Okavango Sekwana

historically lightly-used for safari

At around 935 square kilometres, the Okavango Sekwana Concession is a pristine private safari area with a very wide range of ecosystems and animal species.

The handful of camps here offer some very good motorboat safari, often with close-up encounters with elephants.

For many years this Sekwana area was considered to be rather peripheral to the Okavango experience, being a very dry area, fringed by human habitation to the north and west and lying outside the Veterinary Fence which separates wildlife from domestic stock. But this is definitely no longer the case.

Actually, Sekwana is an incredibly beautiful place, with magnificent long grass plains dotted with scenic islands shaded by impressive leadwood, sausage and knobthorn trees. Since the extremely high flood of 2009 the area has also been able to offer some wonderful water-based safari amongst a network of intensely attractive channels and floodplains.

Because the area has historically been very lightly used for safari, the wildlife here is less well habituated to vehicles and guides typically need to work a little harder to find predators than in the prime concessions of the delta. But this is changing fast, with sightings of leopards, lions and wild-dogs increasing.

The Vet Fence is thankfully now dilapidated and extremely porous so the wildlife can migrate freely.

The flood arrives early here on the western side of the delta, making it a particularly interesting safari option for the early dry season in Apr-May.

When it comes to trip shapes and durations in Botswana, most visitors combine 2, 3 or 4 lodges by light aircraft over 6-12 nights, one or two of which will usually be here in Okavango Delta, combined with the Linyanti Waterfront and/or Makgadikgadi areas.

These trips are often done in combination with further nights at the Victoria Falls and/or down in the Cape.

The usual stay duration here on the Sekwana Concession is 3-4 nights.

Seasonality

The May-Jun flood season is a period of transition from the hot wet summer to the cool dry winter and is a great time to visit, with lots of baby animals around and the magical arrival of the floodwater into the delta.

Temperatures can drop towards freezing during the night, but this has little adverse effect on safari, the days are gorgeous and there are virtually no insects around.

The majority of camps are also significantly discounted during this time making it a smart time to travel.

The flood in this western part of the delta is usually early, reliable and heavy, turning large parts of the area into a gorgeous water-world.

Motorboat safari and mokoro canoe safari should be strong throughout this season.

Despite the high flood, all the camps are usually able to offer vehicle safari, although restrictions on the availability of dry land may limit the frequency of sightings.

The Jul-Sep dry season is the classic time to visit the Okavango Delta and is the best time for wildlife viewing, as serious numbers of animals are drawn to the floodwaters which have reached, or just passed their peak.

Cooler temperatures at night may continue but the days are perfect for safari.

This is very much the high season in terms of prices and visitor numbers.

The flood in this western part of the delta should only start to seriously recede into August, meaning that motorboat safari and mokoro canoe safari should remain reasonably strong throughout this season.

As the waters recede, the amount of dry land available for vehicle safari increases and the frequency of sightings should improve.

The Oct-Dec hot wet season is the transition between the peak of the dry season and the start of the rains. Temperatures and humidities can become uncomfortably high in advance of the rains.

If significant rainfall does arrive, it usually comes in short sharp showers and generally has little negative effect on safari conditions. Some animals may disperse after the rains but sightings remain strong.

The majority of camps are significantly discounted during this period.

The floodwaters should be largely gone by this time, meaning that motorboat safari and mokoro canoe safari may no longer be possible.

With so much dry land available for vehicle safari and the clustering of animals around the few remaining waterholes, the frequency of sightings should be at their best.
The period Jan-Apr is the main green season in the Okavango Delta, when the area experiences the majority of its rainfall, in particular Dec-Feb threatens the greatest chance of prolonged cloud and rain.

Temperature and humidity is still high but has dropped from the preceding season.

The majority of camps are significantly discounted throughout this season, making it a very smart time to travel, particularly in April.

Water levels can remain too low for boating activities throughout this period (unless there is an early flood arrival in April). This situation can change if the rains are heavy enough, but this would be unusual.

In terms of wildlife viewing during this period, the lower animal densities due to the outward dispersal from the delta is offset by the large amount of dry land available for vehicle safari, so sightings should remain pretty reasonable. Our main concern would be that elephants may be in particularly short supply, they have a tendency to move to the vast mopane forests immediately to the northwest.

Getting there

All of the camps in the Sekwana area are usually accessed by light aircraft into the local bush airstrip. There are daily flight connections between all the camps in Okavango, Linyanti, the main airport at Maun and Kasane.

From the Sekwana Airstrip it is a drive of around 30 minutes to the camp, with a good chance of early wildlife sightings.

mokoro canoe safari is particularly strong Mar-Oct