Camping In The Okavango Delta
Experience the Untamed Beauty of the Okavango Delta Through Immersive Mobile Camping Safaris
By a coincidence of geography and geology, Botswana has within its boundaries one of the world's great inland waterways, the Okavango Delta. The Okavango River drains water from the Angola highlands into a depression or trough which collects in a delta spreading over 10000 square kilometres. This is a happy accident because this area would otherwise be an arid desert-like much of the surrounding area.
It is also a happy accident for all the wildlife, providing the life-giving element of water and concentrating vast herds of game. All this happiness extends to the safari tourist who has the privilege and pleasure of seeing all these animals in a sublime and unique setting of water, islands, and savannah. For this safari visitor, there are many fantastic and luxurious camps to accommodate them. Mombo, Vumbura and Eagle Island camps are synonymous with the best safari accommodation available.
There is another way of seeing the Okavango, perhaps a more natural way which is closer to nature and a greater wilderness experience; mobile camping has been established in this area for decades. The great advantage is that you have your own personal safari driver and ranger who will stop at any interesting observation point for watching wildlife, or for a picnic or lunch or just to stretch your legs and at the end of the day, you will settle down to an already erected tented camp.
You will there enjoy meals prepared by some of the best safari cooks in the industry. The variety of food that these cooks prepare in a pit oven is truly amazing. Slumming it, you are certainly not. Sleeping in nature on a comfortable bed and mattress with the night stars and animals for company, you will awake with a camp servant bringing you fresh, warm towels and water.
On one memorable occasion, our own Nicky found she couldn't get to sleep as she was too excited by the noise of an elephant with a rumbling stomach who had settled by her tent.
This is the stuff of real safaris. The bonus for me was travelling by mokoro (dugout canoes) through an arm of the waterways and watching the game drink peacefully and in harmony with nature. Many people yearn for adventure yet in our busy urban lives do not have the skills or capacity to do their own camping safari. For them and for many others who just simply want an unhurried and natural safari experience, mobile camping is the answer.
Camping in the Okavango Delta
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Map of Lodges in and around Botswana
Lodges And Camps In Botswana
Tuli Safari Lodge Mashatu
Tuli Safari Lodge Mashatu sits in shady gardens on the Limpopo in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve. Tented suites stand on timber decks, the pool is set into a sandstone outcrop, and the grounds hold a waterhole, hide and walking trail.
Mashatu Tent Camp
Choose Mashatu Tent Camp if you want canvas rather than walls: Meru-style tents under big trees, open-air bathrooms and no air-conditioning. Dinner in the boma looks out over a floodlit waterhole, and a plunge pool takes the edge off hot afternoons.
Koro River Camp
Koro River Camp stands on a wooden deck on the Limpopo's bank, upstream of its island sister in the Kwa Tuli Private Game Reserve. Canvas suites, a pool above the river and a riverside massage area, with game drives and walks from camp.
Koro Island Camp
Reached only by a suspension bridge, Koro Island Camp occupies a small island in the Limpopo, in the Kwa Tuli Private Game Reserve. A few tents under riverine trees, a thatched lounge and a riverside boma make it a good fit for small groups and families.
Mashatu Euphorbia Villas
For privacy, Mashatu Euphorbia Villas hides its villas, each shaped like a mopane pod, in a euphorbia forest on a cliff above the Majale River. Each has its own plunge pool, game drives carry no more than four guests, and the camp runs on solar power.
Mashatu Lodge
Mashatu Lodge faces a floodlit waterhole where elephants come to drink. Air-conditioned suites ring the lodge, some interconnecting for families, and the Discovery Room shows finds from the reserve. Walks, cycling and horse riding add to the drives.
Planet Baobab
Planet Baobab stands among giant baobabs near Gweta, its thatched huts and shady campsite gathered round a pool and bar. Habituated meerkats, baobab walks, village visits and game drives to Ntwetwe Pan run from camp, with quad biking on the pans in the dry season.
Meno a Kwena
Meno a Kwena perches on a clifftop above the Boteti River, looking across to the protected Makgadikgadi Pans. Expect a floating hide at water level, boating, San-guided walks and a rock pool, plus a sleep-out on the pans for stays of three nights or more.