in other
Botswana Regions:

Central Kalahari /
Chobe Nat. Park /

Ghanzi Area / Okavango Delta / Okavango River  

Botswana has got various administrative districts whose names are unfamiliar to foreign visitors. We therefore opted for presenting the information on places of interest sorted under the following much better known and distinctively different tourist regions of Botswana:

• Central Kalahari - central Botswana
   including some of Botswana's largest nature conservation parks: Central Kalahari
   Game Reserve, Gweta, Makgadikgadi Nat. Park, Nata, Nxai Pan National Park

• Chobe National Park - north-eastern/-central Botswana
   including the Chobe River & Kasane area in the north-east and the Savuti Marsh/
   Channel & Mababe Depression area in the northern centre of Botswana

• Ghanzi Area - western Botswana
   The first/last outpost of civilisation on the Trans Kalahari Highway when entering
   Botswana from/departing from Botswana to Namibia. Most prominent around
   Ghanzi are projects for the conservation of the Bushman culture, as numerous
   San tribes inhabit the game-rich fringes of the Kalahari for generations.

• Okavango Delta - north-central Botswana
   including Maun on the south-eastern edge of the Okavango Delta and the
   Moremi Wildlife Reserve comprising of the northern half of the delta.

• Okavango River - north-western Botswana
   Lake Ngami is actually not situated on the Okavango River but near the south-
   western tip of the Okavango Delta. Since only travellers to western Botswana
   will pass through the Lake Ngami area, it was listed under this topic.
   The Shakawe & Sepupa area is truly an Okavango River destination, which
   provides entirely different experiences of this great African river than its delta.
   The Tsodilo Hills are an important landmark to the San people and situated
   between the Okavango River and the Namibian border.

Okavango River

- Lake Ngami Area -

Okavango River

- Shakawe/
Sepupa Area  -

Lake Ngami

Lake Ngami is an endorheic lake situated between Ghanzi and Maun. It is seasonally filled by the Okavango River, via the Okavango Delta, as well as the Taughe. It is one of the fragmented remnants of the ancient Lake Makgadikgadi. Although the lake has shrunk dramatically since 1890, it remains an important habitat for birds and wildlife, especially in flood years. Many famous visitors described the lake like: David Livingstone in 1849 described it as a "shimmering lake, some 130 km long". Livingstone cultural notes about the people living in this area were that he noticed they had a story similar to that of the Tower of Babel, except that the builders' heads were "cracked by the fall of the scaffolding". Charles John Andersson and Frederick Thomas Green also visited the area in the early 1850s. Frederick Lugard led a British expedition to the lake in 1896. Also Arnold Weinholt Hodson passed through the area on his journey to Victoria Falls in 1906. Lake Ngami is purely a birding destination, though because visitors here are really very rare and there are no tracks or pathways designed for bird-watchers.

Okavango River, Panhandle of the Okavango Delta
The only vegetation types that can survive the fast-flowing waters of the panhandle are reeds and papyrus. The panhandle waters tend to become murky, because they carry loads of sediment and peaty debris. The reeds act as a filter, resulting in clear water in the lower reaches of the perennial swamp.
Lodges and camping sites can only be found on the western shores of the panhandle, mainly between the villages of Shakawe and Sepupa.

Shakawe is the first larger settlement when entering western Botswana via the Mohembo Border Post that is situated right on the southern edge of the Mahangu Game Reserve in Namibia's Kavango Region. Just north of Shakawe, the Okavango River splits into two major inter-connected channels creating a maize of lagoons and swamps between them. These channels are so wide that It is impossible to see the opposite banks of the river from any of the camping grounds or lodges even though all of them are located right on the water's edge.

Lodge accommodation in the Western Panhandle is less luxurious and less expensive than in the remainder of the Okavango Delta. Including this part of Botswana in a cross-border safari from Namibia therefore provides a cheaper option to experience the splendours of the Okavango Delta.

Spending a few days in the far north-western corner of Botswana also allows to explore some of the country's remotest locations and their sightseeing attractions:    
Tsodilo Hills - about 400 well-preserved Bushman rock paintings were discovered here, surrounded by beautiful scenery, interesting plants and sunsets that transform the scenery into dramatic hues of red, copper and gold. There is a unique sense of mystery that surrounds the Tsodilo Hills, which camping visitors in particular can experience when darkness falls. If you sit very quietly and allow your mind to wander, it is easy to imagine the sounds of crackling fires and soft murmuring voices, mingled with clicks and laughter, and you will momentarily become part of an era that transpired many thousand summers ago.
The Tsodilo Hills are situated about 53km south-west of Shakawe and about 390km north-west from Maun. They consist of four inselbergs situated in a buffer zone of 22km x 32km.

Guided 4x4 Excursions to the Tsodilo Hills are on offer from Drotsky's Cabins and some of the other lodges around Shakawe/Sepupa by prior arrangement.

Gcwihaba Caves - are situated in the Gcwihaba Hills. “Gcwihaba” means “the hyena’s lair” in the local San language. The caves are also sometimes called Drotsky’s Caves, referring to one of the early European visitors to the caves. There are few caves of this rank in southern Africa that are as remote and unexplored as the Gcwihaba Caves. In other caves one takes guided tours and there is ample artificial lighting to guide you along the way. At Gcwihaba, your only guide in the humid darkness is a thin sisal string on the ground which, as can be expected, disintegrates in places in the dark atmosphere. It is utterly scary to temporarily lose you life line. A visit to Gcwihaba Caves is thus an exhilarating experience - one that makes the adrenaline rush the minute you descend into unknown darkness. Not recommended for the faint of heart!
The caves are situated about 120km west of the village of Tsao as the crow flies, but by road it is 143km, if you travel via Xaka Pan. The caves are about half a kilometre long and between 1,3m and 13m high on the inside.
Gcwihaba Caves is one of the remotest destinations in Botswana. Take enough water for your whole stay. There is sometimes water available at Xai-Xai, but it is better to be completely self-sufficient and not to rely on other sources. The nearest fuel supply is at Ghanzi/Maun/Gumare, depending on which direction you come from.
 

The Gcwihaba Caves, Tsodilo Hills and the Western Okavango Panhandle can also be reached via Dobe, the Namibia/Botswana border post situated in the east of Tsumkwe and the Bushmanland area of Namibia's Otjozondjupa Region.
 

Continue with
Botswana Travel Info

or

read about places of interest in other parts of Botswana by using

the quick links above

or

return to the Country & Travel Info overview page to select reading material on a different country in Southern Africa.

Continue with
Erongo Region - Skeleton Coast & Swakopmund Area

or read about places of interest in other parts of Botswana by using

the quick links above.