Botswana’s rivers running wild

Reports from Botswana say that the country’s river systems are flowing freely around much of the Okavango Delta for the first time in a decade.
This means that safaris to the country are reporting bumper wildlife sightings, with elephant families and hippos particularly abundant, according to tour operator Expert Africa.
And for the first time in 30 years the Selinda Spillway, the waterway that links the Okavango Delta to the Linyanti Swamps, is flowing.
The Delta is home to a staggering range of wildlife including the endangered wild dog, lions, elephants, wildebeest, spotted hyenas, leopards, impalas, giraffes, baboons, vervet monkeys and around 400 bird species.
The increased water points around the Delta are likely to attract more game viewings and more predatory encounters.
A spokesperson for Expert Africa told us: “Traditionally the best wildlife concentrations have been in the western end of the Selinda Reserve – because that is where the Kwando and Linyanti Rivers are, and the crucial Zibadianja Lagoon.
“In a normal year, there's scarcely any game inside the dry interior of the Reserve during this time of year.  But this year there is, with the Selinda Spillway being used as a corridor. Groups canoeing through this area are reporting a lot more wildlife inland here that would normally have been expected.”
The Okavango Delta is the world’s largest inland delta with no outlet to the sea.