Maun Airport is an international airport located in Maun which falls in the northern region of Botswana. This airport has significance from both local infrastructure and tourist point of view. This airport is the gateway to Okavango Delta and attracts thousands of tourists annually. This airport has all the modern facilities that a world traveler requires and also has dedicated kiosks for you to secure a car hire and explore the region.
Tourism capital of Botswana
Maun is the fifth largest city in Botswana and also holds great importance due to multiple tourist destinations in its vicinity. The tourism industry from the area also attracts sizeable revenue for the region. Officially Maun can be called a village but is developing at a rapid pace due to high influx of tourists in the area. Maun Airport has a dedicated tourism department counter to further encourage the incoming tourists to spend more time exploring Maun and the nearby destinations.
- Okavango Delta – This is the crown jewel of Botswana’s tourism industry and is a unique delta that has been formed over thousands of years by the Okavango River meeting the tectonic trough in the Kalahari basin. This delta would is about 3 hours away from the airport via a trusted car hire provider. Interestingly the water of the Okavango River does not reach any sea or ocean but is evaporated as it is sits in this delta. This is one of the most beautiful inland deltas in the world and features many interesting facets –
- Seasonal Flooding – Okavango drains around the Jan and Feb months and then experiences a surge of water flowing from the Angola highlands. This results in an annual flooding in the region which creates a very interesting environment of flora and fauna in the region. You can take a car hire ride around the basin and experience the lush greenery firsthand.
- Salt islands – Due to annual cycle of flooding, draining and evaporation the resulting salt deposits form big mounds in this area. Since plan life cannot survive on these salt mounds it is an interesting sight to see white mounds at a distance with plants growing around them. Maun Airport has some fascinating pictures of these Salt islands at display.
- Chief Island – This is the largest island in the area and was created due to a tremor resulting in a fault line which elevated a section of this delta which was more than 70 km long and 15 km wide. This island is in the interior region of the delta and you would need a car hire to reach the same.
