Reflections On The Delta

EL'S LARA SAGE explores Botswana's wonderland of water and wildlife.

Water abounds in the Okavango Delta, supporting the incredible animals living here and the tourists who visit, yet it's a scarce commodity in nearby rural areas. For this reason, choosing the right company to travel with is key-you want to ensure your environmental footprint is as light as possible, while helping to give back to local communities at the same time.

The ethos of travel company provider and Beyond, working in collaboration with Africa Foundation, will put any possible qualms you might have to rest. A safari with and Beyond includes stays at incredible lodges, and delicious food in comfortable camps set in marvellous locations. It also offers the opportunity to visit communities or contribute to projects in the areas of education, healthcare and business development, making your safari experience ever more meaningful. These organisations believe that conservation is best achieved by ensuring the benefits of wildlife tourism are shared with the people, and to educate them to be stewards of these wildlife areas.

Water and other challenges

When immersed in the idyllic liquid landscape of the Okavango Delta, it seems unfathomable that villagers living on the periphery could have limited water resources. Yet that is the reality people have to walk for miles over sandy terrain to carry water in buckets or makeshift wagons back to their humble abodes.

Africa Foundation spends time identifying communities and individuals in need, improving lives through means such as installing boreholes in villages in very dry and remote areas. I had the chance to witness the rollout (quite literally) of 20 donated "Hippo Rollers". These incredibly hardy plastic water barrels are a vast improvement on the rudimentary alternatives used by so many here. Providing access to them can change lives.