Hippos grunt in the Khwai River in front of the verandas at Machaba Camp, and the sound carries through the canvas all night. Elephants walk between the tents to reach the sycamore figs. By daylight it is a small camp, set low along the north bank: ten tents in the north-eastern Okavango Delta, with Moremi Game Reserve across the water.
Elephants walk between the tents to reach the sycamore figs.
This is the first camp its owners built, and they gave it the look of a 1950s safari, canvas tents set close to the sandy ground and storm lanterns along the paths. Because the camp lies on community land outside Moremi, its guides can drive the concession’s floodplains and woodland or cross to the reserve, and walk where the park forbids it.
The Khwai holds water all year, so the elephant and buffalo herds stay close to its banks, and where the herds gather the hunters follow. Leopards, lions and African wild dogs all hunt this stretch of river. This bank is not park at all: it is community land around Khwai village, where the river forms Moremi’s northern edge.
Leopards, lions and African wild dogs all hunt this stretch of river.
Machaba is the Setswana name for the sycamore fig, a tree associated with abundance, and the big figs along this bank give the camp its shade and its name. The owners run it themselves, and the evenings are unfussy. Dinner is served at white-clothed tables, then talk around the fire pit and a lantern-lit walk back to the tent, unless the meal is laid out in the bush or on the veranda instead.
The flight from Maun to the Khwai airstrip takes twenty to thirty minutes, and the transfer is a short game drive along the river, so the safari begins before the camp comes into view. After that the hours are set by the heat. Drives leave at dawn and come back for brunch, then head out again as the afternoon cools, ending with sundowners on the floodplain. Guides work the lagoons and mature woodland of the concession or cross to the Moremi side, where vehicles keep to set roads. Drives after dark, when the camp offers them, stay on the community land.
Walks run in season with an armed guide, on community land only. On foot, the bush slows to spoor in the sand and the small life a vehicle rolls past. Mokoro trips wait on the water: when the Khwai runs high enough, a poler takes guests through its quieter channels, and in dry spells the dugouts stay on the bank. Birders have hundreds of species to work through along the riverbank and up in the fig canopy. Back in camp, a spa therapist gives massages and facials in the tent, with the river in view from the veranda.
On foot, the bush slows to spoor in the sand and the small life a vehicle rolls past.
Children of any age are welcome. The two family tents each have two bedrooms under one canvas roof, sleeping four, and a round plunge pool fills the hot hours between drives. Families with children under six travel in a private vehicle, so a drive can start, stop or turn back on the family’s timetable rather than a full vehicle’s. Elephants and big cats move through camp freely, so younger guests stay with an adult at all times, by the pool as much as on the paths.
Between drives, camp life gathers on a large tented deck that holds the lounge and bar, the dining tables and a small library, with a curio shop alongside. Its sides stand open to the river. Solar panels and a battery bank supply the power, with a generator in reserve, and the sun heats the water. The camp is canvas and wood on sandy soil, designed so that, once lifted, its site could return to bush within about eighteen months, leaving this stretch of the Okavango Delta to the figs.
accommodation
Ten canvas tents are set close to the ground, eight doubles or twins and two family tents with two bedrooms each. Inside, mats and rugs cover the floor and fans keep the air moving. Each has twin basins, a flush loo and an outdoor shower, and a veranda facing the river. There is no air-conditioning.
activities
Morning and afternoon game drives cover the Khwai concession and, across the river, Moremi Game Reserve, where vehicles stay on roads and leave by dark. Walks with an armed guide run in season, on the concession only, and mokoro trips go out when the water allows. Sundowners, bush dinners, cultural outings and in-tent massages fill the hours between.
conservation
The camp's owners put a share of the income from every safari into community and conservation work in Botswana and Zimbabwe. In May 2019 they finished a pre-school at Ditshipi, a village elsewhere in the Okavango Delta, where it is the only place of learning and takes 36 children. They also back anti-poaching patrols on the Gomoti River concession in the Delta.
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 to the Khwai airstrip, a flight of twenty to thirty minutes, then a short game drive to camp. Seats on these flights are shared, so the aircraft may call at another strip en route, and the same light aircraft link Khwai with camps elsewhere in the Delta and in the Chobe area, so Maun need not be where the trip starts.
If you would rather keep your own timings, we can arrange a private charter from Maun straight to the Khwai airstrip, typically a Cessna Grand Caravan, the workhorse of the Maun charter fleets. On every one of these aircraft luggage is soft bags only, twenty kilograms a person including hand luggage.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates the northern half of Botswana, the Okavango Delta and Khwai included, as high risk for malaria from October to May, when it recommends antimalarial tablets, and as low risk from June to September, when it advises avoiding bites. Low risk is not no risk. The American CDC lists Ngamiland and the Okavango among the districts where it recommends prevention.
We are travel planners, not medical professionals, so we make no recommendations on tablets: whether to take them, and which suit each person in the party, is for you to settle with your own doctor or a travel clinic. On the practical side, the tents sit right on the river, so cover arms and legs from late afternoon and use repellent after dark.
No. Machaba Camp stands on the north bank of the Khwai River, which forms part of Moremi's northern boundary, so the reserve lies across the water in front of the tents. The camp's side of the river is the Khwai concession, a community wildlife area run by the Khwai Development Trust on behalf of the people of Khwai village, so tourism earns an income for the village.
The animals pay no attention to the line. The Khwai area is known for big herds of elephant and buffalo, for leopard and lion, and for packs of African wild dog, and hippo live in the river in front of camp. Game drives from the camp work the concession, and elephant can be watched drinking from the pool.
Drives are the backbone, out before sunrise and again in the late afternoon, each about three hours, with coffee in the bush in the morning and sundowners in the evening. Walks go out with an armed guide when the season allows, so you never walk alone, and when the water is high enough a mokoro, the poled dugout canoe of the Delta, takes you quietly along the reed channels.
In the heat of the middle of the day there is the pool, and a therapist can give a massage or a facial in your tent. Birding, photography and stargazing are part of the stay, the activities are included in the rate, and the camp library holds books on the area's wildlife, plants and people.
Yes, children of every age are welcome, and two of the ten tents are family tents, each with two separate sleeping areas and two bathrooms, taking four people in all. The tents sit at ground level among the riverside trees, linked by paths, and the pool earns its keep through the hot middle of the day.
Families with children under six take a private vehicle, which we build into the stay so the drives run at the children's pace. The camp is unfenced and animals move through it freely, so young children stay with an adult, and after dark every guest is walked to and from their tent by a member of the team.
June to October, the dry season, when the land around dries out, the bush thins and the game draws in to the Khwai River, which makes predators much easier to find. July to September is the strongest stretch, with cold dawns that call for a fleece in the open vehicle, and October is the hottest month, often passing 40 degrees. April, May and November are the shoulder months.
December to March is the green season: wetter, hotter and quieter, with the game more spread out. It has its own case. Birders get the summer migrants, young antelope appear, the storm skies make for dramatic photographs and there are fewer vehicles along the river. Mokoro trips depend on the water level in any month, so tell us if one is on your list.
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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.
