Okavango Delta
(Redirected from Okavango Swamp)
Categories: River deltas | Wetlands | Geography of Botswana
The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Swamp), in Botswana, is the world's largest inland delta.
- "Where all this water goes is a mystery", Aurel Schultz, 1897
The area was once part of Lake Makgadikgadi, an ancient lake that dried up some 10,000 years ago. Today, the Okavango River has no outlet to the sea. Instead, it empties onto the sands of the Kalahari Desert, irrigating 15,000 km² of the desert. Each year some 11 billion cubic meters of water reach the delta. Some of this water reaches further south to create Lake Ngami.
The water entering the delta is unusually pure, due to the lack of industrialization along the Okavango River. Because the water does not have an outlet to the sea, significant quantities of salt have been precipitated beneath the islands as the water passes through the sand aquifer.
The waters of the Okavango Delta are subject to seasonal flooding, which begins about mid-summer in the north and six months later in the south. The water from the delta is evaporated relatively rapidly by the high temperatures, resulting in a cycle of cresting and dropping water in the south. Islands can disappear completely during the peak flood, then reappear at the end of the season.
Wildlife
The Okavango Delta is home to a prosperity of wildlife and attracts thousands of visitors a year. There are number of camps within the delta region that cater to these visitors.
The delta provides a seasonal habitat to about forty species of large mammal. Among these are the elephant, African buffalo, hippopotamus, red lechwe, tsessebe, Blue wildebeests, giraffe, Nile crocodile, lion, cheetah, leopard, and hyena. The delta also includes over 400 species of birds, including fish eagles, crested cranes, and sacred ibis.
The Namibian government presented plans to build a dam in the Caprivi region to regulate the water-flow. This could be the end for the rich wild and plantlife in the Delta.