The steady progress of floodwaters along the Boteti River continues to stoke palpable excitement across the region. This week, the headwaters surged past Rakops, raising hopes among locals that they may finally reach their ultimate destination: the basin of Lake Xau.
The Ngami Times arrived in Rakops on Monday afternoon, to witness the floodwaters moving at speed as they made one final, aggressive push through the outskirts of the village. By noon that day, the front line of the water had already gone past Rakops, advancing from where it had first been spotted earlier that morning.
The sheer velocity of the water, as it meandered and swelled through the village channels, has gifted communities further downstream with renewed confidence that the river will soon arrive to break their long drought.
This environmental event follows an extraordinary flooding of the vast Okavango system. The downstream arteries have consequently received a tremendous volume of water. Chief among these is the Boteti River itself, which breaks away from the Thamalakane River at Kgantshang, just outside Maun. From there, the Boteti charts an eastward course, snaking past Chanoga, Makalamabedi, Motopi, Moreomaoto, and Khumaga, before cutting through Rakops on its long journey to Lake Xau.
For the residents living along its banks, the arrival of the river promises to shift local livelihoods drastically for the better. Offshoot economic activities, most notably fishing, are immediately scaling up to provide a crucial alternative source of food security. Beyond the economic windfall, the community is openly celebrating the return of the water for the simple joys of entertainment, leisure, and a renewed sense of regional pride.
Upstream from Rakops, The Ngami Times team made a stop at Khumaga, which sits squarely on the edge of the river, directly opposite the world-renowned Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. This particular stretch of the Boteti serves as a critical ecological crossroads, balancing human survival with wildlife conservation, and simultaneously sustaining the two sectors of local economy: agriculture and safari tourism.
Facilitated by the management of Leroo La Tau lodge, this reporter explored the reawakened river channels. Local professional guides shared passionate, firsthand accounts of the profound transformation gripping the ecosystem since the initial arrival of the floodwaters back in April. From this waterborne exploration, it is visibly clear that water levels at Khumaga have consistently and dramatically increased since the newspaper’s last site visit shortly after the initial flows.
According to Leroo La Tau’s Head Guide, Kangura ‘Coca’ Dikoma, this specific area last saw a true flood five years ago. That event, however, was brief, and the riverbed quickly dried up again, remaining empty until this year. For half a decade, the river remained completely bone-dry. During those lean years, the region’s diverse wildlife relied entirely on artificial waterholes funded and maintained by the private sector—specifically safari tour operators who bore the immense operational costs alone.
During that prolonged dry spell, wildlife migration patterns shifted drastically. The general ecosystem suffered severe degradation as the desperate struggle for water dismantled the natural order of animal behavior. Lions, elephants, and vast herds of herbivores were forced to compete fiercely for limited resources.
Coca revealed that the reflooding of the channel has completely rejuvenated the landscape, fundamentally enhancing the wilderness experience for international guests visiting the national park. With a anticipated second push of the flood looming, Coca reckons the entire system will soon be fully transformed into a thriving oasis, triggering a massive wildlife and tourism boom for Botswana.
As the newspaper went to print, field reports confirmed that water levels at Khumaga had jumped by over 10 centimeters in just seven days. This sudden rise provides strong evidence that the highly anticipated second surge of the Okavango flood has well and truly arrived.
