Oddballs Camp in the Okavango Delta
Oddballs Camp is situated on the edge of Chief’s Island, deep in the heart of the Okavango, bordering the Moremi Game Reserve. The camp is accessible by light aircraft only. On arrival, you are met at the airstrip by your personal guide and welcomed to the island. He remains your guide for the duration of your stay.
Accommodation is in 3m x 3m dome tents, fully equipped, and set on elevated wooden decks shaded by reed shelters. Each tent has its own, semi-detached bathroom with hot and cold running water and an al fresco bucket shower – in true safari style.
Oddballs Camp offers no motorized activities. Each guide has his own mokoro (pl. mekoro), (the genuine wooden article, not the plastic replica), in which he’ll take you gliding through the Okavango to nearby islands, where he’ll walk you through magnificent scenery to view game, birds, insects, medicinal plants, tracks, signs, droppings, and other fascinating natural phenomena.
Guests usually go out in the early morning, returning for a late breakfast, and venture out again in the afternoon after the midday heat has dissipated. Should you wish to go out for the whole day, we’ll be happy to pack you a picnic lunch.
For guests staying a minimum of four nights, we also offer overnight camping trails by mokoro, for a minimum of two nights – although we recommend three or more to get the best out of this unique safari. Our trails are amongst the most sought-after wilderness experiences in the world today, offering an opportunity to experience life in serenity and on its own terms in a way not easily achieved in the modern world.
The bar and lounge areas at Oddballs Camp provide a great meeting place and somewhere to swap stories around the fire. There is a great raised viewing deck that overlooks the sweep of the Delta – the perfect vantage from which to watch the sun set over the palms and view whatever wildlife may be visiting.
LOCATION: Oddballs is situated on the edge of Chief’s Island, deep in the heart of the Okavango, and bordering the Moremi Game Reserve.
THE FOCUS: Oddballs Camp offers an extraordinary value-for-money experience in the Okavango. Activities are conducted by your own professional guide (a maximum of two guests per guide), a man of the swamp, born and bred in the area. No motorized activities are offered, with the emphasis on a quiet, slow, and intensely personal experience of the African bush.
ACCESS: only by air, a 20-minute flight from Maun, 50 minutes from Kasane.
GPS CO-ORDINATES: 19°31′ 47.05″ S and 23° 05′ 26.59″ E
ACCOMMODATION: We accommodate 30 guests in 15 dome tents (including two family units), fully equipped, and set on elevated wooden decks shaded by canvas shelters. Each tent has its own rustic en-suite bathroom facilities with hot and cold running water. A reed and thatch hut of romantic island charm constitutes our honeymoon suite.
ACTIVITIES: Daily walks with your own professional guide Mokoro excursions with your own professional guide Overnight camping trails by mekoro (minimum two nights on trail, more recommended) Full-day picnics
CHILDREN: we love them! We have two family units and no age restrictions – you know your children and as you will not be doing any excursions in the company of other guests you have only yourselves to consider.
WILDLIFE: The Okavango Delta is home to a large variety of Game from Big Five (excluding the Rhino), hippopotamus and crocodile, as well as giraffe and antelope including the rare lechwe, tsessebe and sitatunga. Otters, honey-badgers, the shy pangolin, and a variety of the smaller wild cats such as civets, servals and genets are also seen on occasion in the Delta. Many species of snakes (most of them harmless) occur, as do several tortoise, terrapin, lizard, skinks, chameleon and gecko – not forgetting, the Nile crocodile. Then of course there are the birds, the Okavango Delta is a birding paradise with well over 450 species (many rare and endangered), that bring the Okavango Delta to life.
CONSIDERING THE WILD: The power at is generated by solar panels, and where possible the water is also heated this way. Oddballs Camp also ensure that the large fuel tankers do not cross floodplains and streams or cut through forests to deliver diesel for their generators. All generators are in excellent working condition and do not emit unneccesary air and noise pollution.