Xuxuga is a forested island in the northern Okavango Delta, on a community-owned concession west of the Vumbura and Duba Plains areas. The lagoon below holds a resident pod of hippos, and seven tented suites are turned to face it, one of them a two-bedroom family suite. The camp opened in June 2023, and it is small enough that a single family or party can take the whole island.
The lagoon below holds a resident pod of hippos.
The island lies at the upstream end of the Delta, so the annual flood arrives here early and drains late, keeping the channels navigable when drier camps have lost their water. Mokoro, motorboat and guided walks run for most of the year. Arrival is by light aircraft from Maun to Kadizora, around forty minutes, then a short game drive in over two wooden bridges. Helicopter transfers can also be arranged directly to the island.
The concession, known as NG23a, is held by the local youth community and managed in partnership with the camp’s operators, and this camp is the only one working it, so most game drives pass without another vehicle in sight. When the floods push in, drives sometimes range into the neighbouring NG12 area, where sightings can be shared. Night drives and off-road following are both permitted, standard practice across the Delta’s private concessions.
Lions here hunt the buffalo herds that cross the floodplains.
Elephants move through the concession each year, and the woodland belongs to leopard while wild dogs and cheetah work the open plains. Lions here hunt the buffalo herds that cross the floodplains. Sitatunga pick along the reed edges where the channels run deep, and more than 350 bird species have been recorded, among them Pel’s fishing owl and the wattled crane.
Each suite stands on raised timber decking under ebony, mangosteen and leadwood trees, set well apart along the island’s tree line and turned outward to the water. Solid timber panelling, canvas and mesh give way to a lounge, a small kitchenette and a king bed under a walk-in mosquito net, with a cooling unit above it for summer and a fireplace for winter. The bathrooms hold twin basins, a freestanding tub and showers indoors and out. Each deck carries its own plunge pool and a sunken sundeck.
Mornings begin around half past five with tea brought to the suite, then a drive across the floodplains or a boat run down the channels. Poled mokoro trips move through lily beds close enough to hear reed frogs calling. Motorboats reach the lagoons further out, and guided walks take in spoor, trees and birds on the island itself. After dark, spotlights pick up serval, caracal and hunting hyena. Catch-and-release fishing, village visits and scenic helicopter flights fill the hours in between.
Poled mokoro trips move through lily beds close enough to hear reed frogs calling.
Lounge and dining sit under pointed canvas roofs, joined to the suites by boardwalks, with a small library, an outdoor gym and a single-bed spa alongside. The firepit deck runs out over the lagoon, and it is where most evenings start: hippos grunting below the timber, bell frogs chiming from the far bank, fireflies over the water. Much of the team comes from villages on the northern fringe of the Delta. With seven suites in total, the island takes an exclusive-use booking as easily as individual rooms, and it works well across generations; children from six are welcome.
The concession is run in partnership with the local operator Nakwa and the Magobagoba Youth Trust, which puts camp revenue into early childhood education and youth employment in villages along the Delta’s northern fringe. Nearby, CLAWS herds cattle communally with their owners, protecting livestock and resting overgrazed ground while retaliatory lion killings fall, and Elephant Express carries schoolchildren safely through an elephant corridor. The camp runs entirely on solar power, with waste carefully managed on the island. Longer stays can set mokoro trips and hippo lagoons against the open pans of the Makgadikgadi or the plains of the Kalahari.
accommodation
Seven tented suites, six doubles and a two-bedroom family suite with a central lounge and dining table. Each has raised decking over the lagoon, a private plunge pool, king bed under a walk-in net, lounge and kitchenette, twin basins, freestanding tub, indoor and outdoor showers, air conditioning and a fireplace.
activities
Game drives day and night in open vehicles, with off-road following permitted on this private community concession. Mokoro and motorboat trips run for most of the year, alongside guided walks, birding across more than 350 recorded species, catch-and-release fishing, village visits and scenic helicopter flights.
conservation
CLAWS runs a communal herding programme with cattle owners in the area, protecting livestock and reducing retaliatory lion killings while resting overgrazed ground. The Magobagoba Youth Trust puts camp income into early childhood education and youth employment, and Elephant Express carries schoolchildren safely through an elephant corridor.
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 into the concession's airstrip, then a short transfer to the island. The transfer is part of the nightly rate; the flight is not, and we price it separately in your quote so you can see what each leg costs.
The usual arrangement is a shared seat in plane service that may make a stop or two on the way, with its departure confirmed close to the day. If you would rather fix your own timings, or you are travelling as a family or a party taking the whole island, we can arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12. Soft bags only, because the aircraft into the Delta are small and a hard case will not go in the hold.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, classes the northern half of Botswana, the Okavango Delta included, as high risk for malaria from October to May and recommends antimalarial tablets for those months, then as low risk for the rest of the year, when it advises awareness of the risk and avoiding bites. The CDC names the Okavango and Ngamiland districts among the parts of the country for which it recommends prescription medicine to prevent malaria. Low risk is not the same as no risk.
We do not give medical advice. We are travel planners rather than doctors, so the choice of tablets, and whether they suit everyone in the party, belongs in a conversation between you and your own doctor or a travel clinic. What we can be useful on is the non-medical part: cover up once the light goes, and carry repellent.
Yes, from six years old. One of the seven suites has two bedrooms, and the camp is small enough that a single family or party can take the whole island, which is worth pricing if there are ten or twelve of you.
Children of six to eighteen sharing with an adult are charged at a child rate, which we price for your dates. A family travelling with a child of nine or younger has to take a private vehicle for the whole stay, charged per vehicle per night, and we put that in the quote from the start rather than let it appear later. The camp is unfenced with a resident pod of hippos in the lagoon below, so children need an adult with them whenever they are outside the suite, and the walk back after dinner is done with a guide.
Yes, and it is covered by the nightly rate rather than charged on top, so messages, email and photographs go out from the suite without a second thought.
Mobile coverage on the island is another matter, and we would rather confirm the current position with the camp than tell you something that has since changed. If someone in your party has to be reachable at set times, say so before you book. For everyone else, the practical move is to download maps, books and anything you want to listen to before you leave Maun.
This island sits at the upstream end of the Delta, so the flood reaches it earlier than it reaches camps further south, and the water activities open sooner in the year. June to August is the most comfortable stretch: dry, afternoons in the middle twenties, mornings near eight degrees, with the water up and the mokoro and boat at their best. September and October are hotter, October afternoons into the middle thirties, and the game gathers at what water is left. November to March brings the rain, green country, newborn animals and migrant birds.
Pack a warm windproof jacket, a hat and gloves for winter mornings, because a dawn outing in June or July is properly cold. Then neutral colours and closed shoes, a light rain jacket from November to March, strong sun cream and a wide brimmed hat for the middle of the day, and binoculars. Fishing runs from March to December if that is part of why you are coming.
Three at least. Water and land are both in play here and a shorter stay forces a choice between them; four nights lets you take a night drive and a morning on the water without giving anything up. Six or seven nights, or eight and more, taken across this camp and its sister camps in Botswana and Namibia, earn a long stay discount off the nightly rate, which is one reason we usually build the whole trip as a single booking.
The rate is fully inclusive: the suite, all meals, drinks other than premium brands, the daily activities and guiding, the transfer between the airstrip and camp, wifi, guest laundry, park entry fees and tax. Outside it sit the flights, premium spirits and wines, gratuities, comprehensive travel insurance, the scenic helicopter flights, a private vehicle where one is needed or wanted, and a community, conservation and reserve fee charged per person per night, which funds community and wildlife work on this community owned concession and applies to everyone aged six and over.
rated five stars by our clients
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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.
