Karangoma

By air, in two legs. A scheduled light aircraft leaves Maun and lands at Vumbura airstrip about twenty-five minutes later, a hundred and thirty kilometres to the north-east, and the same scheduled service runs from Kasane and from other Delta airstrips. A helicopter then carries you the last thirty kilometres into camp, a flight of ten to twelve minutes. The camp has no airstrip of its own and the operator's own rule is that access is by helicopter only, so that second leg is part of the standard route rather than an add-on. Karangoma can also be joined to other Delta camps by helicopter direct, which skips the airstrip altogether.

We can also arrange a private charter into Vumbura, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, which frees you from the scheduled timetable, or a private helicopter the whole way from Maun. Whichever way you fly, the limit is twenty kilograms a person including hand luggage, and it has to be a soft bag, because neither the light aircraft nor the helicopter takes a hard case.

Yes. The camp's own fact sheet says so in as many words, and both official sources agree. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, classes the northern half of Botswana, the Okavango Delta included, as high risk from October to May and lists antimalarial tablets among its recommendations for those months, with the risk dropping to low for the rest of the year, when it advises bite avoidance. The CDC names the Okavango and Ngamiland districts, which is where Karangoma sits, among the parts of Botswana for which it recommends prescription medicine to prevent malaria.

We are travel planners rather than medical people, so the decision belongs with you and your doctor or a travel clinic, and it is worth checking close to departure because the advice moves. Whatever you settle on, a camp on a floodplain has mosquitoes at dusk as part of the setting, so long sleeves once the sun goes and repellent on any skin left showing, at the fire pit and on the night drives, still apply.

From eight upwards, and the camp is set up for two children at a time rather than a crowd: it takes a maximum of sixteen adults and two children, and the family tent is built for parents and up to two children. Families with children between eight and twelve must book a private vehicle for the drives, which we build into the quote from the start so it never turns up later as a surprise, and the boating joins the walks and the mokoro in being for twelve and over. The village visits have no age limit at all.

There is no children's programme and no child-minding. What there is instead is the guides' own time: fishing in the afternoons, learning to read the tracks around camp, board games in the lounge and the pool for the hot hours. The camp is unfenced and so is the pool, so children need a parent's eye on them at all times, and in our judgement it suits sensible children of ten and over best. Tell us the ages when you enquire and we will say plainly whether it fits or suggest a Delta camp that suits better.

The wifi is a Starlink satellite link, and it is strongest in the main area, where the lounge and dining deck are; in the tents it is limited and can drop in and out. There is no mobile signal anywhere in the concession, so calls over the phone network are out and anything you send goes over the wifi. For emergencies the camp keeps a satellite phone and a radio.

If someone in your party needs to be reachable at a set time, for work or for family, tell us before you travel and we will check the current setup with the camp rather than guess.

Two seasons, and a flood that runs on its own timetable. The rain falls between November and March, January and February being the wettest months, when afternoons sit in the low thirties and the floodplain turns green with migrant birds and new calves. From April the rain stops and the flood arrives from Angola, filling the channels through the cool, dry winter: a July or August morning can be close to six degrees before the day climbs past thirty, and there is next to no rain from May to September. October is the hottest month, with days towards thirty-seven degrees and the water at its lowest, which pulls the wildlife in tight around whatever water remains.

The flood decides the boat and the mokoro. The camp's own guidance is that the mokoro runs for around six or seven months of the year and the boating is seasonal too, so if being on the water matters to you, aim for the months between April and September, tell us, and we will check the level for your dates with the camp. Drives, night drives and the walks run all year. Pack layers for the winter mornings, a warm jacket and a hat included, light neutral clothing and strong sun protection for the middle of the day, closed shoes for the walks, swimwear for the pool, binoculars, and all of it in a soft bag under twenty kilograms.

Three nights is the right minimum: one for the drives and a night drive, one for a walk with the trackers and the water when it is running, and one in hand for whatever the guides have been following that week. Make it four if you want a full day at Gudigwa, which is the better way to do the village than a half day, since the visit follows whatever the village is doing and a full day gives it room. Both the village visit and a private vehicle need booking ahead, so tell us at the planning stage rather than on arrival.

The rate is fully inclusive: the tent, all meals, every drink the camp stocks, the daily activities on a shared basis, laundry, and the park and community fees, so the conservation and community levy sits inside the nightly rate rather than being added at the end. That levy is what pays for the training and the children's eco-clubs in Gudigwa, and for the herding and veterinary work that helps the village keep its cattle alive alongside lions. What sits outside the rate is the flights and the helicopter transfer, a single supplement if you travel alone, a private vehicle where you want or need one, and the optional helicopter outings such as the scenic flight to the Tsodilo Hills, which the camp books through a separate operator.