Lake Ngami

Lake Ngami is fed by the Nhabe river at the southern end of the Okavango system, and it has been full, half full and completely dry over recorded history: Livingstone found a large lake here in 1849, and for much of the twentieth century it was bare grassland. When Okavango floods are high it fills again, and when it does the bird numbers are extraordinary, with pelicans, flamingos, storks and waterfowl in tens of thousands. A fishing industry appears with the water and vanishes with it.

What you actually see

• The waterbird flocks - pelicans, flamingos and storks in very large numbers when full.
• The flood cycle - a lake that has been both large and entirely dry within living memory.
• The fishery - fishing camps that appear when the water returns.
• The open shore - flat grassland and mud running to the waterline.

When to go

June to October, when the Okavango flood arrives, is the peak in a good year. Whether there is water at all varies by year and should be checked in Maun before driving out. Early morning is best for birds.

Honest expectations

In a dry cycle there is no lake and nothing to see, which catches people out regularly. Access tracks to the shore are sandy and muddy at the edges. There are no facilities and no hides.

Nearby

Maun is northeast, and the Okavango panhandle is north.