About two million years ago, a fault line in the Earth shifted and the Okavango (or Cubango) River changed its course. Now it flowed onto the dry sands of the Kahalari, forming a huge swamp in the middle of a desert – the famous Okavango Delta. There is nowhere else on the planet quite like the Okavango! The Delta is shaped like a big frying pan; the narrow part at the top is called the Panhandle. There the river is narrower and is fringed by tall forest. This is one of the best places anywhere to see the incredible Pel’s Fishing Owl. There are various lodges around the town of Shakawe. In the south, you can see many of the specials near the town of Maun, or in the Moremi Game Reserve (also look for Arnot’s Chat in the mopane trees). The very best (but most expensive) way to experience the Okavango is to fly to one of the small lodges in the middle of the Delta with a small airplane. To see some of the swampy specials, you’ll have to go out on a makoro (a wooden canoe). I wish I was there right now!

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This is one of my favourite areas in all of Southern Africa. After I finished school I took a year off and went birding there. You can access the stunning Chobe National Park from Kasane. This town is right at the point where four countries meet: Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia. Kasane is also very close to Victoria Falls, if you want to go and check out the waterfall. Chobe National Park protects the floodplain of the Chobe River, which joins up with the Zambezi on its way to Mozambique and the Indian Ocean. Away from the river there are beautiful woodlands full of elephants and birds. The safari lodges can organise boat trips for birders where you can get up close to rare specials that are difficult to find elsewhere. Or you can camp in the park itself, right among the lions and elephants. This is true wilderness! There are so many specials that it is difficult to list just ten; all the Okavango birds can also be seen here.

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If you look on a map you’ll see vast waterbodies in the dry Kalahari of Botswana. These are the Makgadikgadi Pans. The main ones are Nxai Pan, Nwetwe Pan and Sua Pan. But in truth, these are only fossil pans that dried up thousands of years ago. However, in years when it rains a lot the pans fill up once again and attract waterbirds from all over – a true spectacle. It is one of the very few places where Greater Flamingos built their mud-tower nests. They are also important breeding sites for cute little Chestnut-banded Plover. But in some years the pans stay completely dry. Then you’ll have to enjoy the birds of the surrounding grassland and woodland. The best area to access the pans is the Nata Bird Sanctuary. You can consider an expedition to Kubu Island with its baobabs – it is a famous place that you always see on postcards.

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