The area around Jao, Kwetsani and Jacana feel very much like most people’s image of the Okavango: watery and terribly picturesque. It’s a lovely environment. Whilst the game diversity in the area might not quite match some of the areas further east yet, lechwe and lion are exceedingly prolific here and those alone will keep most people entertained.
The birding is also good, with enough diversity of habitat to mean that you’ll find most Delta species here if you look hard enough. I’ve had great luck in the past here with gallinules and pink-throated longclaws.
The area around Tubu Tree Camp, on the eastern side of the concession, is much drier and totally different from the eastern part of the reserve where the three older camps are situated.

Birds
This is a good reserve for birdwatching, particularly for some of the less common water-based species. During a few gentle boat rides on the eastern side of the reserve, I had good sightings of many of the commoner waterbirds, plus lesser jacanas, lesser moorhens, purple and green-backed herons, slaty egrets, white-faced whistling ducks, lesser moorhens, and both purple and lesser gallinules. (Both of the gallinules were seen in small lagoons close to Kwetsani.)
Meanwhile driving in the drier areas we came across a similarly good range, and noted several flocks of Meyer’s parrots, Dickenson’s kestrels nesting at the top of an old palm tree, wattled starlings, and a tree full of open-bill storks. Then, again near Kwetsani, we found some very uncommon pink-throated longclaws (a big tick!) in a wide marshy plain where they seem to be resident.
Though not too unusual, African snipes can be found here. Listen carefully around dusk, as the sun sets and darkness falls. Then, during the breeding season, the birds fly high and zoom back to the ground. Their fanned-out tail feathers make a noise like a percussion instrument – called ‘drumming’.
The western side of this reserve, around Tubu, should have a wider range of raptors than the east (Jao, Kwetsani and Jacana), simply because it’s drier.

<< Click on the left menu for more details of the flora and animals found in this reserve.