Kwando Kwara Camp in the Okavango Delta

Kwando Kwara Camp is located in the remote northern part of the stunning Okavango Delta within the private Kwara concession. The camp fronts onto a huge floodplain, adjacent to the permanent water of the Delta and is backed by extensive bush. It is a magnificent wilderness area in excess of 1,700 square kilometres, bordering the Moremi Reserve. No trip to Botswana is complete without a visit to the Delta, the shimmering and unique watery jewel in the middle of the Kalahari desert. Kwara encompasses a wide diversity of habitats, ranging from the clear Delta waters with reed-lined lagoons and channels, to open grasslands, mopane woodlands and palm-fringed islands.

The eight luxury safari-style tents at Kwando Kwara Camp are built on raised decks, within a grove of huge and ancient African Ebony trees. Resident hippos will generally serenade you year round from the water on the floodplain in front of the camp. Each tent has its own viewing deck, private en-suite facilities including hot and cold running showers, flush toilets and modern amenities.

The forested island on which the camp sits is typical of those encountered throughout the vast 1.6 million hectares of the Okavango Delta. You will discover why the Okavango is considered one of the ecological wonders of Africa and indeed the world. It is mysterious, calming, unpredictable and very wild.

Kwando Kwara Camp also boast a honeymoon suite with its own special bathroom with an antique slipper bath with the traditional ball and claw feet. Hire a private vehicle and have the wilderness almost to your selves – enhanced by your own guide and tracker who will cater to your interests unobtrusively. The memory will live forever.

Like the other Kwando camps, Kwando Kwara Camp offers exclusive and private traverse for all its varied activities.

Here our guests can enjoy a diverse wildlife experience all year-round, but the focus is definitely on the water. Whether gliding along in the special silence of a mekoro dug out canoe through crystal-clear waters or visiting the famous Godikwe lagoon, where you can stand on a boat literally eye to eye with thousands of herons, storks and other nesting birds. Kwara is the nearest camp to this famous spectacle in Moremi Game Reserve.

Other species you can encounter through the channels and rivers at Kwando Kwara Camp are kingfishers, pygmy geese, fish eagles, jacanas, darters and if you’re really fortunate, the elusive Pels Fishing Owl.

Along with the bird watching, we’re able to offer fishing (spinner fishing, but please feel free to bring your own equipment should you want to fly fish), walks with a guide on one of the many palm-fringed islands and also spectacular night drives on top of our morning and afternoon drives. The beauty and charm of Kwando Kwara Camp will captivate you.

The area is also home to a variety of wild animals including, lechwe, sitatunga, reedbuck, bushbuck, hippo, crocodiles, elephant, buffalo, sable, roan, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, impala and tsessebe. Lion, hyaena, wild dog, leopard and cheetah are abundant in this part of the Delta and regularly seen.

Our highly skilled chefs prepare delicious meals, to round off a perfect day in Kwara’s watery wonderland.

Little Kwara Camp is situated in a tree’d island on the edge of the permanent waters of the world renowned Okavango Delta in Botswana. The concession shares a common boundary with Moremi Game Reserve.

This brand new camp is an intimate five-tent and is consistent with the Kwando Safaris promise: – Intimate Camps, in Private Areas, with Personal Service – Vintage Africa.

Hidden amongst trees, access is by air via the Kwara airstrip. While the camp will share a name with the well known, 16 bedded Kwara Camp also operated by Kwando Safaris, Little Kwara Camp is a completely separate camp from Kwara. The tents are spacious, and are elevated into the tree canopy on wooden decks each with its own private veranda. Each tent has it’s own en suite facilities comprising bathroom with bath and an inside/outside shower. This is an ideal camp for exclusive use by small groups and families.

Little Kwara Camp offers all the following activities – mekoro trips year round, double deck boat cruise, island walks as well as game drives both off road and at night. Fishing is also offered on request, using normal reel and rod fishing – flying fishing enthusiasts need to bring their own equipment. Guides and trackers will beat the same high standard as is normal in all Kwando Safaris Botswana camps.To put the concession area into context – 175 000 ha (or 1750 square kilometers ) is almost half a million acres !

The ability to operate off road and at night is critical in order to see the up to 30% of interesting mammal species that are mainly active at night. These include leopard, lion, wild dog, hyena and smaller predators. The presence of permanent water at Little Kwara ensures excellent year-round game viewing. The permanent water also ensures that mekoro trips (dugout canoes) can take place in shallow water throughout the year. Little Kwara is one of a handful of camps able to make this claim of being a wet and dry camp all year around.

The spectacular scenery with scattered herds of plains game and the ever-attendant predators helps to enhance your safari. Due to the labyrinth of waterways, islands, seasonal flood plains and bush, Little Kwara is always interesting and varied. Taking a morning mekoro trip, moving silently through the flood plains is a memorable experience and the highlight for many. The trip is broken by an island visit where guests rest in the shade of the large trees while surveying the surrounding delta waters and lagoons. After the refreshment break our trained and armed guides take you on a guided walk on the island before your relaxing return to camp by mekoro.

Little Kwara complements the Kwando concession experience by offering a spectacularly different setting, scenery and activities from those offered in the Kwando concession. The circuit offered by Kwando Safaris gives you the best of Botswana – when combined with Songwe Village on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls the experience becomes complete.

Kwando Safaris offers it all – Africa’s big game, the Okavango Delta, authentic African culture and the Victoria Falls. The Okavango Delta is a 1.6 million ha wilderness of water, reed, tress and flood plains in the middle of the Kalahari sands – the largest block of sand on earth. The Delta is world renowned for its biodiversity and contrasts – a must see on any African safari.

Kwando Kwara Camp Game Viewing

Whether you’re starting the day before sunrise to view the animal kingdom’s early risers or tracking the great nocturnal beasts with spotlights at night, the game viewing experience with Kwando Safaris is a holiday highlight for most people. Because of the unspoiled wilderness, the absence of fences and other man made infrastructures, we’re able to deliver the Africa you dreamed about. Wide open plains alive with game and palm trees or winding waterways teeming with birdlife. The great herds of elephant, buffalo and other animals are a Kwando trademark. Your game drives centre on the movement of animals, which are in turn dependent on the season and the rainfall. You might be hunting way off road with a pack of wild dogs one day or sitting silently watching elephant drink and bathe the next. Game drives themselves are an incredible adventure.

Every day is different at Kwando Kwara Camp. Our guides and trackers have a wealth of knowledge and will give you a complete picture of life in these abundant eco systems. How everything from termites and dung beetles, even grasses and soils, right up to lion, cheetah and elephant, contribute to the balance of life. Not all safari operations have trackers on vehicles, but it’s our belief that another set of trained eyes are an essential part of your drive, increasing the odds of seeing something special. Also this allows the guide to concentrate his or her attention on the guests, answering questions and looking after their needs. A big advantage of our set up is that we permit just six guests per vehicle in two rows of seats. We believe this makes for a far more intimate safari experience and ensures more leg room and overall comfort. You’ll stop for sundowners on the evening drive, winter and summer, where you can absorb the wonderful silence of the bush and the sunset, with a cooling or warming drink.

Once again, the Kwando camps are all on private land, so we’re not restricted by roads, nor the time of day. In some of the camps in the National Parks areas, there are limitations on your game drive movements. At Kwando, if you wish to hunt with the lions deep into the African night, its entirely your prerogative! As we’ve mentioned elsewhere, just remember, the drives are in open vehicles, so a hat and sunscreen all through the year is a must … and very warm clothing, sweaters, jackets, gloves and scarves are highly recommended for winter (May through August). We also provide each guest with animal and bird checklists, which you can tick off along the way.