Four tents stand beneath ebony and leadwood trees on Kgao Island, raised on teak decks in the northern Okavango Delta. Three are doubles or twins, and the fourth a two-bedroom family unit with its own plunge pool, so one party can take all four rooms without it feeling like a wing of somewhere larger. Hippos graze within earshot of the dinner table.
Elephants and red lechwe cross the floodplain below the decks.
The camp shares a private concession with its larger sister camp, along Moremi Game Reserve’s boundary. Elephants and red lechwe cross the floodplain below the decks. Drives follow lions and wild dogs after dark and off the track, with fewer vehicles out than the reserve allows. Mokoro and motorboat carry the flood months, then walking takes over as the channels drop.
The camp carries the name of Sarefo “Duke” Sarefo, a Wayeyi elder born on Kgao Island, whose father and grandfather are buried there and who applied in 2002 for formal ownership rights over it. Ralph Bousfield built the camp in partnership with him, and his father Jack pioneered photographic safaris in Botswana from the 1960s.
Evenings end at the firepit, mopane smoke going up into the dark.
The style is the one he developed at Jack’s Camp in the Makgadikgadi, scaled up into double-volume tents lined in deep red paisley cotton over Persian rugs. The mess tent doubles as a cabinet of family curiosities, Africana collected across generations. Evenings end at the firepit, mopane smoke going up into the dark. Dinner is three courses at one long table beneath the ebony trees, antique silverware, cut crystal and the gin-soaked chilli relish the Bousfields keep on hand.
Duke’s East and its larger sister camp are about five minutes’ drive apart on the same concession, which opens two ways of using them. A larger group can split between the two and meet for drives and dinners, while a single family can take Duke’s East outright, four tents that add up to a whole camp instead of a wing of a bigger one. The two run their own kitchens and guiding, though the teams trade sightings by radio, so a leopard found at first light does not stay with one vehicle. Light aircraft from Maun take around forty minutes, then a short drive in.
The concession is private and adjoins Moremi Game Reserve, which is what allows drives to carry on after dark with a spotlight, and a vehicle to leave the track and follow a hunting pack of wild dogs. Neither is permitted inside Moremi itself, whose wildlife moves freely across the boundary. Lions are seen consistently through the concession, and leopard, wild dog, serval and caracal all use the same ground. Buffalo, giraffe, zebra and kudu are out on the floodplains, and the sitatunga keep to the papyrus.
Mokoro polers push through channels choked with water lilies, motorboats the deeper ones.
Between June and September a night can be spent out on a lantern-lit island. Mokoro polers push through channels choked with water lilies, motorboats the deeper ones. The birding is kingfishers and wattled cranes, and Pel’s fishing owl, which roosts in the ebony canopy. As the water falls the islands dry and open up for walking with an armed guide, tracking on foot across ground that was under water months earlier. Catch-and-release fishing for African pike, nembwe and tilapia pauses during the breeding months.
The family tent holds two en-suite bedrooms and a plunge pool on its own deck, which makes one booking work for grandparents, parents and children together. The minimum age is six, though the camp’s adult feel, and the wildlife moving through it, suit children of about ten and up. A separate pool pavilion serves the rest of the camp, its loungers facing the floodplain. Helicopters fly low over the Delta from here, or out for a half-day at the Tsodilo Hills, where thousands of rock paintings are held in the sandstone.
accommodation
Four tents: three doubles or twins and a two-bedroom family unit with its own plunge pool, all raised on teak decks under leadwood and ebony. Each has a hand-carved four-poster bed and an en-suite bathroom with brass fittings, indoor and outdoor showers. The private deck holds leather campaign chairs and looks over the floodplain.
activities
Game drives run morning, afternoon and after dark on the private concession, with off-road following of predators. Mokoro and motorboat trips depend on the Okavango Delta's flood; guided walks come into their own as it drops. Fishing, birding, island sleep-outs and helicopter flights over the Delta fill out the days.
conservation
The camp supports Elephant Express, a bus service carrying schoolchildren and health workers safely through an elephant corridor, and CLAWS, a communal herding scheme on the concession boundary that protects cattle from lions, employs local herders and lets overgrazed land recover. The Sarefo family remain partners here.
