Namibia🇳🇦 | regionsCaprivi StripFour rivers, floodplain elephants, Zambezi sunsets, Katima Mulilo market | things to do and best time to go

Day 1-2: Popa Falls: Start at the western end, at the Okavango River, because the strip’s single main road runs west to east and every leg after this flows downstream of your plans. Spend the first afternoon walking the rapids at Popa Falls, then use Day 2 for Mahango Core Area, where a loop drive gives you the densest game viewing of the trip. Having a vehicle or a prearranged lift matters here, as the small gaps between stops are easy to cover by road but nothing runs on a strict schedule.Day 3-4: Kongola: Head east through Bwabwata National Park, keeping eyes open for elephants beside the road. Kongola is your hinge, with the Kwando River, the Mashi Craft Market and the gate to Mudumu National Park. Use Day 3 for a boat trip and craft shopping, and Day 4 for a long game drive in Mudumu. … read more 👉

Day 1-2: Popa Falls: Start at the western end, at the Okavango River, because the strip’s single main road runs west to east and every leg after this flows downstream of your plans. Spend the first afternoon walking the rapids at Popa Falls, then use Day 2 for Mahango Core Area, where a loop drive gives you the densest game viewing of the trip. Having a vehicle or a prearranged lift matters here, as the small gaps between stops are easy to cover by road but nothing runs on a strict schedule.Day 3-4: Kongola: Head east through Bwabwata National Park, keeping eyes open for elephants beside the road. Kongola is your hinge, with the Kwando River, the Mashi Craft Market and the gate to Mudumu National Park. Use Day 3 for a boat trip and craft shopping, and Day 4 for a long game drive in Mudumu. The detour: if you have a high-clearance 4x4 and a guide or a confident driver, swing south into Nkasa Rupara for a half-day among buffalo and wetland birds, and then return to Kongola without disturbing the main route.Day 5: Katima Mulilo: Finish in the biggest town, where supplies, cash and onward transport to Zambia or Botswana are easy to find. Wander the open market in the morning when stalls are freshest, then take a river cruise in the evening. If one day justifies the whole trip, make it Day 4 in Mudumu: quiet tracks, river channels, elephants crossing in front of you and almost no one else around.

Eating along the Caprivi Strip is built around pap, a thick maize or millet porridge, served with stewed beef, spinach-like wild greens or fried bream pulled from the Zambezi and Kavango rivers. Bream arrives crisp-skinned with a squeeze of lemon and costs about US$4 to 8. Dried mopane worms are a salty, chewy local snack, sold from plastic tubs. Grilled meat, the braai, is a weekend ritual, with smoke rolling over every yard.For backpackers, open-air markets in Katima Mulilo and Rundu are the best value. Women sell fat cakes (vetkoek) hot from the oil for under US$1, roasted corn and grilled kapana meat sliced with chili salt, a plate for US$2 to 4. Small cafés and lodge restaurants serve burgers, schnitzel and curries for US$7 to 12. Stock up on groceries in Katima Mulilo before heading … read more 👉

Eating along the Caprivi Strip is built around pap, a thick maize or millet porridge, served with stewed beef, spinach-like wild greens or fried bream pulled from the Zambezi and Kavango rivers. Bream arrives crisp-skinned with a squeeze of lemon and costs about US$4 to 8. Dried mopane worms are a salty, chewy local snack, sold from plastic tubs. Grilled meat, the braai, is a weekend ritual, with smoke rolling over every yard.For backpackers, open-air markets in Katima Mulilo and Rundu are the best value. Women sell fat cakes (vetkoek) hot from the oil for under US$1, roasted corn and grilled kapana meat sliced with chili salt, a plate for US$2 to 4. Small cafés and lodge restaurants serve burgers, schnitzel and curries for US$7 to 12. Stock up on groceries in Katima Mulilo before heading to remote campsites.To drink, try a cold Windhoek Lager or Tafel at a riverside bar, where hippos grunt in the dusk. Local shebeens pour sweet homemade brews, and tea comes milky and heavily sugared.Share food from one pot when invited, use your right hand when eating pap by hand and wash first, as bowls of water are usually passed around. Greet people before ordering, and expect service to be unhurried.