|  Dear
Friends!
We
have had the most fantastic rainfall in the Okavango
this year – higher than any of us can ever
remember having seen before. As you know Botswana’s
currency is the Pula. Pula means rain – a
literal recognition of the crucial importance of
water is this normally parched country.
Well,
the rainy season as usual, started towards the end
of December – and as always, it was gratefully
welcomed by animals, plants and humans alike. It
bucketed down nearly every day with the occasional
cloud burst of over 100 mm in only a few hours.
January, February and March were just exceptionally
wet months. Never did I think that I would hear
a Motswana (Botswana citizen) wishing the rain to
stop – but with villages flooded and roads
impassable, the odd rainless couple of days became
a welcome reprieve.
 The
net result is that the whole Delta region is turning
into even more of an Eden. The animals are fat and
shiny and group in bigger herds than I have ever
seen. Birdlife has exploded. Aerial surveys show
that the Okavango is having a super flood - the
sort of water level that comes once in 30 years
or so. Life-giving water is now flowing down long-dried
up floodplains and reaching areas that have been
dry for over twenty five years, giving the entire
ecology system a tremendous boost. From the air
we saw that buffalo, elephant, lechwe, hippo and
crocodiles, as well as waterfowl of every description,
have all followed the water. The usual game-viewing
areas are doubling in size and the potential for
new canoeing areas midst the game and birdlife is
thrilling.
 Anyone
who has seen how the Savuti or Khwai river systems
created absolute paradise areas as their waters
moved into previously dry areas will understand
the wildlife dynamics of this present flood. It
is simply wonderful: exciting to see such renewal,
such potential in new areas, the effects of which
will last for years. This is a year for exciting
safaris, to witness first hand the Okavango in its
ancient cycle of flood and renewal. The equation
is simple - water is life.
Love
to you all
Daphne
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