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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By light aircraft from Maun into the concession's airstrip, then about forty five minutes in by vehicle, which is a game drive rather than a transfer. That road leg is part of the nightly rate; the flight is not, and we price it separately so you can see what it costs.
The camp sits five minutes from its larger sister camp, so the two are easy to combine and easy to confuse when booking. Tell us which you want and we will make sure the flight and the rooms are held against the right one. The usual arrangement is a shared seat in plane service with its time confirmed close to the day; if you would rather fix your own timings we can arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12. Soft bags only, because the aircraft are small.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, classes the northern half of Botswana, the Okavango Delta included, as high risk for malaria from October to May and recommends antimalarial tablets for those months, then as low risk for the rest of the year, when it advises awareness of the risk and avoiding bites. The CDC names the Okavango and Ngamiland districts among the parts of the country for which it recommends prescription medicine to prevent malaria.
We plan safaris rather than give medical advice, so the decision belongs with you and your doctor or a travel clinic, and it is worth a check close to departure because both sources revise their guidance. The camp looks out over a floodplain that holds water most of the year, so mosquitoes are about outside the rains as well as in them. Long sleeves and trousers once the sun drops, and repellent on the deck and the night drives, make sense whatever the season.
Yes, from six years old. One of the four tents is a two bedroom family unit with its own plunge pool, and children of six to eighteen sharing with an adult are charged at a child rate, which we price for your dates.
Four tents is small enough that one family or one group can take the whole camp, which is worth pricing if there are six or eight of you, because it turns the shared vehicle and the shared table into your own. One thing to settle before you book: a family travelling with a child of nine or younger has to take a private vehicle for the whole stay, charged per vehicle per night, and we put that in the quote from the start. The camp is unfenced and hippos graze within earshot of the table, so children need an adult with them whenever they are outside the tent.
Yes, and it is one of the things the nightly rate covers rather than a charge on top, so messages, email and photographs go out without thinking about it.
There is no mobile signal on the island, so the wifi is the only way out. If someone in your party has to be reachable at set times, say so before you book and we will confirm what is possible for your dates. For everyone else, download maps, books and anything you want to listen to before you leave Maun.
June to August is the most comfortable stretch and the easiest for general game viewing: dry, almost rainless, afternoons in the middle twenties and mornings near eight degrees. The flood is usually up then, which is when the mokoro and the boat come into their own between the islands. September and October are hotter, with October afternoons in the middle thirties, and as the water drops the drives and the walking take over. The rains from November to March bring green country, newborn animals and migrant birds, with the game spread out rather than gathered at water.
Pack a warm windproof jacket, a hat and gloves for winter mornings, because a dawn drive in June or July is genuinely cold before the sun gets up. Then neutral colours and closed shoes for walking, a light rain jacket from November to March, strong sun cream and a wide brimmed hat for the middle of the day, and binoculars. Fishing runs from March to December, so bring polarised sunglasses if that is part of the plan.
Three at least, because the water and the land give you two different safaris and a shorter stay forces a choice between them. Four nights lets you take a night drive and a morning on foot without dropping the mokoro. Six or seven nights, or eight and more, taken across this camp and its sister camps in Botswana and Namibia, earn a long stay discount off the nightly rate, which is one reason we usually build the whole trip as a single booking.
The rate is fully inclusive: the tent, all meals, drinks other than premium brands, the daily activities and guiding, the transfer between the airstrip and camp, wifi, guest laundry, park entry fees and tax. Outside it sit the flights, premium spirits and wines, gratuities, comprehensive travel insurance, the scenic helicopter flights, a private vehicle where one is needed or wanted, and a community, conservation and reserve fee charged per person per night, which funds community and wildlife work in the concession and applies to everyone aged six and over. We set each of those out in the quote so the figure you see is the figure you pay.
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.
