---
type: "Article"
title: "Bush pilot adventure: on flight safari into the Okavango Delta"
description: "To go on safari in the Okavango Delta, you will need to let yourself be flown by a bush pilot into the inland delta. What an adventure!"
resource: "https://travelmemo.com/botswana/bush-pilot-flight-safari-wilderness-air"
author: "Walter Schaerer"
publisher: "Travelmemo"
photo_count: 12
tags: ["Experience", "Flight", "Safari", "Wilderness Safaris", "Botswana"]
entities:
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/places/botswana"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/places/africa"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/places/zimbabwe"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/experience-travel"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/air-travel"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/safari"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/restaurant"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/organizations/wilderness-safaris"
  - "https://travelmemo.com/author/walter-schaerer"
generated: { by: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/walter-schaerer", at: 2026-07-04T14:14:08+00:00 }
verified:
  - { by: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/katja-birrer", at: 2016-07-24T09:39:51+00:00 }
sources:
  - id: photos
    resource: bush-pilot-flight-safari-wilderness-air.md#photos
    title: "Original photography by Walter Schaerer"
    author: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/walter-schaerer"
    last_modified: 2016-06-07
timestamp: 2026-07-04T14:14:08+00:00
---

# Bush pilot adventure: on flight safari into the Okavango Delta

> Flying by bush pilot into the Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta, is the only way to reach its remote safari camps — an adventure in itself, complete with tiny Cessna aircraft, sand-strip landings, and wildlife on the runway.

## Destination
Okavango Delta, Botswana, accessed via the small airport at Kasane and operated through the Wilderness Air hub in Maun.

## Getting there
Flights depart from Kasane airport in small 4-passenger Cessna aircraft operated by Wilderness Air; baggage is strictly limited to 20 kg including carry-on and camera gear.

## When to go
The article does not specify an ideal season, though it notes thermal turbulence is typical over the delta's mix of swamps, rivers, savannahs and lagoons.

## Why visit
The delta offers a fly-in safari experience unlike any other, combining aerial views of a vast green and blue wilderness with remote bush camps reachable only by light aircraft.

## What to see
- **Okavango Delta from the air** — Sweeping aerial views of swamps, rivers, lagoons, savannahs and meadows teeming with wildlife.
- **Sand airstrips in the bush** — Remote, single-runway strips of pounded sand where pilots first do a low pass to clear wildebeest and impala before landing.
- **Tubu Tree Camp** — A bush camp in the delta where the authors stayed and dined with their bush pilot.
- **Kings Pool Camp, Linyanti** — A highly regarded camp reached by a short Cessna hop from Tubu Tree Camp.

## What to do
- **Fly-in bush safari** — Board a 4-passenger Cessna piloted by a Wilderness Air bush pilot and hop between remote delta camps.
- **Wildlife spotting from the air** — Pilot points out landmarks and animals on the aeronautical map and below during flight.

## Good to know
Baggage allowance on the Cessna is 20 kg total, including carry-on and camera equipment. Hyenas are known to chew aircraft rubber and fabric overnight at bush airstrips — the authors' plane had its horizontal stabilizer and tires damaged, causing a two-hour delay until a relief pilot arrived.

## Photos

```yaml
photos:
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Kasane-airport-luggage.jpg"
    caption: "Unser \"leichtes Gepäck\" ist bereit für die Flug-Safari"
    keywords: ["Botswana", "Cessna", "Okavango Delta", "Wilderness Air", "luggage", "tarmac"]
    captured: 2016-06-02
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Michaela-Katja-Kasane-airport.jpg"
    caption: "Bushpilot Michaela and Katja"
    keywords: ["A2-AIV", "Botswana", "Cessna", "Michaela Meiswinkel", "Okavango Delta", "Wilderness Air", "bushpilot", "flight safari", "tarmac"]
    captured: 2016-06-02
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Michaela-Meiswinkel-Cessna-Kasane-airport.jpg"
    caption: "Michaela loading luggage"
    keywords: ["A2-AIV", "Botswana", "Cessna", "Okavango Delta", "Wilderness Air", "bushpilot", "flight safari", "tarmac"]
    captured: 2016-06-02
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Katja-Walter-Flug-Safari.jpg"
    caption: "Katja and Walter on a flight safari"
    keywords: ["A2-AIV", "Botswana", "Cessna", "Okavango Delta", "Walter Schaerer", "flight safari"]
    captured: 2016-06-02
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Little-Mombo-Camp-aerial-view.jpg"
    caption: "Luftiger Ausblick auf das Okavango Delta"
    keywords: ["Africa", "Botswana", "Little Mombo Camp", "Moremi Game Reserve", "Wilderness Safaris", "aerial view", "travelmemo"]
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Galopping-Wildebeest-airstrip.jpg"
    caption: "Galopping wildebeest on airstrip"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Michaela-safari-catwalk.jpg"
    caption: "Michaela going on safari"
    keywords: ["Botswana", "Michaela Meiswinkel", "Okavango Delta", "Safari", "Tubu Tree Camp", "bushpilot", "camp", "catwalk", "safari jeep"]
    captured: 2016-06-05
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Cessna-tail-wings-debris.jpg"
    caption: "Hyena chewing the tail wings and tires"
    keywords: ["A2-ANT", "Botswana", "Cessna", "Okavango Delta", "Wilderness Air", "airstrip", "debris", "flight safari", "tail wings"]
    captured: 2016-06-05
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Kaone-Walter-cockpit.jpg"
    caption: "Bushpilot Kaone flying Walter out of hyena trouble"
    keywords: ["Botswana", "Cessna", "Kaone Masilonyane", "Okavango Delta", "Wilderness Air", "bushpilot", "flight safari"]
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Cessna-airstrip-safari.jpg"
    caption: "Flight safari boarding on Moremi airstrip"
    keywords: ["A2-AIV", "Botswana", "Cessna", "Okavango Delta", "Wilderness Air", "airstrip", "bushpilot", "flight safari"]
    captured: 2016-06-07
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Cessna-wing-antenna.jpg"
    caption: "Cessna wing and antenna"
    keywords: ["A2-AIV", "Botswana", "Cessna", "Okavango Delta", "Wilderness Air", "antenna", "flight safari"]
    captured: 2016-06-02
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
  - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Cessna-safari-jeep.jpg"
    caption: "Cessna and safari jeep"
    keywords: ["A2-AIV", "Botswana", "Cessna", "Okavango Delta", "Wilderness Air", "airstrip", "flight safari", "safari jeep"]
    captured: 2016-06-02
    credit: "Walter Schärer"
```