This very complex variable is really a minor point for most visitors – who will find the Okavango Delta enchanting whenever they visit! However, the flooding levels will have some influence on some of your activities, and may even influence your choice of where you want to visit in the Delta.

Firstly, note that the water levels at any point in the Okavango Delta depend mainly on three variables: firstly, the local rainfall in your location; secondly, the height of the seasonal flood of the Okavango; thirdly, your location within the Delta – as the further north you are in the Okavango, the more water you're likely to have.

The local summer rains and the arrival of the seasonal floods are generally out of sync by around two to six months, depending on exactly where you are within the Delta. This represents the time taken for the peak of the rains in the Okavango River's main catchment area – the Angolan highlands – to make it down the Okavango River and into the various different areas of the Delta.

These annual floods are very variable. They have been monitored very carefully for years at Mohembo, where the river enters Botswana – see the graph below. From this we know that the peak of the flood at Mohembo generally occurs between mid-March and mid-May – just after the local summer rains in the region of the Delta have come to an end. Given the tiny gradient and very slow flow rate, this surge of water from Angola can take up to six months to work its way from the Panhandle to the far extremities of the Delta's waterways.

Hence expect the highest water levels in most areas of the Delta to occur after the rains – from about May to August. After that, levels will generally fall until around February, when the local rains start to slowly raise water levels prior to the main flood.