The Gateway To The Okavango Delta, Maun Botswana

The fan palms are a common sight in and around the village of Maun Botswana

"A mokoro trip is an excellent way to get up close and personal with the smaller creature's of the Okavango delta"

The growing and bustling village of Maun has earned the rights to be called "The gate way to the Okavango delta" located about one thousand kilometers north of the capital city of Botswana, Maun is the last major town / village one will find before heading out into the true wilds of the Okavango, hence the name, "the gateway of the Okavango delta"Since Maun is the last stop before nothingness its worth the travelers time to spend a few days in Maun to stock up on supplies. Maun is also a great place to to try an organize a flight by plane or helicopter over the Okavango delta, the delta from the air is a magical sight, and should be on every travelers, bucket list.Talking about helicopters, something most travelers to the wilds of Botswana worry about is medical assistance in the case of an emergency, however this should not be of concern to travelers any more, since for a very small fee one can become a patron of Okavango air rescue, who will fly in a medical team to assist and stabilize there patrons and even air lift them out to proper medical facilities should the need arise, this is something i would highly recommend to any traveler to the Okavango, even if you don't have any emergency during your stay,(which hopefully you won't) its worth it just for the peace of mind.A lot of you travelers to Maun are on your way to the Moremi Game Reserve which is just less then a 100km to the north west of Maun, its important to remember that you cannot book or pay any fee's at the Moremi gate, all bookings and fee's should be booked and payed for in Maun at the Botswana government wildlife office, and if you are planning on camping a few nights in Moremi, you will need to book a campsite, campsites are NOT booked through the wildlife office, this is because all the campsites have been privatized and are now maintained and run through private safari company's, if you are only interested in doing a day trip into the Moremi game reserve it would probably be easier and cheaper to book a day trip from Maun with a local safari company, such as Bush Baby Calls Safari's There are of course plenty of upmarket lodges to be found in and around the Okavango and Moremi such as found Here Although the town of Maun is in no ways a foodie destination most lodges or hotels do have great restaurants, but if you feel like eating out well there are still a few restaurants in Maun that are worth searching out and paying a visit, here you can find a few of my favorite restaurants in Maun "Mauns Top Restaurants" Since geographically Maun is located right on the very edge of the Okavango flood plains it is also the perfect place to explore the rest of Okavango delta from, probably one best ways to get up close and personal with the Okavango and the wildlife that go's with it is to take a Mokoro trip up into the lower delta, (a Mokoro is traditional dug out) Mokoro trips can be arranged as either day trips or more serious trips that last a few days, more information can be found Here The the village town of maun is with out a doubt, in the truest sense the gateway to the Okavango delta, a place were the sun rises upon new adventurers every day