Chief’s Island lies on ground slightly higher than the Okavango Delta around it, so it stays dry through June to August when the floodplains beyond it fill. Mombo Camp occupies the island’s northern tip, inside Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve, and the effect of that geography is concentration. Elephants, buffalo, red lechwe and zebra move onto the open plains in front of camp rather than scatter across the wetlands, and the lions and leopards hunt the same ground.
There are no mokoros here, no boats and no water crossings.
This is a land-based camp. There are no mokoros here, no boats and no water crossings, only the plains and the animals that gather on them, watched from the decks or followed by vehicle across ground the herds have chosen for themselves.
Raised wooden decks and boardwalks thread between the suites beneath mangosteen, jackalberry and sausage trees. Some of the walkways are lifted high enough for elephants to pass underneath. The nine tented suites are each roughly the size of a city apartment, and each has a private plunge pool, a wrap-around veranda and a shaded sala for the heat of the day. Little Mombo, a smaller sister camp, connects across a raised bridge.
Some of the walkways are lifted high enough for elephants to pass underneath.
Inside, the suites are a modern reading of the classic safari tent. Crackled leather headboards sit above oak and marble floors, the fireplaces are clad in copper, and the mosquito net carries a quiet spot-cooling system. A stand-alone copper bath faces the floodplain, and mornings often begin with hippos grunting in the channel below the dining deck.
Colin Bell and his co-founders secured the site in 1990, when it was an overlooked hunting concession they had heard held a healthy pack of wild dogs. They turned it to photographic safari, and by 1999 it had become Wilderness’s flagship camp in the Delta. Wilderness rebuilt Mombo entirely between 2017 and early 2018, with Cape Town designer Caline Williams-Wynn behind the interiors and architect Nick Plewman behind the raised timber structures that carry the camp above the floodplain.
The plains around camp have a cast of their own. Chief’s Island is home to the Moporota lion pride and was the hunting ground of the leopard Legadema and her daughter Pula, filmed for the National Geographic documentary Eye of the Leopard. Cheetah, spotted hyena and wild dog move across the same ground. Black and white rhino were returned to the island from 2001 and thrived here for years, until the poaching surge from 2018 forced the survivors out to guarded sanctuaries. Big cats hunt within sight of the decks often enough that guests watch entire sequences without leaving camp.
Big cats hunt within sight of the decks often enough that guests watch entire sequences without leaving camp.
Days run on Moremi Game Reserve’s rules, which means game drives in open 4×4 vehicles, guides permitted off-road for a significant sighting such as a hunt, and no night drives. Walking safaris are set aside too, given the density of predators on Chief’s Island. A photographic hide a short drive from camp drops guests to low, eye-level views of the wildlife, and a helicopter opens an aerial route over the Delta’s channels and islands.
Dining moves through the day, from a thatched main area open to the floodplain to an outdoor boma beneath the stars and quiet dinners on a private veranda, the menus drawing on baobab, local grains and organic produce. The Sanctuary at Mombo adds a lap pool, sauna, ice bath and meditation cocoons. Children aged six to twelve can stay when a family books a private vehicle, paired through the Bush Buddy programme with a mentor for tracking and bushcraft. Staff sing guests in and out on the deck, a welcome and a farewell in harmony.
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accommodation
Nine tented suites raised on wooden decks above the floodplain, each roughly the size of a city apartment: bedroom, separate lounge with a private bar cart, double indoor shower, copper bath and walk-in wardrobe. Outdoor space runs the length of each suite, with a plunge pool, rain shower and shaded sala. Little Mombo connects by a raised bridge.
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activities
Morning and afternoon game drives in open 4x4 vehicles form the core, with guides permitted off-road inside Moremi Game Reserve for major sightings. No night drives or walking safaris are offered here. Birdwatching is strong, and a nearby photographic hide gives eye-level views. Helicopter flights over the Delta and treatments at The Sanctuary at Mombo round out the days.
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conservation
Mombo is where Botswana's rhino reintroduction began, with white rhino released in 2001 and black rhino in 2003, and for years Chief's Island was the Delta's rhino stronghold. Poaching from 2018 hit the island hardest, and by 2021 the surviving Delta rhino had been dehorned and moved to guarded sanctuaries elsewhere in Botswana, so do not come expecting to see one. Children in the Wilderness runs environmental education for children from communities bordering Botswana's wildlife areas.
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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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
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The Okavango Delta
Everyone flies. The light aircraft from Maun takes about half an hour to reach the camp's own airstrip on Chief's Island, and a game drive of around fifteen minutes carries you in from there. We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, timed to your international arrival, or a helicopter for the crossing if you would like the Delta's channels from low level.
The light aircraft take soft bags only, twenty kilograms per person including hand luggage, so pack a duffel rather than a hard case. Most guests connect through Johannesburg, a flight of just under two hours to Maun, before the final leg.
Yes. The Okavango Delta is a malaria area, and both the UK's official travel health advice and the CDC place northern Botswana among the regions where antimalarial tablets are usually recommended. The risk runs highest from October to May, through the summer rains, and falls away in the dry winter months without ever disappearing.
Speak to a travel clinic or your doctor before you go, since guidance changes and the right tablets vary from person to person, and take the usual care against bites once the sun drops over the floodplain.
Two seasons, sharply drawn. The dry winter from May to October brings clear, sunny days and cold starts, and the early game drives in open vehicles call for a proper warm jacket, a beanie and gloves in the depths of June and July. Summer, from November to March, turns hot and humid, with afternoon storms that build and break quickly.
Neutral colours, a wide-brimmed hat and strong sun protection cover the days, and the soft-bag limit of twenty kilograms on the flights decides the rest. Swimwear for your suite's plunge pool and binoculars for the floodplain in front of camp are both worth their weight.
The rate is fully inclusive: accommodation, all meals, the twice-daily game drives, park fees, laundry and all local drinks, with only premium imported labels and champagne priced separately. Wifi is included as well.
Helicopter flights over the Delta are the main extra, arranged at additional cost, so tell us what appeals and we will build the whole picture into your quote from the start.
Yes, with one piece of planning done early. Children under thirteen only join game drives when the family has booked a private vehicle, so for ages six to twelve we reserve one from the start, which also means every drive runs to your family's rhythm rather than a stranger's. From thirteen upwards teenagers join the shared vehicles like any other guest.
The family suite is two adjoining tents under one shared entrance, each with its own bathroom, sleeping four in all, and it books out well ahead. Tell us the ages when we plan and we will be straight about what suits them now and what is worth saving for a return.
Three nights is the number we usually build in. The viewing here is intense rather than varied, morning and afternoon drives shaped by the reserve's daylight rules, and three nights gives the plains time to show you a full hunt or two without the rhythm wearing thin.
Because everything at this camp happens on land, we usually pair it with a water camp elsewhere in the Delta, so mokoro channels and boat safaris arrive later in the trip and the two halves of the Okavango each get their due. Tell us what else is on the wish list and we will balance the route around it.
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