Shinde Camp occupies a palm island on a private concession in the northern Okavango Delta, on the edge of the permanent Shinde Lagoon. Most Delta camps shift between wet and dry character as the seasons turn. Shinde does not. The lagoon holds water throughout the year, so mokoro, motorboats and game drives run from the same island in July and in November alike.
The lagoon holds water throughout the year.
Elephant, red lechwe and hippo move across the floodplains within sight of the camp’s raised decks. Beyond the lagoon, deeper channels carry motorboats out toward the wider waterways, while the shallower, papyrus-lined stretches are made for a mokoro. The concession borders Moremi Game Reserve, so the wildlife is the same population, but here it is worked by far fewer vehicles.
Photographic safaris have run from Shinde since the 1980s, making it one of the longer-established camps in the Delta. The main lodge was rebuilt in 2020, raised into the canopy of ebony and mangosteen trees on several tiers, with lounges, dining areas and a fire deck looking out over the lagoon. The rebuild kept the classic tented character the camp has carried for decades, rather than reaching for something more contemporary.
lounges, dining areas and a fire deck looking out over the lagoon
The guides here are known for their tracking skill and for reading the landscape closely. That counts most on foot and on the water, where a sighting turns on knowing which channel a leopard favours or where the lechwe are feeding at that hour. Because this is a private concession, the guiding team can also run night drives and walking safaris, both of which Moremi does not permit.
A light aircraft flight of around 25 to 30 minutes from Maun reaches the private Shinde airstrip, followed by a short road transfer to camp. The approach passes low over the same waterways and palm islands that define this part of the Delta, an unhurried introduction to the ground you are about to explore. Helicopter flights over the Delta can also be arranged, giving a slow, banking view of channels and floodplains that neither a vehicle nor a boat can reach.
Next door in Moremi, visitors are held to daytime drives on fixed roads. On the Shinde concession the day runs longer and freer. Guides lead morning and afternoon game drives, night drives after dinner for genets, civets and porcupines, and walking safaris with armed guides. On the water, mokoro excursions move quietly through the reeds while motorboats reach the wider channels. Catch-and-release fishing for tilapia and tigerfish continues most of the year, closing only in January and February for the breeding season.
Guides lead morning and afternoon game drives, night drives after dinner for genets
The mix of permanent water, floodplain and dry woodland brings a wide range of species through the concession. Lions and leopards hold steady numbers and African wild dogs pass through, while the reed beds shelter the sitatunga, a semi-aquatic antelope rarely seen well elsewhere. Elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra and red lechwe are common sightings, and the birdlife draws its own following, with seasonal access from August to December to the Gadikwe Heronry, a breeding colony of herons, egrets, pelicans and storks. Mornings begin with coffee brought to the tent before first light, a drive in the cool early air, and evenings that settle around the fire.
The camp stays small by design. The décor favours wood, canvas and African textiles over anything modern, and the tents stand on raised teak platforms linked to the main lodge by walkways. Meals are usually shared at a long table with guides and managers, freshly prepared dinners carried along by stories from the day. There is no cell signal in camp, which suits the setting, and a plunge pool looks out over the plains through the still hours between activities.
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accommodation
Eight tents house guests across seven classic safari tents, set as twin or double with three-quarter or king beds, and one two-bedroom family tent sleeping five. Each has a large bedroom, a private viewing deck and an en-suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers. The tents stand on raised teak platforms and run on solar power.
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activities
The private concession allows a wider activity range than neighbouring Moremi. Day and night game drives, walking safaris with armed guides, mokoro excursions and motorboat trips run throughout the year on the permanent lagoon. Catch-and-release fishing for tilapia and tigerfish continues except in January and February. Helicopter flights over the Delta can be arranged.
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conservation
Shinde Camp holds a Green Plus eco-tourism certification from the Botswana Tourism Organisation and runs on a solar plant installed in 2020. The camp supports Bana Ba Letsatsi, a Maun-based charity that shelters and educates vulnerable and orphaned children.
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 scheduled light aircraft out of Maun reaches the camp's airstrip in under half an hour, with a short drive to finish. We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, timed to your Johannesburg arrival so the whole journey lands in a single easy day.
The luggage rule is stricter than most guests expect: twenty kilograms per person including hand luggage and camera kit, in soft bags no larger than roughly 65 by 30 by 25 centimetres, with frames and hard shells refused at the aircraft. A duffel solves all of it.
Yes. A camp beside a permanent lagoon sits closer to mosquito habitat than most, and the region's position is clear: northern Botswana carries malaria risk, highest from October to May, and both the UK's official travel health advice and the CDC recommend antimalarial tablets for travel here in that season. The dry winter is lower risk, never free of it.
Take the question to a travel clinic or your doctor while the trip is still weeks away, since guidance changes and the right tablets vary from person to person, and let long sleeves, repellent and the nets close out each day.
From seven years old, and more warmly than the age rule suggests. Children from seven to fifteen travel on a child rate, no private vehicle is required, every activity is open to them, and the two-bedroom family tent sleeps five under one roof. For families who want the days built around the children, a specialist family guide can host the stay through a young explorers programme, which ends with a gift pack and a certificate that tends to outlast the flight home.
Tell us the ages and we will decide together what each day should hold.
Any month works on this concession, so the choice is about texture. The winter flood, born of Angolan rain half a year earlier, spreads highest from around June to September, bringing cold bright dawns, deep channels for the boats and game pressed onto the islands, while October concentrates the wildlife further but turns seriously hot. The green summer answers with storm skies, newborn antelope and migrant birds in residence from about September to March.
If birds are the draw, we would lean late in the year, when the nearby breeding colonies reach full noise. Tell us what you most want to see and we will place the week.
Everything the day actually uses: accommodation, the guided activities, all meals and snacks, a selected list of drinks alcoholic and soft, daily laundry, the park fees, taxes and service charges, and emergency evacuation cover to a regional medical facility.
What sits outside the rate, a private specialist guide or a helicopter hour over the Delta among the options, we price into the quote from the start, so the number you approve is the number that stands.
A limited connection runs in camp, enough for messages when it cooperates, and with no mobile signal to fall back on, the sensible plan is to arrive expecting to be offline and treat anything more as a bonus.
If you need to be reachable, for work or for family, tell us when we build the route and we will time the connected stops accordingly.
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our approach
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Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
