Thamalakane River

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The Thamalakane River is in Botswana, at the southern edge of the Okavango Delta. It has no clear start or end because it is part of the delta’s water system.

The river began about two million years ago when the Thamalakane fault formed. Land between two faults dropped, blocking the Okavango River and causing water to spread into many channels that became the Okavango Delta.

One main channel draining the delta is the Boro River. The fault blocks the water so it turns to flow into the Thamalakane River at a right angle. About 40 kilometers to the west, water found a break in the Thamalakane Fault and turned again at right angles to form the Boteti River. The Boteti often dries up in its lower parts, but during the rainy season it flows toward the Makgadikgadi Pans, bringing life to the area.

In earlier times, the Boro fed the Thamalakane and smaller channels such as Boronyana and Shashe. The town of Maun grew along the Thamalakane River, and its water comes from wells near the Thamalakane and Shashe.