Never more than six guests stay at Sandibe Under Canvas, a camp of three tents on a private 22,500-hectare concession bordering Moremi Game Reserve, in Botswana’s southern Okavango Delta. Lion, leopard, cheetah and wild dog are tracked across the grasslands by vehicle, and guided walks read the same ground on foot.
Afternoon drives carry on after dark, when the hunting starts.
Camp is canvas among mopane, acacia and ilala palms, built without permanent structures so it can leave no trace. Afternoon drives carry on after dark, when the hunting starts. Back in camp, after nightfall, a guide walks each guest to their tent through unfenced country where elephants and buffalo pass by, and a lion calling across the plain is often the last sound before sleep.
The canvas camp shares its logistics with Sandibe Safari Lodge, a more elaborate operation on the same concession, and so keeps its own footprint small. What is left is a pared-back, old-style safari. Beyond the three tents, thoughtfully spaced, there is an open-sided mess tent and a fire pit in a sandy boma. The palette is earthy greens and light wood, with woven fibre and brushed metal in the details.
The day’s sightings are retold by the people who were in the vehicle.
Meals are cooked over the open fire, and dinner is eaten in the lamplit boma or at a table under the stars. With the camp full at six, one table seats everyone. The day’s sightings are retold by the people who were in the vehicle. Local beers and spirits are poured throughout, alongside house wines.
Small open plains scattered with ilala palms break up the mopane and acacia woodland here, a dry-land corner of the Okavango Delta where grazing and cover are rarely far apart. Red lechwe and tsessebe feed on the open ground with impala and kudu, and spotted hyenas work the same country as the four big predators. June to September is the classic dry season. Between October and December, if the first rains fall on ground burnt earlier in the year, the fresh grass can draw larger herds of grazers.
No vehicle carries more than six guests, and each goes out with its own guide. On a private concession the guide can leave the track, with care, to stay with a leopard or a hunting pack of wild dog. When conditions allow and the guide judges the group ready, the same ground is covered on foot. Dry grass gives underfoot and a grey go-away-bird calls its alarm from the mopane. Tracks that a vehicle would roll straight over become the subject of the walk, read print by print in the sand.
Dry grass gives underfoot and a grey go-away-bird calls its alarm from the mopane.
Birding runs through every drive and walk, with variety all year round. No town light reaches this part of the Delta, so after dinner the stars are read from a chair beside the fire, with a guide naming the southern constellations. Hyenas whoop out on the plain, and somewhere beyond the tents an elephant tears at branches.
Light aircraft connect Maun with the Chitabe airstrip, and a vehicle covers the final stretch across the concession to camp. Guests must be twelve or older. There are no family or triple tents, so a family with teenagers can book all three and have Sandibe Under Canvas to itself. Leaving through Maun, when flight times allow, guests can stop at Sexaxa just outside the town to see Wild Impact’s work with the community there.
accommodation
Three canvas tents sleep six guests at most, each with insect-proof netting and a private veranda. Inside are a super king bed that splits into twins, a standing fan, Starlink Wi-Fi, USB points and solar-powered lighting. The en-suite bathroom has a double shower, double vanities, hot water and a flushing toilet.
activities
Morning and afternoon drives cross the private concession, and the afternoon drive continues after dark by spotlight. Guides may drive off-road, with care. Walks go out when conditions and the guide allow, and birding and stargazing fill the hours between. No vehicle carries more than six guests.
conservation
In four neighbouring villages, Shorobe, Sexaxa, Gogomoga and Tsutsubega, the people who live alongside the concession's wildlife are supported by Wild Impact through employment and mentorship, and through building conservation awareness. The camp runs off-grid on its own solar plant.
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
Through Maun, the gateway to the Okavango Delta. Airlink flies to Maun from Johannesburg and Cape Town, and from there a light aircraft makes the short hop north to the Chitabe airstrip, which serves the Sandibe concession. Mack Air flies these transfers on shared seats or as a private charter, mostly in its Cessna Grand Caravan EX, which carries up to eleven passengers.
A guide meets the plane in a safari vehicle and drives you to camp, watching for game along the way, and that transfer is part of the rate. For your own timings we can book a whole aircraft, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12. The same light aircraft link Chitabe with other camps across the Delta, so a stay here slots easily into a longer Botswana route.
Yes. The camp is in the south-eastern Okavango Delta, part of the northern half of Botswana that TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates as high risk for malaria from October to May, with antimalarial tablets recommended. For June to September it rates the risk as low and advises bite avoidance. The CDC lists the Okavango and Ngamiland districts among those where it recommends preventive medicine.
Low risk is not no risk. We plan safaris and are not medical professionals, so whether to take tablets, and which ones, is a question for you and your doctor or a travel clinic, with your dates to hand. On the practical side, the tents are fully netted, and long sleeves and repellent by the evening fire make sense in any month.
No. It stays on one site, but nothing in it is permanent. It is a semi-permanent camp of three canvas tents with no fixed buildings, run off-grid on its own solar power and built so it could be lifted without leaving a trace. It is also a separate place from Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, the permanent lodge on the same private concession.
The camp is not fenced, wildlife passes through it, and after dark a member of the team walks guests to and from their tents, so you never walk alone. Under the canvas the comforts are real: a super king bed that can be made up as twins, a double shower and double basins, a separate flushing toilet, standing fans, solar lamps with plug points, and Wi-Fi.
Yes to both. The concession is 22,500 hectares of private land bordering Moremi Game Reserve, and game drives go out morning and afternoon with no more than six guests in a vehicle. The afternoon drive carries on after nightfall, and guided walks with the camp's guide take in tracks, plants and the smaller life a vehicle misses. Stargazing and birding fill the quieter hours, and all of it is in the rate.
Mokoro trips and fishing are not offered at this camp; they belong to its sister, Nxabega Under Canvas, further west, so we pair the two when water is part of the plan. A scenic helicopter flight over the Delta can be added at extra cost, and on the day you leave, flight times allowing, the camp can arrange a visit to Sexaxa village near Maun, whose school Wild Impact has supported.
Yes, from the age of twelve. Each tent sleeps two and there are no triple tents, so a family of four takes two of the three tents, and a family of five or six has the whole camp to itself. Tell us everyone's ages at enquiry and we will plan the tents and the days around them.
Teenagers join the same drives as the adults. For families with younger children, we suggest a Delta lodge that welcomes them and can build the rest of the trip around that.
June to October, the dry season. As the land around the Delta dries out, game draws in towards permanent water, the grass is shorter and predators are easier to follow. July to September is the standout, with cold dawns that call for a fleece in the vehicle, while October is the hottest month and often passes 40 degrees. April, May and November are the shoulder months.
December to March is the green season: hot, wet and quiet, with the game more spread out in thick bush. It has a real case. Birding is at its best as the migrants arrive, young antelope are on the ground with predators close behind, storm skies make for dramatic photographs, and there are very few other vehicles about.
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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.
