The Boteti River Flows & Brings Wildlife Flooding Back Too

The Boteti River, which is located deep in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, dried up in 1993. A hundred thousand zebra and wildebeest perished; other animals died or had to leave the area. The river went into a coma, able to support just a fraction of the life that it once nurtured. Incredibly, the survivors of the great herds managed to hang on for fifteen years, getting their sustenance from a few small seeps and holes dug by elephants, and some artificially created waterholes.
The Boteti River floodplain before and after the river flowed

In November 2008, the river began to fill up again, which in turn has brought back large numbers of animals. Francis and I stayed at Meno a Kwena in December where we had a great time relaxing in the swimming pool, sitting on the river bank and canoeing down the river. We got some wonderful photos of a “bachelor herd” of elephants splashing around in the water and later tried to sleep through the blood curdling sound of deep lion roars which emanated from both sides of the river bank.

The before and after shots of the floodplain demonstrate the difference the river has made to the area.

 

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