Bwabwata National Park

About the park

Bwabwata runs about 190 km across the Zambezi Region and Kavango East, mostly sandy woodland and old drainage lines, with the best game viewing in three river-fed core areas: Mahango on the Okavango, Buffalo just east of it, and Kwando in the east. Elephants move through between Angola, Botswana and Zambia, and the rivers bring buffalo, hippo, sable, roan, red lechwe and crocodile, with lion, leopard and spotted hyena the main predators; Mahango and the Okavango are an Important Bird Area for wattled crane, slaty egret and African skimmer. It is a self-drive park: pay at the core-area gates, stay on the marked tracks, and base yourself at the community campsites (Nambwa, Bum Hill, Nǁgoabaca) or the lodges on the boundaries. About 5,500 people, mostly Khwe San, live in the multiple-use zone, and the B8 highway runs straight through. The catch: away from the tar the Kwando tracks are deep sand and need a 4x4.

Highlights

• River loops in the Mahango core area on the Okavango floodplain
• Kwando core area and the riverside Nambwa campsite
• Buffalo core area for sable and roan
• Birding along the Okavango for wattled crane, slaty egret and African skimmer

Good to know

• 6,274 km²; core areas Kwando (1,345 km²), Buffalo (629 km²) and Mahango (245 km²)
• B8 Trans-Caprivi Highway crosses the park; a permit is needed to leave it
• Sandy 4x4 tracks along the Kwando and Okavango
• Community campsites at Nambwa, Bum Hill and Nǁgoabaca; lodges on the edges
• Khwe San communities live in the multiple-use area