In Bwabwata National Park visitors can delight in an abundance of wildlife. The park is, unusually, home to both people and wildlife. They co-exist in multi-use areas while other areas are retained specifically as core wildlife areas. This synergy is the result of lateral thinking after Namibian independence when few animals and a large population remained in the area.
The 6100km² national park extends from the Okavango River in the west to the Kwando River in the east. It was formerly the Caprivi Game Park and incorporates the Buffalo and Mahango core areas (formerly Mahango Game Park). The area includes vast floodplains, woodland and temporary pans (omurambas).
Named after a village in the Park, the name ‘Bwabwata’ refers to the sound of bubbling water, an apt name for an area blessed with rivers.
Contrasting with the more arid areas and landscapes of the country, north-eastern Namibia - with Bwabwata at its heart - is a celebration of trees, wildlife and water.
© Beate Schwippert
MEFT (Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism) works together with local communities and conservancies to co-manage the park.
The innovative conservancy programme is a conservation success story where members take responsibility for their resources and wildlife and benefit directly from them. Realising the worth of wildlife for sustainable utilisation and as a drawcard for tourists, conservancies utilise gameguards and wildlife monitors drawn from the local communities to safeguard the wildlife population. There are to date over 80 conservancies in Namibia dotted throughout the country.
© Mikkel Beiter
A thriving national park, Bwabwata has a large elephant and buffalo population. It is undoubtedly the best place to see buffalo in the country. Thirty-five large game species reside in the park, including red lechwe and sitatunga, and African wild dog are included amongst the predators. The water world is also home to crocodiles and hippos that patrol the waterlily-adorned rivers and waterways.
Over 400 bird species have been recorded in this bird paradise.
The quintessential sounds of Africa can be heard here. The piercing cry of the fish eagle, the laughing grunts of hippos, the trumpeting of elephants and the chiming calls of reed frogs.
Bwabwata forms part of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (also known as KaZa) that links five countries in conservation, allowing wildlife to follow ancient migratory routes.
© Beate Schwippert
The area formerly known as the Caprivi is now called the Zambezi region. Once referred to as the ‘Caprivi strip’, the corridor through the north-east was a puzzle piece in the colonial scramble for Africa at the end of the 19th century, intended to give German South West Africa access into the African interior via the Zambezi River. Later on, the area was a restricted security zone during the Namibian struggle for independence, occupied by the South African Police and then the SADF. The dusty road is now the Trans-Caprivi highway that runs through the Bwabwata National Park, flanked by trees and small villages and dotted with elephant caution signs.
Remember to bring binoculars and a bird book!
Entry permits can be purchased in Windhoek, Katima Mulilo or at the Susuwe field office near Kongola.
Bwabwata is in a high-risk malaria area so keep covered and consult your medical practitioner for suitable malaria phrophylactics before travelling.
Keep a safe distance from elephants and give them right of way.
This is crocodile and hippo territory, so don’t be tempted to go swimming except in your lodge’s swimming pool.
Celebrate the abundance of the Zambezi.
Author: Ron Swilling
© Beate Schwippert
Do you feel like exploring Bwabwata National Park?
Contact the Gondwana Travel Centre to plan your trip.