Maxa

In two legs, and the second is the memorable one. A light aircraft flies from Maun to Mapula airstrip in the north-east of the Delta, about forty-five minutes in the air, and a helicopter then lifts you the last five minutes or so over the floodplain into camp, because Maxa has no airstrip of its own. The helicopter leg is compulsory, it is booked and controlled by the camp's own reservations team rather than by any outside operator, it is priced separately per person with a minimum of two passengers, and we build it into your quote from the start.

The scheduled flight to Mapula is a seat-in-plane service in a Cessna Caravan or similar bush aircraft that can make up to three stops on the way, with the time confirmed the day before; if you would rather fix your own timings we can arrange a private charter for that leg, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12. Twenty kilograms a person in a soft bag with no wheels or frame, hand luggage included, is the limit on both the aircraft and the helicopter, and anything bigger can be stored free of charge in Maun.

Yes. The camp stands in the northern half of Botswana, which TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, classes as high risk for malaria from October to May, listing antimalarial tablets among its recommendations for those months, and as low risk from June to September, when it advises awareness and bite avoidance. The CDC names the Okavango and Ngamiland districts among the parts of the country for which it recommends prescription medicine to prevent malaria, and the camp's own guidance says the same.

We arrange safaris rather than give medical advice, so the decision belongs with you and your doctor or a travel clinic, and it deserves a check close to departure because the guidance is reviewed. A permanent lagoon keeps mosquitoes in the dry months as well as the wet, so long sleeves and trousers from sundown, and repellent for the fire, the night drives and the hammock deck over the water, are part of the evening whatever the season.

Yes, and six is the minimum age for the camp and for every activity in it, the walks with the armed guides included. A child sharing with two adults is charged at a child rate, which we price for your dates, and the camp's eco pool takes care of the hot hours between outings.

The Young Explorers guide is a separate specialist booked before you travel, with the guide's own flights and bed part of that cost, and the camp may ask a family to take a private vehicle, so tell us the ages when you enquire and we will build whichever of those applies into the quote from the start. The camp is unfenced and the tents are reached along sand paths, so children need a parent's eye on them at all times, and the youngest do best in the family tent, where both bedrooms open onto the same bathroom.

Wifi, yes; a mobile signal, no. The camp lists wifi as available and the independent listings place it in the tents rather than the main area, which is kept for the lagoon, so messages and email go over the wifi from your tent and calls over the phone network are not possible anywhere in the concession.

If someone in your party has to be reachable at set times, tell us before you book and we will check the current arrangements with the camp rather than guess. For everyone else, the practical advice is to download maps, books and anything else you want before you leave Maun.

The boats run from May to the end of September, when the flood has pushed the water up, so that is the window if being on the deeper channels matters to you; the mokoro depends on how much water sits in the channels beside the lagoon, which we check for your dates, and the drives, night drives and walks go all year. For game, the dry months from July to October pull the elephant herds, buffalo and zebra to the permanent water, with October the hottest month, afternoons up to forty and mornings still pleasant. The rains between November and March, heaviest in January and February, bring green floodplains, newborn animals and migrant birds, and the walks shorten while the grass stands high. Fishing is closed nationwide in January and February.

Mornings in June, July and August can be close to six degrees, so pack a warm, windproof jacket, gloves and a hat for the winter, a light rain jacket for November to April, neutral colours and closed shoes for the walks, a hat and strong sun cream for the middle of the day, and binoculars. Sealable plastic bags keep the fine white sand out of cameras. Everything goes in one soft bag of twenty kilograms, hand luggage included, and the camp launders daily.

Three nights at least, because the helicopter leg makes this a camp you settle into rather than pass through, and the first afternoon goes on the lagoon before the drives begin; four gives you a full day out with a picnic and a night drive without giving anything up. Five nights or more across Maxa and its sister camps earns a long-stay discount, provided the flights between them are booked as part of the same package, which is how we book them.

The rate is fully inclusive: the tent, all meals and snacks, house wines, local beers and spirits and soft drinks, the guided drives, walks and water activities, daily laundry, park fees and taxes, and emergency evacuation cover to the nearest medical facility. The helicopter transfer in and out sits outside it and is charged per person, as do the flights from Maun, the scenic helicopter flights over the Delta, imported wines and champagne, a private vehicle or a specialist guide, a single supplement if you travel alone in the shoulder and high seasons, and a small nightly donation to the owners' community fund, which they match; we lay each of those out in the quote so the total you see is the total you pay.