Wild dogs have hunted along the lagoon below the main deck, and elephants wade its margins. Out in the middle distance, hippos surface and sink. The camp faces the water from the Okavango Delta’s south-eastern edge, on a private concession bordering Moremi, where lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena and wild dog share the floodplains and palm-dotted islands with buffalo, red lechwe and tsessebe.
Out in the middle distance, hippos surface and sink.
A Maun-based family opened the camp at the end of 2017 on some 26,000 hectares that had lain unused for four years. Qorokwe means the place where buffalo broke through the bush into the water, and the herds still push down to a lagoon they share with hippos and crocodiles. Back at camp, the lights and fans run on the sun, and so does the hot water.
Steel frames hold the camp off the ground. The family chose them because termites leave them alone, and every structure can be dismantled and moved. Raised decks let the bush grow on beneath them. Each suite is walled in canvas and mosquito mesh, and raised walkways link it to the main area.
Beyond the fire, the frogs chirrup on long into the night.
The colours come from the earth and the lagoon’s waterlilies, with accents of rust and burnt orange set against bleached timber and live-edge wood, under perforated timber ceilings that let light through like a tree canopy. A firepit sits close to the water’s edge. Beyond the fire, the frogs chirrup on long into the night. By day, the infinity pool looks over the same water.
Morning drives set out in open vehicles across floodplain and palm-dotted islands, into woodland of jackalberry, fig and sausage trees, with the scent of wild sage and dust rising off the tracks. Other vehicles are a rare sight. The concession is private, not part of the reserve next door, so the guides are free to keep driving after dark, when the spotlight picks out bush babies, porcupines and Verreaux’s eagle-owls. Walks with an armed guide cross mostly open savannah, setting out from camp or a chosen spot on the concession.
When the flood fills the channels between the Gomoti and the Santantadibe, the concession opens up by water too. A six-seat canopied boat runs the Gomoti Channel, but the quieter way in is by mokoro, with a poler guiding you along the narrower waterways. The dip of the pole and birdsong are the only sounds, and animals on the banks carry on undisturbed. Picnics are laid out beside the Gomoti. One outing ends at a bottle of champagne hidden among the reeds.
Overhead, the Southern Cross is retold as two lions hunting four giraffes.
Between drives, the main deck looks over the water’s edge, where giraffes splay their legs. The camp behind it is contemporary, with near-flat roofs, box-shaped rooms and high timber ceilings in place of peaked canvas. The kitchen has range too. Meals follow the season, with sorghum and millet from community growers: dinner might be a Moroccan venison tagine and breakfast French toast with caramelised bananas, and pizza nights are make-your-own, from the camp’s oven. Dinner can also move from the dining room to a private table by the pool.
Evenings end around the firepit under a sky crossed by the Milky Way. Overhead, the Southern Cross is retold as two lions hunting four giraffes. By day, the seasons set the pattern: the drier months from May to October make game viewing easiest, while the height of the flood decides when the boats go out. Either way, the guides explore by vehicle and on foot, taking to the water whenever the flood allows. The journey in is short, too: a charter flight connects the airstrip with Maun, and light-aircraft hops link it to other camps across the Okavango Delta.
accommodation
Qorokwe Camp has nine tented suites: eight standard, and one family suite with its own splash pool. Each is raised on a steel frame. Inside is a lounge, a free-standing bath and a shower that opens to the outdoors, and a large deck looks out over the bush.
activities
Day and night drives and walks with an armed guide all take place on the private concession, away from the neighbouring Moremi Game Reserve. Whenever the flood allows, mokoro and boat trips run on the Gomoti and its side channels. Birding fills the gaps, along with channel-side picnics, stargazing and spa treatments.
conservation
Since the camp opened in 2017, it has ploughed village fields each rainy season and repaired and built bridges. It also built a kgotla, the traditional court and meeting place. Beyond that, it backs subsistence fishing and grass harvesting, sponsors beds and Christmas gifts of cattle, and funds education, training and local jobs.
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, about half an hour north over the south-eastern Delta, and then a game drive from the airstrip to camp. The same small aircraft link Qorokwe with the other Delta camps and with Kasane, so the camp can sit in the middle of a safari rather than only at its start or end.
If you would rather set your own timings, we can arrange a private charter from Maun, usually a Cessna Grand Caravan EX of up to eleven seats, or a five-seat GA-8 Airvan for a couple or a small family. Pack in a soft bag: on a Mack Air charter the limit is twenty kilograms a person, hand luggage included.
Yes. The camp is in the northern half of Botswana, which TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates 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 awareness of the risk and avoiding bites. The CDC also lists the Okavango and Ngamiland districts among the areas where it recommends prevention.
Low risk is not no risk. We do not give medical advice, since we plan safaris rather than practise medicine, so whether to take tablets, and which suit each person travelling, is a decision for you and your own doctor or a travel clinic. With drives running on after dark, long sleeves, trousers and repellent earn their place in the vehicle.
Yes, whenever the flood allows, which makes Qorokwe a land camp with the water as a bonus rather than a water camp. Alongside the drives and walks, the camp runs mokoro outings in traditional dugout-style canoes and motor-boat trips on the channels, and both depend on how high the water stands at the time.
The Okavango's flood comes down from Angola during the dry winter, so the channels are usually at their fullest from July to September, the months our own advice rates highest for mokoro and boating. After the big floods of recent years the camp has kept water trips running well beyond that, so tell us your dates and we will confirm what is running before you travel.
Predators, above all, and buffalo. The camp's private concession of some 26,000 hectares borders Moremi Game Reserve and mixes floodplain, mopane and acacia woodland and islands along the Gomoti and Santantadibe channels, ground that holds lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena and wild dog. The buffalo are in the name: Qorokwe means the place where the buffalo broke through the bush into the water.
Elephant, giraffe, zebra, red lechwe, tsessebe, hippo and crocodile fill in the rest. Only the camp's own guests drive the concession, by day and after dark, and walks go out with an armed guide, so you never walk alone. No sighting is ever certain, which is why we suggest at least three nights at the camp.
Yes, and one suite is built for it. Alongside the eight tented suites there is a larger family suite with its own splash pool, so a family keeps together and the children have water of their own in the heat of the day. The main deck adds an infinity pool over the lagoon and a wood-fired pizza oven, which tends to win over the younger guests.
Tell us the children's ages when you enquire and we will work out which drives, walks and water trips each of them can join, then shape the days around the youngest.
Qorokwe Camp's rate covers the whole of a normal safari day: the tented suite, all meals and snacks, water and local house drinks, two scheduled activities a day with the camp's guides, the park and concession fees, laundry, and the transfers between the airstrip and camp. We include medical evacuation cover as standard.
The extras are few: spa treatments, premium imported drinks and champagne, and tips for the guides and camp team. We arrange the flights, and any of these you would like, before you arrive.
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.
