Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in the dry season, when it's often easier to spot them around the few remaining water
sources.
USEFUL RESOURCES
Birding Botswana
(
7219 1472;
www.birdingbotswana.com
)
Maun-based operator specialising in birdwatch-
ing safaris.
BirdLife Botswana
( 319 0540;
www.birdlifebotswana.org.bw
)
BirdLife International's local chapter is act-
ively involved in conservation projects, such as building observation posts, and organising birdwatching trips.
BIRDWATCHING AREAS
Most of Botswana's best birding is concentrated in the north of the country around the
Okavango Delta, including the Okavango Panhandle; the Chobe Riverfront; the Central
Kalahari Game Reserve; Khama Rhino Sanctuary; and the Tuli Block, especially around
the Limpopo River.
One especially good site is the Nata Bird Sanctuary which is home to over a quarter of
Botswana's birds. The sanctuary is covered in a sea of pink flamingos, and other migrat-
ory birds, during the rainy season from November to March.
ENDANGERED BIRD SPECIES
Inevitably, the birdlife in Botswana is under threat from overgrazing, urban sprawl and in-
secticides that are used to tackle the scourge of tsetse flies that sometimes plague the
delta.
Endangered among Botswana's birds are wattled cranes and African skimmers. Cape
vultures, which are protected in the Mannyelanong Game Reserve in Otse, also have im-
portant breeding colonies in the Moremi Gorge in the Tswapong Hills in Botswana's east.
PLANTS
More than 2500 species of plants and 650 species of trees have been recorded in Bot-
swana.
The Okavango Delta enjoys a riparian environment dominated by marsh grasses, water
lilies, reeds and papyrus, and is dotted with well-vegetated islands thick with palms, aca-
cias, leadwood and sausage trees. At the other extreme, the Kalahari is characterised by all
