By Roxanne Reid
If you’re looking for somewhere off the beaten track, you could do worse than the Mahango game area in the north-eastern Caprivi/Zambezi region of Namibia, bordering on Botswana. The Mahango is part of the greater Bwabwata National Park.
If you’re looking for somewhere off the beaten track, you could do worse than the Mahango game area in the north-eastern Caprivi/Zambezi region of Namibia, bordering on Botswana. The Mahango is part of the greater Bwabwata National Park.
It’s 950 kilometres from Windhoek and 250 kilometres from Rundu, so it’s not the place to come unless you’re passing through anyway. We were staying at Ngepi camp, on our way through Caprivi to Zambia, so it made sense to take a drive to the park.
What we found was an attractive blend of river courses and broad flood plains as well as forest and wooded areas full of acacias, bushwillows, Zambezi teak and wild seringa trees. But king of the heap, of course, was the fabulous baobab. We followed the signs to Mahango’s giant baobab, which has an impressive girth, but there were other baobabs of a more youthful size dotted around the area too.
What we found was an attractive blend of river courses and broad flood plains as well as forest and wooded areas full of acacias, bushwillows, Zambezi teak and wild seringa trees. But king of the heap, of course, was the fabulous baobab. We followed the signs to Mahango’s giant baobab, which has an impressive girth, but there were other baobabs of a more youthful size dotted around the area too.
If you knew where to look, you could find several endemic water plants and some 400 bird species like African skimmer, kingfishers and wattled crane. Although birding is best in the summer months (November to February) and we were there in June, there were still plenty birds to get excited about.
On a bank near a pool of waterlilies we saw spurwing geese, blackwinged stilt and African jacana. Other bright spots for us were African fish eagle, wheatear, lilac-breasted roller, longtailed starling and blue waxbill.
June is, of course, dry season, so even if birding wasn’t at its peak, our chances of spotting animals were much better – anything from hippo and croc, buffalo, and a richness of antelope like bushbuck, reedbuck, waterbuck, red lechwe, tsessebe, sitatunga, and the endangered roan and sable antelope. We were lucky enough to see two herds of roan – 28 animals in the larger herd – as well as lots of kudu, warthogs and hippo, a few elephant feeding at the river’s edge, and an endlessly entertaining baboon troupe foraging for munchies in a water seep.
On a bank near a pool of waterlilies we saw spurwing geese, blackwinged stilt and African jacana. Other bright spots for us were African fish eagle, wheatear, lilac-breasted roller, longtailed starling and blue waxbill.
June is, of course, dry season, so even if birding wasn’t at its peak, our chances of spotting animals were much better – anything from hippo and croc, buffalo, and a richness of antelope like bushbuck, reedbuck, waterbuck, red lechwe, tsessebe, sitatunga, and the endangered roan and sable antelope. We were lucky enough to see two herds of roan – 28 animals in the larger herd – as well as lots of kudu, warthogs and hippo, a few elephant feeding at the river’s edge, and an endlessly entertaining baboon troupe foraging for munchies in a water seep.
The large herds of elephant here are migrants on their way between Angola and the Okavango Delta in Botswana. I’m told there are lion, cheetah and wild dog too, but I haven’t seen any of them in two separate visits to the park, so I have yet to be convinced.
There isn’t much in the way of development here, but that was fine with me. If I’m surrounded by attractive bush and wild animals, I certainly don’t need five-star lodges and nouvelle cuisine at every bend in the road. Apart from the main tar road linking Namibia to Botswana – which runs smack-dab through the middle of the park – there were only two other tracks. One of about 15 kilometres followed the river and was suitable for normal cars, especially in the dry season – perfect for slow driving and many stops.
There isn’t much in the way of development here, but that was fine with me. If I’m surrounded by attractive bush and wild animals, I certainly don’t need five-star lodges and nouvelle cuisine at every bend in the road. Apart from the main tar road linking Namibia to Botswana – which runs smack-dab through the middle of the park – there were only two other tracks. One of about 15 kilometres followed the river and was suitable for normal cars, especially in the dry season – perfect for slow driving and many stops.
The view from the 'picnic site'
The other track to the west was about 31 kilometres and suitable only for 4x4s, but the woman at the entrance gate told us most of the action was on the shorter river route and the 4x4 route was very sandy in the dry season (and slippery in the wet season). We didn’t even get as far as exploring the 4x4 route, finding more than enough to keep us occupied on the river route for about five hours.
Kwetche ‘picnic site’ was just a big shady tree where you could get out and admire the view along the river. Bits of grass and mud quite high up on the bark of the tree hinted that elephants had been using it as a rubbing post, but we had it to ourselves that morning. A great place to bring a simple picnic you can eat out the boot of your car.
Need to know
1. Mahango is open for day visitors only; there’s no overnight accommodation in the park.
2. It makes a perfect day outing from Ngepi camp about 15 kilometres away.
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Kwetche ‘picnic site’ was just a big shady tree where you could get out and admire the view along the river. Bits of grass and mud quite high up on the bark of the tree hinted that elephants had been using it as a rubbing post, but we had it to ourselves that morning. A great place to bring a simple picnic you can eat out the boot of your car.
Need to know
1. Mahango is open for day visitors only; there’s no overnight accommodation in the park.
2. It makes a perfect day outing from Ngepi camp about 15 kilometres away.
Like it? Pin this image!
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Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
