Nothing at Delta Camp runs on an engine. The camp occupies a palm-forested island off the south-western edge of Chief’s Island, in the Okavango Delta, and guests explore on foot or by hand-carved wooden mokoro, poled by a private guide who stays with them for the whole stay. Arrival is by light aircraft, then a ride in or a walk in, depending on how high the water sits.
At night the hippos grunt in the reeds below the deck.
Chief’s Island is reached by mokoro and crossed on foot, walks going out morning and afternoon along lechwe paths and elephant tracks. The guides carry no rifle, reading the wind and the tracks instead. At night the hippos grunt in the reeds below the deck. Through the day they hold the channels with the crocodiles in front of the raised dining deck, and elephants feed among the palms.
Peter Sandenbergh bought Delta Camp in 1984. He gave three decades to building low-impact tourism in the Okavango Delta, and when he died in 2016 the camp passed to his wife and children, who run it today. They are joined by staff whose families have worked here across generations, and the knowledge of these channels has been passed down among them.
The sound of hippos grazing below arrives unfiltered.
The chalets are built of lethaka reed, local timber and grass thatch, raised on piles so that no concrete touches the island floor. No glass separates the beds from the floodplain, only mesh screens and canvas rolls. The sound of hippos grazing below arrives unfiltered. Some are built around the trees that share their platform, roots and trunks passing through floor and roof.
Water levels here answer to rain that fell on the Angolan highlands months earlier, working down the Okavango River and out into the sand basin. The effect inverts expectation, because Botswana’s dry winter months, June to August, are the Delta’s high-water season. Guests land at the airstrip and are poled the last stretch to camp by mokoro. When the floodplains fall back between November and March that arrival becomes a guided walk instead, and the channels that carried mekoro in winter narrow to sandbanks and reed beds.
Mekoro here are hand-carved from wood rather than moulded in fibreglass, bought from the village woodcarvers who make them, which keeps the craft in work locally. Poled with a ngashi, they thread through papyrus and lily channels. They move at the pace of the water, reeds brushing the hull, sitatunga slipping aside. On the islands walking takes over. Chief’s Island holds the Delta’s main body of dry land, and the tracks of lion, leopard and wild dog turn up on the sand at first light, while buffalo, giraffe and red lechwe graze the swamp fringes.
They move at the pace of the water, reeds brushing the hull, sitatunga slipping aside.
Each chalet is paired with one guide for the length of the stay, met at the airstrip and staying with the party through every walk and every mokoro trip. There is no fixed timetable, and mornings begin when the guests do. The guides walk unarmed, relying on tracking, on wind direction and on long familiarity with how elephant and lion behave, and some travellers will want to weigh that before committing. There is no phone signal, no wifi, no generator hum, so the sound of the Delta is what fills the evenings.
A multi-night walking and mokoro trail extends onto Chief’s Island itself, with the first and last nights spent at Delta Camp. Guests pole out with light equipment, pitch dome tents deep in the island, cook over a fire and wash from a bucket. Back at camp, meals are taken together at one long table on the raised deck, the cooking homely, the talk running from pre-walk coffee to well after dinner. Visits to the nearby village, home to many of the staff and guides, are led by the people who grew up there.
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accommodation
Seven chalets of lethaka reed, timber and thatch stand on piles among palms and mangosteen, among them family units and one built up into the tree canopy. There is no glass in the frames, only open fronts, mesh screens and canvas rolls, with wrap-around decks over the floodplain, semi-open bathrooms and solar-heated water.
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activities
Twice-daily walking safaris and mokoro outings around Chief's Island and the Moremi Game Reserve, each led by a private guide. Full-day walks with a picnic, multi-night fly-camping trails onto Chief's Island, guided visits to a Delta village, and birding for species including Pel's fishing owl. No game drives, night drives or motorboats.
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conservation
Every guide and staff member is Batswana, drawn from villages near the camp, several from families who have worked here since 1984. Tourism income is directed with village elders toward schooling, medical access and local infrastructure. Hand-carved wooden mekoro, bought from village woodcarvers, keep that craft in work; the camp runs on solar power.
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
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our approach
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Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
