Edition 46: Spring 2009

Travel Africa has teamed up with award-winning guidebook publisher Bradt to help you find the perfect place to stay on your next adventure. In this edition we delve into the depths of Bradt’s tome on safaris in Botswana, written by Chris McIntyre, and highlight a few of its top choices, ranging from budget to 5-Star, in the Okavango Delta. 

The Okavango Delta’s lodges and camps vary from palatial residences crafted by top designers to simple spots with a few small tents, and a table in the shade. When the words ‘tented camp’ are mentioned, forget your memories of cramped scout tents and think
instead of canvas designer chic.

Expensive doesn’t always mean luxurious. Some of the top camps are very simply constructed. As a quid pro quo, looking for basic, simple camps won’t make your trip any cheaper. You’re usually paying for virtually exclusive use of pristine wilderness areas, and will find little cost difference between a tiny bus-camp and the largest lodge. In fact, if anything, there’s increasingly a premium on space in smaller camps.

Mbiroba Camp
This is one of the region’s more established community ventures, which is succeeding in offering a simple, good-value product to travellers who are not expecting 5-Star luxury. The camp’s chalets are simple, two-storey constructions with solar-powered lighting, and solar-heated water for the outdoor shower. (Mbiroba Camp; www.okavangodelta.co.bw)

Jacana Camp
It’s a much smaller, simpler camp than most in the delta, and stands on a small island in the beautiful Jao Flats area. As with Jao Camp, the density of date palms lends Jacana the feeling of a tropical island. Jacana Camp is a good-value choice for a couple of nights, especially towards the end of the dry season.
(Wilderness Safaris; www.wilderness-safaris.com)

Jao Camp
Imagine what Tarzan would have built if he’d had a few million dollars and some chic Italian designers, and you’re close to imagining Jao Camp. The rooms are probably the most luxurious and spacious in the Okavango region. It’s an obvious choice for honeymoon couples.
(Wilderness Safaris; www.wilderness-safaris.com)

Abu Camp
Abu Camp is the main place in the delta for riding elephants. It overlooks a lagoon and consists of very luxurious tents raised up on teak decking. Despite being far from most people’s image of a tent, they retain the zipped doors and roll-down windows of more traditional safari tents. (Wilderness Safaris; www.wilderness-safaris.com)

Footsteps
This is one of the few operations in the delta that take walking safaris really seriously. Numbers here are small, involving a maximum of six people at a time. Accommodation is in small, twin-bedded tents. It’s all very rustic, with dinner usually eaten under the stars – standards of food are good.
(Ker & Downey Botswana; www.kerdowney.com)

Mombo
It stands on wooden decking raised high off the ground and overlooks wide floodplains. The main dining area has a long polished wooden table under a thatched roof for candlelit dinners. Mombo ‘tents’ are very large. On one side is a thatched sala, or small gazebo, with a mattress and cushions, which makes a nice shady spot from which to watch game.

(Wilderness Safaris; www.wilderness-safaris.com)

Chief’s Camp
Chief’s secluded tents are raised slightly off the ground on decking. Each tent has a wooden door and polished wood floor. The décor is stylish and partly modern, partly ethnic – including masks made by the Teke people of Cameroon. When we last visited, Chief’s food was good and imaginative, and accompanied with an impressive selection of wine.
(Sanctuary Lodges; www.sanctuarylodges.com)

Nxabega
Nxabega’s lounge/dining area is constructed on a grand scale from wood, stone and a high shaggy thatched roof, around a huge jackalberry tree. The rooms are of high quality, large tents raised up on platforms overlooking the floodplain. All are well spread out. The food is particularly good. If you’ve ever wanted to do a late-night drive after dinner to look for aardvarks, Nxabega is a good choice!
(&BEYOND; www.andbeyond.com)

Shinde
Standing in the heart of the NG21 Reserve, its tents are of several different designs, though all are in a relatively traditional safari style. Recently, three new tents overlooking an expanse of papyrus and reeds dotted with palm islands have been built for private groups. Known as The Enclave, it incorporates its own bar, boma, dining area and lounge.
(Ker & Downey Botswana; www.kerdowney.com)

Xakanaxa Campsite
This government campsite stretches along the tip of the Mopane Tongue. I’ve always loved these sites, and on my last visit in September the purple hanging flowers of the Kalahari appleleaf were in full force, reminding me of small jacaranda trees.

Sandibe
It stands in a band of thick riverine vegetation, and the pathways through the camp weave between natural bush. A favourite feature of the lodge is the boma area outside, where at night they have a central fire under tall trees, surrounded by lots of magical candlelight. Like Nxabega, it has a large staff enabling it to be better than most camps at tailoring its activities to what guests want and when they want it.
(&BEYOND; www.andbeyond.com)

Chitabe Lediba (formerly Chitabe Trails)
It uses exactly the same style of tents and furniture as the main Chitabe Camp. However, here the tents are built on the ground, not on platforms, and they’re linked by natural paths through the bush rather than polished walkways. Although very unprepossessing, Chitabe Lediba remains one of my favourite camps in the delta.

(Wilderness Safaris; www.wilderness-safaris.com)

Baines Camp
Named after Victorian painter Thomas Baines, this new camp is rather funky in design. Linked by raised wooden walkways, the ‘tents’ are unusual in that their solid walls are built out of recycled materials. Distressed frames surround pictures on the walls, lampshades are of ostrich eggshell, and there’s an easel in each room where guests can paint. More contemporary are the walls of glass, and ‘star beds’, which can be rolled out on to the decking under the stars.

(Sanctuary Lodges; www.sanctuarylodges.com)