The Okavango delta (or "the Delta" as it's known by those in the know) is not a swamp, at least not in the conventionally unpleasant sense of the word.

It is an extraordinary 18,000-sq.-km mosaic of habitats including lakes, rivers and temporary pools; baobab-forested islands, grassy savannah and near-desert.

The 1,100 km-long river that feeds the Delta rises in war-torn Angola (travel advisory: skip Angola) then meanders along the edge of northern Namibia before flowing into the vast, virtually unpopulated southern African nation of Botswana. Here it splits into countless channels before being swallowed by the arid sands of the Kalahari.