The Caprivi Strip

A peculiar legacy of the 19th-century colonial carve-up of Africa, the Caprivi Strip is a narrow panhandle that extends eastward from the main body of Namibia for 280 miles. Unlike the rest of Namibia, Caprivi has a moist tropical climate and much of the terrain comprises seasonal floodplains associated with the Zambezi and Kavango watersheds. Traversed by a good surfaced road and studded with little-visited national parks, the area is ideally suited to self-drive safaris and is particularly rewarding to birders.

Discover the Caprivi Strip

Popa Falls is a long set of rapids formed by the Kavango River as it descends through a maze of lushly vegetated islands en route to the Okavango Delta. It is a very pretty spot, and rich in aquatic birdlife.

Much of western Caprivi is protected within the 2,422 square mile Bwabwata National Park, which was created in 2007 by merging the former Caprivi and Mahango Game Reserves. It protects several large mammal species that are scarce or absent further west. Look out for elephant, buffalo, hippo, red lechwe, reedbuck, sitatunga, sable antelope and roan antelope. Also present in small numbers are lion, leopard and cheetah.

Mudumu National Park extends over some 285 square miles of woodland to the east of the Kwando River. It harbors a good variety of wildlife, including elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena, hippopotamus, giraffe, plains zebra, sitatunga, red lechwe, sable antelope, eland and impala.

Nkasa Rupara National Park protects an atmospheric 120-square-mile seasonal wetland reminiscent of the better-known Okavango Swamp in Botswana. The park is named after a pair of permanent islands that punctuate its maze of channels, marshes and lagoons. Large mammals are less prolific than in some other reserves, but include elephant, buffalo, lion, hippo and a wide variety of antelope.

All Caprivi’s national parks offer superb birding, but Nkasa Rupara National Park stands out as arguably the top ornithological site anywhere in Namibia. At least 450 species have been recorded, among then Pel’s fishing-owl, wattled crane, slaty egret, rufous-bellied heron, coppery-tailed coucal, black-cheeked lovebird and rosy-throated longclaw.