Caprivi Strip

Caprivi Strip Highlights

The Caprivi Strip, situated in north-east Namibia, consists of a narrow strip of land approximately 450km long, linking Namibia with Botswana, Angola and Zambia. It was a strategic South African military area for a long time and for tourists it was a gateway to Victoria Falls, however today it is governed by Namibia and contains a number of National Parks as well as incredible safari opportunities.

The Caprivi Strip lies just north of the Okavango Delta (Botswana) and Chobe National Park (Botswana). These are amongst the best safari destinations in Africa. The proximity of the Caprivi to these reserves means that it too is a fantastic safari destination, but without the number of visitors or infrastructure of the bordering parks. For many years there has been talks about creating the transfrontier Kaza National Park, including the Okavango Delta, Chobe, Caprivi Strip, Hwange (Zimbabwe), Victoria Falls and some reserves in Angola.

The deep Kalahari sands and tropical waterways found here are home to an interesting array of wildlife that differs considerably to that of the rest of Namibia, in fact it is the only area in Namibia that is lush and green and well watered by rivers. The Mudumu National Park is located on the eastern side of the Caprivi Strip; an extensive Park that covers approximately 1000km². It is dependant on the Kwando River, which flows along the western border of the Park and provides huge floodplains, floating papyrus swamps and lush riverine forest. Further away from the river the region is characterized by mixed mopane and teak woodlands, open grasslands and typical African savannah.

Game Viewing in the Caprivi Strip

A number of reserves in the Caprivi Strip region protect the wildlife and fenceless borders between parks provide excellent game viewing and superb birdlife. Mudumu is renowned for its buffalo population, roan and sable antelope, red lechwe and the water-dependent sitatunga together with large elephant herds. Other wildlife includes lion, hippo, impala, Burchell's zebra, greater kudu and common waterbuck, reedbuck and bushbuck.

The waterways here are home to spotted-necked otter, ferocious tigerfish, and several large Nile crocodile. The birdlife in the Caprivi Strip is prolific and species that can specifically be seen in Mudumu includes the Coppery-tailed Coucal, Slaty Egret, Greater Swamp Warbler, Swamp Boubou and Brown Firefinch is some of the resident species. In summer, numbers are boosted by the tremendous amount of migratory species including flocks of colourful Southern Carmine Bee-eater, Copper Sunbird, Pennant-winged Nightjar and Broad-tailed Paradise-Whydah.