Kavango is green. Green because the Kwango river crosses through the Kavango area on its way to the mighty Okavango delta in Botswana.

Rivers are rare in Namibia. When you see road signs about rivers, you’ll normally only see a dry riverbed, where water may run once a year, if you’re lucky. However, in the north, on the border to Angola and in the south, on the border to South Africa, you’ll find three permanent rivers, the Kwango river in the northeast, the Kunene river in the northwest and the Orange river, in the south.

Life by the river

Life in the Kavango area is very much depending on the river. People uses it for drinking, for watering the fields and herds, for cleaning, fishing, fun, transport and social life. In the afternoon, we saw people moving towards the river, for their evening bath, even though the river inhabits both crocodiles and hippos and annual attacks are heard of. We saw children fetching water, being watched over by a bigger sister, a lady washing clothes, children watching their cows drink and children playing in canoes (called mokoros) on the river.

National parks in Kavango

The area houses several national parks and an abundance of wildlife. We visited 3 parks in few days. The Popa falls game park, the Mahango national park and the Buffalo core area. The last two is part of the larger Bwabwata National Park. 

Lodging in Kavango

We stayed both in the Popa Falls NWR resort and at the private Ngepi camp, where we lived in a tree house on the edge of the river. The Ngepi tree house was amazing! It was built on stilts, on the edge of the river and during night we could hear a hippo lurking underneath the house. Some of the walls were just a reed curtain, which we closed at night and opened in the morning so that we could lay in our beds, watching the red sun rise across the river and watch sable antelopes and elephants coming for their morning drink in the buffalo park, right across the river.

In Ngepi camp, they have a hippo and crock fenced pool in the river, so you can have a swim in the Kwango river, being protected from attacks. You also have a camping area, a bar/cafe and several activity options.

You can also join their birdwatching tours, canoo rides or organized safari trips. 

Canoeing at Kwango river

We did a morning trip in mokoro canoes and it was so beautiful. We were the only guests, and for safety they always had two canoes together, so my husband and I was sitting in one each, being paddled and watched over by one crew member each. They were extremely knowledgable about birds and animals and always kept an eye for eventual dangers in the river. The quietness in the morning, together with listening to the birdlife was amazing. 

Safari in the Buffalo park

We also joined an organized safari tour into the Buffalo Park. It started with a boat drive to the other side of the river, followed by a trip in 4×4 cars through the park. We got to see buffaloes, monkeys, elephants and herds of sable antelopes. The guide organized drinks and snacks and told us about animals and history, as the area was occupied by the South African defence forces during Namibias liberation war in 1990 and we could see regular remains of this in the park. The park also had lions, but we did not see any during our visit.

The sunrises and sunsets in the Kavango were amazing. The sun was much more red than I’ve ever seen before. It may be because of the humidity in the air, but watching it was beautiful.

Self-drive in Mahango game park

Close to Ngepi camp, on the western side of the river, you can visit the Mahango game park. This can be done as self-drive. The elephants here seemed wilder and more angry than the elephants in Etosha park, as fewer persons visit this area. We saw really many of them, but had to back off as we came between their children and the older ones and they tried to scare us away. We also saw the cutest bushbucks, ostriches and large baobab trees.

Overnight at Popa Falls

Coming from Norway, Popa falls did not seem much like a waterfall, but in a dry country like Namibia, it’s famous.

The falls consists of a series of cascading rapids, which probably can be bigger than what we could see when we were there.

Anyway, The NWR resort at Popa falls was really beautiful and gave us a wonderful view of the river from our large balcony. The elevated walkways through bush and forest was also amazing.