The Batawana chief Moremi once hunted this island, and it is hunting country still. Elephants, buffalo, zebras and red lechwe feed across the floodplains of Chief’s Island. Lions and wild dogs follow the herds to the island’s permanent water. Leopards and cheetahs hunt the same ground, as do spotted hyenas, all of it protected inside Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana’s Okavango Delta.
Lions and wild dogs follow the herds to the island’s permanent water.
Chief’s Camp, rebuilt in 2016, is ten thatched pavilions and a two-bedroom suite on stilts in the island’s northern half. Every pavilion has a wraparound deck and plunge pool looking out over the floodplain, and the camp sits on the edge of a waterhole where elephants come to drink. Some of the day’s first sightings come from the deck over morning coffee, before the guide arrives for the first drive.
Game drives leave every morning and afternoon, all year round, in open 4x4s. Out on the floodplain, the big cats stalk antelope, zebra and buffalo, and the guides are adept at tracking the day’s best sightings. Afternoon drives end at a chosen spot for sundowners and canapes as the sun drops, before the run back to camp.
Mokoro trips begin once the water arrives, so the boats follow the flood, not the calendar.
The flood that fills the Delta’s channels each year starts as rain in the Angolan highlands, far to the north. Mokoro trips begin once the water arrives, so the boats follow the flood, not the calendar. When the channels are full, a guide poles the mokoro out through the reeds at water level. For the wider picture, a helicopter with its doors off flies west over the permanent Delta, where the water stays all year and the same channels unspool below.
Guests fly in from Maun to the camp’s own airstrip, and the short flight explains the Okavango better than any map. Below the aircraft, Moremi’s old mopane woodland breaks into lagoons and islands, open grassland and seasonal floodplain, the Delta dividing into land and water. Chief’s Island is the largest of those islands, and its edges are never fixed. In flood, the plain the elephants cross to reach the waterhole turns to lagoon. Birdlife is rich in the trees around camp and out on the floodplain.
Jackalberry trees shade the main area, and their wood carries indoors. It is the timber traditionally hollowed out for mokoros, and here it is used alongside the whitewood of the main bar, under thatch that rises high over exposed beams. The furnishings run to jute and leather, linen and timber, with woven rugs and beaded chandeliers, and the wall hangings draw on local craft. The pool is set into the main deck beside an open-plan bar, with a library, a gym and a safari shop alongside. A separate deck is built around the oven for the camp’s home-made pizza.
In flood, the plain the elephants cross to reach the waterhole turns to lagoon.
Staff greet new arrivals with a song, and on some evenings the whole team sings again. Anyone wanting privacy can eat on their own deck, and on other nights drinks are served around the boma fire before dinner. The hours between drives are left loose, for the pool, the gym or the spa.
Children are welcome from six, and a children’s retreat runs its own activities for them. Families, or any group of up to six, can take the two-bedroom private suite, a self-contained camp within the camp. It has its own kitchen and indoor lounge, secluded decks and a private boma for dinners by the fire. A guide and vehicle come with it, along with a chef, a waiter and a housekeeper. That vehicle changes the pace of a safari with children, since the guide can head back when attention runs out, or stay with a sighting for an hour when it does not.
accommodation
Ten thatched pavilions on stilts and a two-bedroom private suite for up to six. Each pavilion has a lounge under high thatch, with floor-to-ceiling windows, fans and air-conditioning over the bed. There is a minibar and safe, and a bathroom with a deep tub. Outside, a covered wraparound deck holds the plunge pool and outdoor shower.
activities
Game drives run morning and afternoon year-round in open 4x4s inside Moremi Game Reserve. Mokoro trips begin once the flood fills the channels. Doors-off helicopter flights can be arranged at extra cost, and the spa, gym and pool fill the hours in between.
conservation
Moremi Game Reserve is protected land, so drives keep to the reserve's regulations. The camp's own footprint is small: ten pavilions and one suite on the Delta's largest island. The spa uses all-natural, environmentally conscious products.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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No. Chief's Camp is a separate camp, run independently of Mombo, on the north-western side of Chief's Island inside Moremi Game Reserve. Mombo Camp and Little Mombo sit about sixteen kilometres away at the island's northern tip and use their own airstrip, while Chief's Camp has an airstrip of its own a couple of kilometres from the tents.
What they do share is the island. Chief's Island is the largest island of dry ground in Moremi, standing above the flood, and its permanent water draws red lechwe, zebra, buffalo and elephant. Lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena and wild dog follow them, which is why the island has such a name for predators.
By light aircraft. International flights land at Maun, and from there it is under half an hour in a small plane to the camp's own airstrip on Chief's Island, followed by a short game drive into camp. The same light aircraft link Chief's Camp with other camps across the Delta and with Kasane, so it can come at any point on a Botswana route rather than only at the start.
If you would rather set your own timings, we can arrange a private charter from Maun or from your previous camp straight to the airstrip, usually a Cessna Grand Caravan EX, the eleven-seat aircraft that makes up most of the Maun charter fleets. A charter also suits a family or a small group travelling together.
When the flood is in, the channels around the island open up for mokoro trips, poled through reed beds and lily lagoons in a dugout canoe, with hippo and crocodile close by. The water usually reaches this part of the Delta in June and the season runs to about October, though it depends on how high the flood rises in a given year. Mokoro outings are part of the stay.
For the wider view, helicopter flights with the doors off head west over the permanent Delta, its palm islands and lagoons, at extra cost, and we book them before you travel. Back in camp there is a swimming pool looking over the waterhole and a spa for the middle of the day.
Yes, from the age of six. The camp has a children's playroom and retreat, with games and nature sessions with the guides, which gives younger guests something of their own in the heat of the day between the morning and afternoon drives.
For a family, the two-bedroom private suite is the natural choice: two linked pavilions with their own lounge, kitchen, bar, boma and plunge pools, sleeping up to six, and served by a private guide and vehicle so that game drives run at the children's pace. Tell us their ages at enquiry and we will shape the days around them.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates the northern half of Botswana, the Okavango Delta included, as high risk from October to May, when it recommends antimalarial tablets, and as low risk for the rest of the year, when it advises awareness and avoiding bites. The CDC includes the Okavango and Ngamiland districts in the areas where it recommends preventive medicine. Low risk is not no risk.
We are travel planners, not doctors, and we do not make medical recommendations, so whether to take tablets, and which ones, is a decision for you and your doctor or a travel clinic, ideally once your dates are fixed. Whatever the month, long sleeves and repellent from late afternoon are worth packing for Chief's Island.
June to October, when the Kalahari around the Delta dries out and the herds gather on the permanent water around Chief's Island, with the predators close behind. July to September is the high point: the flood from the Angolan highlands is at its fullest, mokoro trips run, and the days are clear and mild after cold early mornings. October brings the tightest concentrations, with heat that can pass 40 degrees.
The green season, from December to March, has its own case. Storms build over a green landscape, migrant birds arrive to breed, young antelope are on the ground, and the camps are quiet, with dramatic skies for photographers. Game spreads out in the thicker bush and the channels run low, so a longer stay pays off.
rated five stars by our clients
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
