Ancient winter-thorns & a desert oasis - From the Lower Zambezi to the Okavango Delta
Words and images by Andrew Danckwerts, from a recent safari to the Lower Zambezi and Okavango Delta
Private guide and co-owner of Odysseia goes back to a few of our favourite regions. With a brief stop in Victoria Falls, we have an even split of 4 nights in the Lower Zambezi National Park and 4 nights in the Okavango Delta. Walks in the famed winter-thorn(Faidherbia albida) forest, scenic helicopter flips(rides), lions on the hunt, civets acting strange and, of course, his favourite, mokoro safaris!
Not so long ago, I returned from a journey that reminded me exactly why I fell in love with guiding safaris — a trip that connected two of Africa’s most extraordinary wilderness areas: Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park and Botswana’s Okavango Delta. I joined five guests, new to Odysseia, on this adventure, and together we shared a safari filled with some pretty damn wild encounters, some proper quiet moments, and some experiences that, I reckon, none of us are likely to forget!
Our days in the Lower Zambezi, always, begin beneath the mega-canopy of the winter-thorn forest. I mean, where else would you want to start your morning?This is where the light comes to dance by dawn and by dusk. We set out each day either by vehicle or on foot, walking or driving quietly through a world shaped by elephants, big buffalo herds, hippo, lion, and leopard.
On foot, the bush tells its stories in detail — fresh elephant tracks pressed into the sand, buffalo trails weaving through the grass (observing thus grass from a healthy distance of course), the bark of baboon as they complain about our lack of invite into their cathedral. Our guide, Lawrence, at home in the forest made sure our senses came alive with an interesting and enthusiastic interpretation of what was happening around us.
A walking safari in the Lower Zambezi is quite unique, actually. It has the usual characteristics of a walk. There are no engines, no rush — only the slow rhythm of footsteps and the awareness that you are part of the wild now, maybe even, humorously, part of the food chain! It’s humbling and deeply grounding, that is for sure. But, in this ancient forest, it is not any-ol walking safari.
You see, as a walking safari guide myself, there are things that make walking in some regions far more pleasant than others. In the winter-thorn forest there is hardly any vegetation below the canopy which makes walking easy and allows us a site into faraway stories without having any interference. Elephant bulls tussle to our left as a herd crosses a stream far ahead of us. A hyena whoops somewhere to the right and an old bull hippo limps back to the Zambezi. Normally, ‘old bull hippo’ and walking safari in the same sentence makes my heart start to thump, but in this, almost, perfect walking habitat, encounters with large game, in-between the small and mighty of course, are always at a comfortable distance and can be enjoyed in peace and in the shade of a faidherbia of your choosing.
The video below was our final morning in Lower Zambezi and arguably the most intense encounter of the safari!
From Zambia, and after a lovely mid break sojourn through Victoria Falls (for another blog – gin, food, boat cruises and a falls walk was the gist) our journey carried us southwest-ish to Botswana’s Okavango Delta, one of the most iconic landscapes on the continent. Here, the earth softens into beach-like sand and a watery labyrinth like nothing on earth.
On arrival, I see a familiar face coming to great us as we disembark off the heli. It is bloody ol Simon Byron himself. One of the greatest guides of the delta, loves a good kweenie cocktail whilst frolicking in one of the croc-less(if there is such a thing) channel pools, is quite the hoot around the camp fire and an all around inspiration to both guests and guide. I have often said, i’d happily pay thousands of dollars a night to sleep on a mat in discomfort with a world class guide in a good area than waste it on five-star luxury with someone who’s not into the craft(guiding) as much. It is the most important part of any safari, in my humble opinion, and Simon made this statement true once again on this trip!
With Beagle Expeditions, we explored by mokoro, the traditional dugout canoes, now fibreglass/plastic to save the old trees they were once made from. The mokoro safari experience is slow, intimate, and utterly peaceful — a world of mirrored reflections, reed frogs clinging to papyrus stems, and the haunting call of fish eagles echoing across the floodplains. Simon’s crew adjure a ‘silent safari’ and refrain from all chit chat unless it is absolutely necessary or when they are communicating a path around a hippo, crocodile or passing elephant.
To move through the Okavango Delta by mokoro is to surrender to its pace. Each bend reveals something new — a herd of red lechwe bounding through shallow water, a jacana stepping delicately across lily pads, or simply the stillness of mirrored skies. There’s a meditative beauty to it, a reminder that sometimes the most profound moments in Africa are found in its silences.
And then came the flight — a helicopter scenic flight over the Okavango Delta that will stay with me forever, they always do. As the sun lifted over the floodplains, we took to the air with the doors off and the Delta unfolded beneath us in breathtaking scale. From above, the Okavango reveals itself as a living artwork — a vast mosaic of islands, channels, and shimmering pools, with elephants, hippos, and giraffes moving like brushstrokes across the landscape. It’s one thing to explore the Delta on foot or by mokoro; it’s another entirely to see its physiology from the sky. Those who have felt my pressure, when booking safaris into the delta, to book the heli safari, you will know of what I speak…
By the end of our safari, the laughter around the fire came easily, with an absolutely superb selection of wines by both Anabezi and Beagle Expeditions, the later supplying my favourite Okavango Gin too, and the wonderful and indulging company I was lucky enough to share that fire with, this was, actually, the case from the start!
For me, as a private guide, this safari was a perfect reflection of what I love most about guiding: the intimacy of a small, likeminded, group of people sharing spaces with wild things in some of Africa’s most wild places! From the golden-blue forests of the Lower Zambezi to the mirror-like floodplains of the Okavango, this journey was a celebration of Africa and its wildlife. Photographic or not, intense or tranquil, by air, by foot, by boat or mokoro. We connected with our beloved Africa in all the right ways…
Thank you to Aga, Mode, Wendy, Kale and Micheal for the cocmoradery and the wonderful memories!
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