Travel to Okavango Mababe

incredible clustering of wildlife if there is water

At around 2935 square kilometres, The Mababe Concession is a private safari area, located on the eastern fringe of the Okavango Delta.

This area is comprised mostly of dry mopane forest, which is generally of little interest for safari.

However, at the heart of the area lies the Mababe Depression, a seasonal marshland into which the Khwai River flows and usually terminates.

The problem with this area is the unpredictability of the flood. In some years, the Khwai River does not flow sufficiently for any water to get this far west, in which case Mababe remains an arid wasteland, virtually devoid of wildlife.

In years that the Khwai River does flow sufficiently, the flood should arrive into Mababe quite late in the flood season, most likely Jul-Aug. This can cause a serious clustering of wildlife, especially if the marshes remain wet into the latter part of the dry season.

In a good year, the area can be pumping with animals all the way until the rains break in November, with large herds of buffaloes in particular, often with big prides of lions in tow.

It is also possible for the marshes to fill with rainwater during the Nov-Mar green season. If they remain wet whilst the thousands of smaller pans out in the surrounding forests dry out, then further clustering can occur here, especially around Mar-Apr.

The problem is that this is all so horribly unpredictable.

The best time to visit the Mababe area is rather different to other parts of the Okavango Delta, as noted above.

The Jul-Oct late flood season is hot and dry, but can be really good in Mababe if there is water.

The Mar-Apr late green season offers pleasantly cooler weather and can pump with wildlife if the marshes are wet, but the pans in the surrounding woodland are dry.

With all this unpredictability, we tend to only consider this area for inclusion in a longer trip, in which more experienced safari travellers are keen to see a new area and take a gamble on the wildlife.

In this case, we would usually put this at the end of a trip, connecting in via light aircraft from a camp in the heart of the Okavango Delta and usually flying out to Maun at the end of the trip.

The usual stay duration here is three nights.

very rarely features in trips