The Flooded Desert

Deep in the Kalahari desert lies a verdant swamp. It’s a vast, watery jewel that transforms the surrounding desert. At its deepest point lies Beautiful Island – a small knoll of permanent dry land. It’s a major congregation point for the species which roam the northern Okavango, the heart of the ‘panhandle’. Many characters come and go, depending on the turn of the season and the level of the water.

The Okavango may be a verdant garden, but it draws all of Africa’s big-game players towards it, and that leads to incredible conflict in paradise. Even the biggest, the African elephant, is not excluded.

As the dry season begins in earnest, lions, leopards, crocodiles and hyenas need all their cunning to survive and hunt effectively here. The pickings aren’t easy, but as the water dries and prey species break cover to drink at the rapidly diminishing water holes, the advantage tilts towards the meat eaters. They have a small window of opportunity to profit before the rain washes the Delta clean again.