A mokoro is a dugout canoe poled through the shallow channels of the Okavango Delta. You sit low in the water while a poler stands at the stern and pushes the boat along reed-lined waterways, usually in the morning or late afternoon.

It is the quiet way into the Delta. There is no engine. You hear reed frogs, fish eagles and the knock of the pole, and you pass lily pads, papyrus and small islands where lechwe, elephant and hippo use the same channels. Hippo are given a wide berth. The poler knows the bends.

A typical outing lasts two to three hours from a camp or a mokoro station on the edge of the flood. Some itineraries add a short walk on an island between channels, with a guide, then return by boat before the heat builds. Flood season opens more water; the dry months narrow the channels and pull game toward what is left.