A couple of days in Maun. Any advice on where to fly?

[diverpilot1]

I have the opportunity to fly in a 182 in South Africa and as far north as Victoria Falls in first three weeks of December. We are in the planning stages now. I would really like to see the Delta around Maun.

Maun Pilots - if you had a friend coming into town for a day and you could fly around the delta, where would you go?

Thanks for any ideas!

[abezzi]

It depends...round trip from to Maun or spending the night in a lodge in the Delta?

[diverpilot1]

The most likely senerio is we spend the night in town, take a scenic flight around the Delta. The next day we take a ground or water tour from Maun. Then fly out the third day.

[rmball]

Shindi is nice. Great wildlife in Xaxanaka. I haven't seen too many camps, only the airstrips...

[hatton]

Itswi Island. Shortest runway strip in the Delta, especially when Elephant is in bad mood
#bushpilots

[bgbazz]

I reckon that 3 days isn't quite long enough....5 or 6 will give you time to do things at an easier pace, especially given the moody weather.

[PilotInPink]

Wherever you decide to go, bear in mind that almost all airstrips in the Delta are private and either a. won't allow you to land there without a booking at the camp, or b. won't allow you to land there at all.

I believe that Nguma Island Lodge and Nxamaseri both have reasonable rates and allow you to fly in privately (but don't hold me to that!). They are both in the panhandle which although not a wildlife area, is a lovely flight from Maun (45min/1 hour respectively in a C206 for reference). Perhaps fly high on the way there to get a good overview of the Delta, and follow the river on the way back past Camp Okavango and Chitabe at a lower altitude. Rainy season may affect any plans though!


When you arrive (or before if you can!) speak to a local operator about procedures in/around Maun. We do things our own special way sometimes and a briefing will help everyone immensely. There's over 100 pilots in Maun last time I checked, so that's a lot of aeroplanes flying around a small space, but also a good resource for visitors.

In particular, if you plan on flying at low level you should speak in depth with a local pilot and get a map so that you can avoid flying over camps and conflicting with the local scenic route. There has been a self-fly pilot here recently and I have found them twice in the vicinity of the high-traffic, local scenic route- but going the opposite direction to the local traffic. It's not their fault at all as the route that we fly is not published, but a quick chat before you fly does a lot for everyone's safety.

The locals do speak fast on the radio and abbreviate a lot of calls, but don't stress too much. We all recognise a visiting aircraft so as long as you tell us where you are, we will speak slowly and in plain English if we think that there is a conflict. We all know this area very well.

A useful tip for you- give a distance from Maun in your radio calls eg. "XYZ Maun to Shakawe at 4500ft western edge of the Moremi Game Reserve" (another recent visitor) doesn't really tell us where you are. However, "XYZ Maun to Shakawe at 4500ft 50nm from Maun" lets me know that you are almost overhead Xigera airstrip.

Good luck with the planning and I hope you enjoy your visit!

[suninmyeyes]

30 years ago I would have recommended Camp Okavango (Jessie's Camp) run by the delightful Californian lady Jessie Neil. I doubt she is still around but I hope that sort of place still exists.