Much of these concessions consist of very beautiful, open floodplains dotted with islands, many of which are tiny. The vegetation of the larger islands is dominated by many of the Okavango’s usual tree species, including raintrees, Lonchocarpus capassa, leadwoods, Combretum imberbe, African mangosteens, Garcenia livingstonei, jackalberries, Diospyros mespiliformis, sausage trees, Kigelia africana, and sycamore figs, Ficus sycomorus.
You’ll also find knobthorn trees, Acacia nigrascens, although relatively few of them, and some particularly large, wonderful specimens of fever-berry trees, Croton megalobotrys – named after the anti-malarial properties of the seeds and the bark. (These properties had been known to local African residents for centuries, but were brought to the attention of a wider audience by an article in the medical journal, The Lancet, in 1899. Apparently there has still not been any detailed research on these medicinal properties.)
Amongst the main bushes that you’ll find here are the Kalahari star apple, Diospyros lycioides lycioides, which is often also called the blue bush, for its overall bluish tinge, or the toothbrush bush – as the roots of this bush can be peeled and used as a toothbrush. (Veronica Roodt reports that on using it ‘at first my mouth burnt and I became extremely worried when my whole mouth turned yellow. The result, however, was remarkable – white teeth and fresh breath’.) Another very common bush in this area is the evergreen magic gwarri bush, Euclea divinorum. Also sometimes known as the ‘toothbrush bush’ for the use of its branches, both these bushes can produce dyes that are used to colour palm leaves used in weaving baskets in Botswana.
In the northeast of Vumbura there are some fine acacia woodlands, whilst as you travel west from Vumbura into Duba you’ll find more and larger open floodplains, slightly less thick wooded islands, and more clusters of the wild date palm, Phoenix reclinata.
As well as the drier areas, there are many small channels near the Vumbura camps, and some open, lightly reeded lagoons. The channels are lined intermittently with a mixture of papyrus and common reeds, and periodically open out onto floodplain areas. Scenically the areas near these camps don’t quite match up to the sheer beauty of the Jao Flats – as there are very few feathery real fan palms or lily-covered lagoons.