Mango's Favorites: Okavango Delta, Botswana

The Okavango Delta is a marvelous maze of channels, islands and lagoons that create a paradise for wildlife and birdlife. Reliable water and abundant grazing means plentiful herbivores. This in turn attracts myriad predators from leopards and cheetahs to lions and wild dogs. If you're a birding enthusiast, there are few places on Earth that compare. Over 400 species call the delta home, including Africa's largest (the ostrich) and smallest (the penduline tit) species. A haven for elephants and other endangered species, such as rhino, conservation has long been a priority in this region and it shows. The game viewing is fabulous and diverse, and the variety of camps are as well. With countless nights spent exploring the Okavango, we have done the legwork and checked out dozens of great camps. Below are our favorites and a little insight as to why we love them...

CASEY HERMANSEN

KWARA CAMP
I love a room with some sort of view, not enclosed in the bushes.  Kwara’s tented rooms all look out onto a lake (with water all year round) and home to many, many hippos.  It is such fun trying to fall asleep listening to the munching hippos, so awake at night grazing and snorting and splashing.  This camp has an exceptional wildlife viewing area and exciting boat cruises in the lily padded waterways of the Delta.  Plus, trying your hand at fishing is fun – although all I’ve ever caught was grass…

TERESA SULLIVAN

MOMBO CAMP
Beyond the privacy, the luxury and the incredible density of wildlife, I love the elevated walkways that the buffalo like to sleep under. Sitting on your veranda seeing 7 different mammals on the floodplain in front of camp is magic. Leopards pose in trees. I can’t wait to take my family in March.

BRIAN HUGGINS

LITTLE VUMBURA
Little Vumbura is my favorite place in Botswana . It is small and intimate with just 6 rooms, boasting some amazing staff and service, located on a tiny island along a main delta chanel, and really offering guests a little bit of everything from top notch game drives, guided walks and boating and canoe safaris. This is, in my mind, the quintessential Okavango Delta camp.

SUZANNE SPENCER

GOMOTI PLAINS CAMP
This lovely camp is set in a high quality wildlife area in the southern region of the delta.  It has a classic Okavango Delta landscape with a great variety of habitat including seasonally flooded plains, water channels, grasslands and forested islands.  This variety simply means great wildlife diversity and viewing – lions, leopards, wild dog, buffalo, roan, sable, tons of giraffe and so much more!  The staff is lovely and makes you feel right at home. 

KELSEA LEE

KWETSANI CAMP
Tucked away in the wildlife dense Jao Concession, this camp feels like Robinson Crusoe meets African safari with a splash of luxury. I love that all of the guest rooms are tucked up into the canopy treehouse-style. Each one has a deck overlooking the flood plains so you can do a little armchair game viewing whenever you feel like it. Wake up with the birds all around you and stroll down to the main area on the elevated walkways for a little breakfast before heading out on safari - nothing better than that!

You can stay in one of our favorites too! Give us a call or email today to get started planning your own dream Okavango Delta safari. 

Email: info@mangosafari.com
Portland: 503.282.9009
Denver: 303.698.9220