A remarkable river that never reaches the sea, instead spilling into a vast inland delta in the Kalahari.
Length
1,600 km
Source
Highlands of Angola
Mouth
Okavango Delta (inland, Botswana)
Continent
Africa
Countries
Angola, Namibia & Botswana
Did you know?
The Okavango empties into the desert, where its waters fan out and simply evaporate and soak away — one of the world's largest inland deltas.
Little-known fact
Each year the flood arrives in the bone-dry Kalahari months after the distant rains, drawing in one of Africa's great gatherings of wildlife.
Highlights
- A river that never reaches the sea
- Forms a vast inland delta
- Draws Africa's great wildlife herds
Life in the Okavango
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Animals & fish
Hippopotamus
Africa’s river giant spends its days submerged and is, pound for pound, among the continent’s most dangerous animals.
Nile crocodile
Africa’s largest crocodile and a patient ambush hunter little changed since the age of dinosaurs.
Waterbirds
African fish eagle
The ringing call of this black-white-and-chestnut raptor is the iconic “voice of Africa” by the water.
Great white pelican
A huge waterbird that fishes in co-ordinated flotillas, herding fish into its enormous pouch.
Water plants & reeds
Papyrus
The towering reed of the Nile that the ancient Egyptians turned into the world’s first paper.
Interactive · 3D journey
Journey of a river · source → sea
Every river runs the same great journey — from an icy mountain spring, down through gorges and looping meanders, to a wide delta where it meets the sea. Tap a stage to follow the water downstream.
Tip: hover to tilt the valley · tap a stage to float downstream
The Source
Every river begins high up — in a mountain spring, a melting glacier or a boggy upland. The water is cold, clear and fast, tumbling down the steepest ground of its whole journey.
Landforms here