AFRICA EXPLORED

Safaris in the Okavango Delta include mobile safaris, camping safaris and fly-in safaris. Whichever you book will take you into some remote beautiful areas with excellent game viewing.

The Delta is an area of peace and tranquillity where you can glide gently and silently through the reeds or along hippo paths in mokoros. Brightly-coloured kingfishers and many other birds can be seen, including the magnificent African Fish Eagle with its haunting cry, which will remain in your memory forever.

It is also an area where the shy sitatunga antelope can sometimes if you are fortunate, be seen living in the reed-beds. On some of the larger islands in the Delta can be found the wide variety of animals Botswana is renowned for including lion, elephant, buffalo and on a few wild dogs.

From Angola in the north, the Okavango River runs south into Botswana and then spills over its banks and spreads out to form the greatest Delta in the world - the Okavango Delta, 'The Jewel of the Kalahari'. The crystal-clear water spreads out over the Kalahari sands, flowing around islands, through channels and reed beds and offers one of the most beautiful sights in the world.

Jao Camp

Jao Camp is situated in a private reserve on a remote large island, to the west of the Moremi Game Reserve in the heart of the Okavango Delta. Across the waterway in front of camp, guests have access to open flood plains and savannah for a wonderful Okavango experience.

Okavango-Safaris-Jao Guests are accommodated in 9 large and spacious rooms. Each of the unique and beautiful twin-bedded canvas and thatched rooms has been individually handcrafted. The rooms are built under a canopy of shady trees, with en-suite bathroom, hot and cold running water, a large bath and double vanities. There is an additional outside shower under the stars for those more adventurous guests who want to shower closer to nature. There is an outdoor "sala" for guests to enjoy midday siestas with a view and a breeze. The rooms are raised off the ground and offer wonderful views of the surrounding flood plains.

A raised walkway connects the rooms to the dining room and lounge area. There is a plunge pool and an outdoor 'boma' for dining under the stars, as well as an excellent wine cellar. Jao also offers a Salon with a full-time therapist offering a wide range of massage therapies.

The activities at Jao include mekoros (dug out canoe) excursions, boats, fishing, day and night game drives and guided walks. If the area has a large flood, we will usually have to boat to a large island called Hunda Island where vehicles are waiting and the game drives start. The area is extremely seasonal and the annual flood transforms the habitat from dry green open plains in summer to shallow flood plains in the winter. Link to camp web site

Jacana Camp

Situated about 25 kilometres west of Mombo, outside the Moremi Game reserve on the Jao flats, Jacana Camp is a truly water-oriented camp and offers mokoro and walking safaris all year round. As the floodwaters recede game drives and night drives in open 4 x 4 Land Rovers are available from about September to May, depending on water levels. The camp is set in one of the most densely populated wetland areas for Sitatunga and Red Lechwe. Game concentrations depend on water flow and volume and change from season to season. All the big game can be found in the area - elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo. Pels Fishing Owl is a favourite amongst birders as well as greater and lesser Jacanas.

Jacana Camp has 5 meru-style tents. Each tent is on a wooden deck overlooking the flood plains and has an en-suite bathroom with flush toilet and shower. The bathroom is enclosed, but roofless. The main dining area is on an elevated wooden deck between two magnificent sycamore fig trees and surrounded by dense wild date palms. Downstairs, there is a cosy bar and lounge with an area to sit around an open fire under the stars. Link to camp web site

Shinde

Shinde is nestled on a lush palm dotted area in the heart of the northern Okavango Delta. Located at the edge of a lagoon, it is surrounded by clear waterways which flow over yellow sands and past palm-fringed islands teeming with birdlife and game. This is a photographer's delight. It's remoteness has ensured that the innocent wildlife has not been subject to the pressures of mass tourism. The island is especially favoured by members of the antelope family, including the elusive sitatunga whose elongated and splayed hooves enable it to walk on the unstable beds of reeds floating on the water.

Okavango-Safaris-Shinde

The camp is made up of 8 large twin-bedded safari style tents all with en-suite facilities. Each bathroom is equipped with a shower, a flush toilet and hot and cold running water. Raised above the ground and split into various levels, the decks of Shinde Camp offer views of the delta.

The camp offers two ways of viewing wildlife - by land and by water. Game drives are in rugged open Toyota Landcruisers specially built for game viewing and photography and are conducted by experienced guides who take guests to the most spectacular viewing spots. Game drives are available morning, afternoon and evening. Walking with an armed guide is a very special experience. The Okavango Delta supports the most varied profusion of wildlife in Southern Africa and exploring the lagoons and waterways by mokoro (local canoe) is an extraordinary experience. Guided by an expert poler, guests can quietly seek out hippo, crocodile and the myriad birdlife. For those who wish to do something different they can test their angling skills (and strength!) against the feisty fighting tiger fish, bream, pike and catfish.

Shinde's abundant wildlife and the silent waters of the Okavango combine to make your stay a rare experience indeed! Link to camp web site

Kanana

Kanana means “paradise” in Setswana and with its remote location in the inner reaches of the Delta, its name can hardly describe the natural treasures found here.

Kanana Kanana Camp is located in the remote inner reaches of the Delta. The 8 deluxe luxury style tents (accommodating 16 guests) are built on stilts to insure a good view of the floodplains for all guests. The common facilities of the camps are also built up on stilts overlooking these floodplains. Kanana Camp is built among spectacular shade trees of Ebony, Knob Thorn Acacia and the Sausage Tree. The dining and sitting areas are raised on decking encircling a massive ancient fig tree.

The area is an excellent walking and Mokoro area. While game viewing in 4x4 vehicles is available and very popular, one can best experience this region by viewing game on foot or by gliding silently through the delta by Mokoro canoe. It is only you, the animals and the earth which glide effortlessly into your heart – all at the hands of your expert guide, this is safari as it was meant to be experienced.

Besides the elephant, a wide variety of other game frequent the delta, including impala, lechwe, hippo, crocodile and lion. In addition Kanana camp is one of the few lucky camps in the Okavango Delta to have near by an exclusive heronry where many migratory water birds come to have their young from July onwards. This is a very important nesting site for these birds and one of the few in the Delta. The birds you are likely to see roosting here are the yellow bill stork, marabou, open bill stork, darters cormorants and slate egrets. Kanana Camp is now regularly reporting sightings of the rare Pels fishing owl in addition to hyena, which have also become a rare sighting in this area. Even more rare are the Situanga, which live in swamps and are very good swimmers. They may take to the water to evade predators such as leopards or wild dogs, lying submerged in pools with only their nostrils above the surface.

Little Vumburu

Little Vumburu offers both water and land activities. Mokoros traverse the flood plains under the guidance of polers from the BaYei tribe, who have been using mokoros as their traditional form of transport for hundreds of years. Boats take guests onto the larger and deeper areas of water (water levels permitting). This is possibly the Okavango-Safaris-vumburu only area in the Okavango where one can see Red Lechwe from a mokoro in the morning, then a Sable antelope from a game vehicle in the afternoon. Add in Lion, Leopard, Elephant and Buffalo along with all the plains game, and one has an excellent all round game experience in a remote corner of the Okavango. Walks on the islands give guests the opportunity to enjoy Africa from a different perspective.

Each of the 6 tented rooms has en-suite facilities with hot and cold running water, a shower, and flush toilet as well as an outdoor shower under the stars. The dining, lounge and bar areas are tucked beneath a canopy of spreading trees looking out over the flood plain. The camp has a plunge pool. Link to camp web site

AFRICA EXPLORED

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Thorpe Le Soken, Essex, CO16 0HN

Tel: ++ (0)1255 446250

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