Jackalberry and marula trees shade the small island where Little Vumbura sits, in the northern Okavango Delta. Getting there means a short boat crossing over permanent channels, and the arrival is half the point. Just six tents occupy the island, giving this Botswana camp a scale that feels genuinely marooned. Deep water surrounds the land; it begins where the channel ends.
The camp runs land and water safaris side by side, all year
Little Vumbura sits on the line where permanent swamp gives way to dry savannah, and that position pays out through every season. The camp runs land and water safaris side by side, all year. Game drives, mokoro and motorboat cruises operate from the same island base, whatever the water levels happen to be doing elsewhere across the Delta.
The Vumbura Concession covers community-owned land in the Kwedi area, leased through the Okavango Community Trust. The wildlife it holds is unusually broad. Sable antelope and African wild dog are both regularly recorded here, alongside resident lion prides, leopard and cheetah. Buffalo herds move across the floodplains in their hundreds.
Sable antelope and African wild dog are both regularly recorded here
Because the concession is private rather than national park, the guiding can go where the parks cannot. Guides drive off-road for sensitive sightings, and run night drives whose spotlights pick out civet, genet and, occasionally, pangolin. Around 500 bird species use the woodland and wetland, among them the Pel’s fishing owl, the African pygmy goose and the wattled crane.
The approach is deliberately theatrical. A light aircraft lands at the Vumbura airstrip, a short flight from Maun, and a game drive across open grassland follows. Then comes a final boat transfer, weaving between papyrus reeds until the island appears out of the water. Staff gather on the wooden jetty with cold towels and welcome songs, and the whole journey leaves you certain you have arrived somewhere reachable only by water.
In 2017 the camp was rebuilt, its tents enlarged by around a third and fitted with floor-to-ceiling mesh windows that sharpened the light and airflow without abandoning the canvas-and-timber character. The interiors run to soft, earthy neutrals, lifted by deep indigo, hand-stitched leather and campaign-style furniture. It is a grounded, unshowy camp that suits guests who value atmosphere over architecture.
They are served on the main thatched deck, out under the stars, or in the lantern-lit boma
The island has its own cast of characters. Hippos harrumph in the channels below the decks at night, lions call across the flat floodplains, and a resident elephant known to the staff wanders through to feed on fallen African mangosteen fruit. Days move between mokoro gliding at lily-pad level, motorboat cruises past crocodiles on the banks, and drives that turn up buffalo, lechwe and sable on the floodplain grasslands the Delta calls melapo.
Meals draw on fresh, wholesome cooking, with local vegetables and Batswana elements set alongside grilled meats. They are served on the main thatched deck, out under the stars, or in the lantern-lit boma. Evenings tend to gather around a fire deck that reaches out over the marshy lagoon edge, the lanterns catching the water. With a maximum of twelve guests, the camp holds a sociable, familiar feel, and the guides quickly learn what each person hopes to see.
01
accommodation
Six raised canvas-and-timber tents linked by wooden walkways, sleeping a maximum of twelve guests. Five standard tents (four twin, one king) each have an open-plan bedroom, sunken lounge, en-suite bathroom with indoor shower, and a private deck over the floodplains. One two-bedroom family unit has separate entrances and an interleading door.
02
activities
Morning and afternoon game drives run in open 4x4 vehicles, with night drives and off-road driving permitted on this private concession. Water activities include mokoro through the shallow floodplains and motorboat cruises on the deep channels. Guided walks run on nearby islands, and seasonal catch-and-release fishing operates outside the January to February spawning closure.
03
conservation
The Vumbura Concession is leased from the Okavango Community Trust, formed in 1996 to represent five villages including Seronga, Gunotsoga and Gudigwa, with lease fees flowing directly to those communities and most staff drawn from them. The camp also supports Children in the Wilderness eco-clubs and participates in Pack for a Purpose for village schools.
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.
01
The Okavango Delta
02
The Okavango Delta
03
The Okavango Delta
04
The Okavango Delta
05
The Okavango Delta
06
The Okavango Delta
07
The Okavango Delta
08
The Okavango Delta
09
The Okavango Delta
10
The Okavango Delta
11
The Okavango Delta
12
The Okavango Delta
13
The Okavango Delta
14
The Okavango Delta
By air, land and water, in that order. The light aircraft from Maun takes about forty minutes to the concession's airstrip, a game drive of roughly forty-five minutes follows, and a boat then carries you across the channels to the island, anything from a few minutes to almost half an hour depending on where the water is standing that season. We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, to the same airstrip.
The aircraft take soft bags only, twenty kilograms a person including hand luggage, so a duffel is the way to pack.
Yes. An island camp ringed by permanent water deserves a straight answer on this: the Okavango Delta carries malaria risk, at its highest from October to May through the rains, and both the UK's official travel health advice and the CDC recommend antimalarial tablets for northern Botswana in that season. The dry winter months carry lower risk, not none.
Confirm the current advice with a travel clinic or your doctor before travelling, then cover up at dusk and use repellent. The tents' full-height mesh and the nets over the beds do the rest of the work at night.
The trick of the Okavango is that its flood arrives in the dry season. Rain that fell in the Angolan highlands over summer takes months to travel south, so the water around the island rises from about May and peaks in the middle of winter, exactly when the skies are clearest and game is concentrating on the drier ground. June to October is the classic window, with cold early mornings and the strongest predator viewing.
The green season from November to March brings dramatic skies, newborn plains game and the pick of the birding as the summer migrants arrive. The choice is about character rather than access, and we will point you to the months that fit what you want to see.
Yes, from six years old. Families with children aged six to twelve book their activities on a private basis, with their own vehicle and guide, which in practice makes the days more flexible rather than less. Boat cruises are open from six, mokoro trips and walking safaris start at thirteen, and children share a tent with a parent.
The camp pairs younger guests with a staff mentor through its Bush Buddy programme, filling the quiet middle of the day with animal tracks, bird lists and bush skills. Tell us the ages when we plan and we will set the tents and the days up around them.
The stay is fully inclusive: all meals, the twice-daily scheduled activities, park fees, laundry and all local drinks, with premium imported brands and champagne the only things priced separately. Wifi is available, though this far into the Delta it can run slow, so treat it as a way to send word home rather than a place to work.
Helicopter flights over the channels are the main extra, arranged at additional cost, and we will build anything of that kind into your quote from the beginning so the final number holds no surprises.
Soft bags, twenty kilograms per person including hand luggage, dictated by the light aircraft. Inside them: neutral colours for the drives, a genuinely warm layer for winter mornings, which feel colder still on a moving boat, and a sun hat and high-factor cream for the mokoro, which keeps you low, still and exposed to the sky for an hour or two at a time.
In the green season a light rain shell earns its place, and in any month swimwear for the pool deck and binoculars for the water birds will not go to waste.
rated five stars by our clients
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.
