What happens to most of the delta's water?

It evaporates or is used by plants

Okavango Delta Quiz: Botswana's Flood Pulse and Island Wildlife

This Okavango Delta quiz poles through the channels of Botswana's great inland wetland in a mokoro canoe. Play 10 interactive questions on a river that never reaches the sea, floodwater from Angola that arrives in the dry season, islands built by termites, red lechwe, Moremi Game Reserve, water lost to evaporation and UNESCO's 1,000th site.

Start Okavango Delta Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Country
Which country is the Okavango Delta in?
Type
What is unusual about this delta?
Source
Where does most of its floodwater begin?
Peak
When does the flood usually peak in the delta?
Boat
What is a mokoro?
Islands
Which animals help start many islands?
Antelope
Which water-loving antelope is common there?
Reserve
Which game reserve covers part of the delta?
Loss
What happens to most of the delta's water?
UNESCO
What milestone did the delta mark in 2014?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which country is the Okavango Delta in?
Answer: Botswana
It lies in the Kalahari basin.
Q2: What is unusual about this delta?
Answer: It ends inland, not at the sea
The river spreads into the Kalahari.
Q3: Where does most of its floodwater begin?
Answer: Highlands of Angola
Rain there takes months to arrive.
Q4: When does the flood usually peak in the delta?
Answer: In the dry winter months
It peaks around June to August.
Q5: What is a mokoro?
Answer: A dugout canoe pushed with a pole
Polers stand at the back.
Q6: Which animals help start many islands?
Answer: Termites
Their mounds rise above the water.
Q7: Which water-loving antelope is common there?
Answer: Red lechwe
It runs through shallow water.
Q8: Which game reserve covers part of the delta?
Answer: Moremi
It is named after a chief.
Q9: What happens to most of the delta's water?
Answer: It evaporates or is used by plants
Very little drains out.
Q10: What milestone did the delta mark in 2014?
Answer: UNESCO's 1,000th World Heritage Site
It was listed that year.

A River That Ends in the Desert

The Okavango River rises in the highlands of Angola and flows southeast into Botswana, where it spreads into a vast fan of channels, lagoons and islands instead of reaching the sea. The Okavango Delta is one of the largest inland deltas in the world, surrounded by the dry Kalahari.

Rain falls in Angola in summer, but the floodwater takes months to travel south, so the delta swells in the dry winter months, peaking around June to August. Animals from the dry lands flock to the water, making it one of Africa's great wildlife seasons.

Most of the water evaporates or is used by plants. Termite mounds help start many islands, where trees take root. Visitors explore by mokoro, a dugout canoe pushed with a pole, and may spot red lechwe, elephants and hippos in Moremi Game Reserve. In 2014 the delta became UNESCO's 1,000th World Heritage Site.

What This Quiz Teaches

Wildlife fans will enjoy these questions.

Where the water starts
When the flood arrives
How islands form
Which animals live there
How people travel

Did You Know?

Papyrus lines the deeper channels.
African fish eagles call over lagoons.
Many camps are reached by small plane.
Wild dogs hunt on the islands.
Hippos keep channels open.