Chitabe Camp occupies a tree island in the private Chitabe Concession, in the drier south-eastern reaches of the Okavango Delta. The island is dry ground, so the safari is worked on drives rather than by mokoro or boat. Around it the country opens into plains, acacia and mopane woodland, and floodplains that fill and recede with the seasons.
Moremi’s game spills over the channel into the concession.
On three sides Moremi Game Reserve begins, divided from the concession only by the Gomoti Channel. Moremi’s game spills over the channel into the concession. Chitabe is on private land, so night drives and guided walks are both permitted here, and the predators can be followed on foot and after dark. The result is one of the most consistent predator experiences in Botswana.
Dave and Helene Hamman won the tender for the Chitabe Concession in 1996 and opened the camp the following year. They came to it having managed some of Botswana’s finest camps, Mombo among them. Dave is a wildlife photographer, and his fine-art images hang throughout the camp. The logo tells its own story, a wild dog with a white-tipped tail, drawn from a pack the couple once researched.
African wild dogs are the reason most guests come.
The concession falls within the research area of the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, and the packs move through often enough that a sighting is close to certain. African wild dogs are the reason most guests come. Lion, leopard, cheetah and spotted hyena hunt the same ground, drawn in by the density of plains game across the floodplains.
Eight tented suites accommodate sixteen guests, raised on wooden decks among the trees and joined to the main areas by elevated walkways. A rebuild completed in 2025 more than doubled their size, setting them on a steel framework to lighten the touch on the ground, with insulated canvas walls and stretch-tent roofs for shade. The interiors are the work of designer Lauren Hammond, who chose a neutral, earthy palette of wood, leather and wool, and finished the bathrooms in aged brass. Each suite has a stepped-down lounge inside, and both an indoor and an outdoor shower.
The main lodge follows the same raised, open-fronted logic, a thatched dining room, lounge and bar set on decks that look out across the floodplain. There is little to do there but watch the ground change. In the dry months the plains run tawny and dusty, dotted with game. Then the water arrives in winter and the same ground turns to a green, glinting oasis. Elephants, zebra, giraffe, buffalo and baboons drift past the pool deck through the day, so the wildlife comes to you as readily as you go to it.
Then the water arrives in winter and the same ground turns to a green, glinting oasis.
Morning and afternoon drives run in open 4x4s fitted with bean bags and camera mounts, a nod to the camp’s photographic bent. After dark the spotlight picks out civet, genet, porcupine and aardwolf. Guided walks operate seasonally for guests aged thirteen and over. The concession is recognised as an Important Bird Area, and scenic helicopter flights can be arranged from camp, covering the channels and plains in a fraction of the time a game drive would take.
Meals move with the day rather than a fixed timetable. A light breakfast is served by the fire before the morning drive, or packed into a basket for an early start, with a fuller brunch waiting on return. Head chef Olesego Legae works with regional ingredients and seasonal crops, and the boma hosts barbecues of Botswana’s national dishes cooked over open flame. The camp runs entirely on solar power, and its long-serving team, some of them second-generation, gives the place a settled, familiar warmth.
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accommodation
Eight Meru-style tented suites accommodate sixteen guests, raised on wooden decks among the trees. Each has insulated canvas walls, a stepped-down indoor lounge, a private viewing deck, and an en-suite bathroom with double vanity and both indoor and outdoor showers.
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activities
Day and night game drives in open 4x4s are the core activity, permitted here because Chitabe holds a private concession outside Moremi. Guided walking safaris run seasonally for guests aged thirteen and over. Birding is strong across the concession, and scenic helicopter flights can be arranged. There are no water activities.
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conservation
Chitabe works with the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, contributing data and logistical support to its wild dog research, and funds aerial wildlife surveys. Through its operator it supports the Children in the Wilderness education programme. The camp is solar-powered and employs local Batswana, several of them second-generation staff.
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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The Okavango Delta
A light aircraft from Maun puts you on the Chitabe airstrip in about half an hour, and the game drive in to camp takes thirty to forty minutes more, through country that often produces a sighting before the tents appear. We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, matched to your international connections through Johannesburg and Maun.
The flights take soft bags only, twenty kilograms per person including hand luggage, so a duffel beats a suitcase.
Yes. This corner of the Delta is drier underfoot than the water camps, but the malaria map does not care: northern Botswana is risk territory, sharpest from October to May, and antimalarial tablets are recommended for the region by both the UK's official travel health advice and the CDC. June to September eases the exposure rather than ending it.
Settle the right prevention with a travel clinic or your doctor before departure, and keep the dusk routine honest, sleeves down, repellent on, nets in use.
From six years old, with the practical shape set by two rules: families with children aged six to twelve take their activities privately, with their own vehicle and guide, and children up to sixteen share a tent with an adult. The camp runs a bush buddy programme that fills the quiet middle of the day with tracks, plaster casts and bush skills, and the walking waits until thirteen.
A private vehicle sounds like a constraint and behaves like an upgrade, because drives leave when your family is ready and stay out as long as the youngest member is happy. Tell us the ages and we will plan around them.
No. Everything here happens on land, and the trade is deliberate, because the dry ground is what concentrates the game. The winter flood filling the country around the concession pushes wildlife onto it, which is a large part of why the predator record stays so dependable.
We treat that as a routing question rather than a drawback. A water camp earlier or later in the trip supplies the mokoro and the channels, and Chitabe supplies the wild dogs.
The rate covers accommodation, all meals, local drinks, the twice-daily guided activities, park fees and laundry, with premium imported drinks the main thing priced separately. Scenic helicopter flights sit outside the rate as well, arranged at additional cost.
Tell us early if the flying tempts you and we will build it into the quote, along with a private vehicle if your party wants one, so the total is settled before you commit.
Soft bags to twenty kilograms including hand luggage, then pack for the gap between a winter dawn and a winter noon. An open vehicle before sunrise in July wants a padded jacket, beanie and gloves that can all be shed by mid morning, while summer swaps the cold for heat and afternoon storms, so light neutrals and a rain shell take over.
Photographers should bring their longest lens and nothing to steady it, because the vehicles already carry bean bags and camera mounts. Binoculars, sun protection and closed shoes finish the bag.
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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.
