Category: Bush News

A powerful flood pulse fed by exceptional rains in the Angolan highlands is pushing deep into the Okavango Delta, and operators are calling 2026 a benchmark year — water is reaching channels that, as one guide put it, “only the elders remember.” Lake Ngami may even fill for the first time since 2011. For now the Delta is transformed: mokoro glide through clear, lily-strewn water, and game concentrates on the shrinking islands and flood edges. It’s the season that defines a Botswana safari, and the photography is extraordinary — mirror reflections, low-angle water work, and predators drawn to the receding margins. The high water does shift the balance from land to water, so some camps lean harder on boating and mokoro than game drives, and a few road transfers give way to light-aircraft hops. If a Delta trip is on your radar, it’s worth confirming whether your camp is water- or land-based this season — and booking early, because a flood like this doesn’t come often.

The Migration has fired its opening shot. On 5 June a herd was recorded plunging across the Grumeti River in the western Serengeti — the first major crossing of the year, and the cue that the wildebeest columns are massing and beginning their long push north. For travellers in June and July, this is the moment to look west: the Grumeti’s wooded banks and resident crocodiles deliver dramatic, lower-pressure crossings well before the famous Mara River spectacle gets going. Those headline Maasai Mara crossings are still forecast for the high-probability window of roughly 22 August to 7 September — also the busiest and priciest stretch of the year, so anyone set on the Mara should be booking now. The early-season western corridor, by contrast, offers fewer vehicles and superb photography as the herds gather along the river. Whether you’re after the first crossings of the year or the headline Mara drama, the timing of your trip decides which you’ll see — and 2026’s calendar is already in motion.

Getting to Namibia from Europe just became markedly easier. On 1 June, Edelweiss launched the first-ever nonstop service between Zürich and Windhoek, flying a modern Airbus A350. It runs twice weekly — Mondays and Fridays — through the end of October, with a third weekly flight on Wednesdays added from mid-July after demand outstripped the initial schedule. For travellers heading to Etosha, Sossusvlei and the Skeleton Coast, a single direct hop removes a layover and a good chunk of travel fatigue, and Zürich’s hub connections make it a clean gateway from much of Central Europe. The timing lines up neatly with Namibia’s peak dry season, when game concentrates around Etosha’s waterholes and the desert light is at its finest. If a Namibia self-drive or photographic trip is on your wishlist, this is a route worth building an itinerary around — and with seats clearly in demand, booking the Monday and Friday departures early is sensible.

One of the Maasai Mara’s most storied addresses is reopening under a new name. The former Little Governors’ Camp returns in June 2026 — completely rebuilt — as Wilderness Mara, at the foot of the Oloololo Escarpment in the Mara Triangle. For more than fifty years the Governors’ name set the standard for authentic, community-rooted safari here; the new camp carries that legacy forward but trades canvas-classic for low-impact luxury: 12 tented suites overlooking a seasonal marsh, each with a freestanding bath, outdoor shower and private deck, plus a spa, gym and — notably for our kind of traveller — a dedicated photographic studio. Its position gives prime access to the Mara Triangle and both banks of the Mara River, with twice-daily game drives, hot-air ballooning and Maasai cultural visits on offer. For photographers, the Triangle’s lower vehicle density and the camp’s river access make it an appealing base for the August–September crossing season — well worth booking ahead, given the Governors’ pedigree.