Xaranna Okavango Delta Lodge is being rebuilt from the ground up on a wooded island above a seasonal lagoon in the southern Okavango Delta, where a nine-tent camp stood until it closed in 2026. When the flood is up, the journey in becomes a small expedition, by road, then by boat, and finally on foot along a timber walkway onto the island. The same water moves the safari between vehicles and boats as the months turn.
Poled canoes slip through reed-lined channels at water level.
Before the flood, the safari runs on wheels and on foot, with drives that carry on past sunset and island walks led by an armed guide. From about May to September, mokoro and motorboats take over. Poled canoes slip through reed-lined channels at water level. At the height of the flood, the guides also offer catch-and-release fishing.
Red lechwe graze the wet margins of the floodplain, and the wooded islands behind them hold leopard. Herds of elephant and buffalo move through the wider concession, and hippos keep to the lagoon. Because the lodge works a private concession, drives run on past sunset, when leopard and serval are both about, and walks go out on foot with an armed guide.
At night, hippos grunt in the lagoon and lions roar on the floodplain.
Elephants wander between the suites at their own pace. At night, hippos grunt in the lagoon and lions roar on the floodplain. Between them come the bark of a leopard and the chiming of painted reed frogs. From about May to September, when the flood is in, mokoro and motorboats head out across the lagoon, and at its height there is catch-and-release fishing.
For years the island carried a camp of nine tents, built from canvas and bleached timber and reached along sandy paths. That camp closed in 2026 for a full rebuild. The new Xaranna Okavango Delta Lodge, not yet open, keeps the island and its view across the seasonal lagoon, and it keeps the count of nine. Each suite, though, now covers 160 square metres and has its own plunge pool. Just as much has changed in the hours between outings, when heat settles over the floodplain and most of the animals go still in the shade.
Those hours will belong to a wellness centre with a treatment tower and a hammam. There is a hydrotherapy deck too, and a gym with a cold plunge. For something quieter, each suite has a shaded sala, a daybed within earshot of the hippos. After dark, attention turns upward to a rooftop deck for stargazing above a wine cellar, and dinner is served in the open, around the fire or along the jetty with the lagoon black and still beside it. Power will come mainly from a solar hybrid system with battery storage.
On a mokoro, the view drops to a few centimetres above the waterline and the reeds close in.
Families can take the two-bedroom suite, two suites joined around a shared lounge and deck, so parents and children share a common space by day and have separate bedrooms at night. Meals bend to them as well: children’s menus and private dining can be arranged. Younger guests have a children’s programme of their own, which matters here because minimum ages apply to the walks and mokoro trips, and to some game drives. Elephants and hippos keep no timetable around camp, so children stay with an adult whenever they move between the suites and the main area.
Leopard and serval are both possible once the afternoon drive carries on into darkness and the floodplain cools. By day, a scenic helicopter flight lays out the islands and channels that the boats and vehicles work at ground level, the whole pattern visible in a single sweep. On the water the next morning, the scale reverses. On a mokoro, the view drops to a few centimetres above the waterline and the reeds close in. Here the delta unfolds one bend at a time, and the channel ahead is all there is to see.
accommodation
Each of the nine suites at Xaranna Okavango Delta Lodge covers 160 square metres and looks over the seasonal lagoon from a private deck. Each has its own plunge pool and shaded sala, with a two-way fireplace and a bath facing the floodplain. For families, a two-bedroom suite joins two suites around a shared lounge and deck.
activities
Game drives continue past sunset and guided walks cross the islands with an armed guide, both possible because the lodge works a private concession. From about May to September, mokoro and motorboats explore reed-lined channels, and catch-and-release fishing runs at the flood's height. Scenic helicopter flights are available.
conservation
Wild Impact has worked in Sexaxa, a village near Maun, since 2012, and its donors helped open Sexaxa Primary School in 2020 with the lodge's operator and the council. The school now teaches more than 200 pupils, with classrooms, a kitchen and ablutions, and guests can visit.
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.
01
The Okavango Delta
02
The Okavango Delta
03
The Okavango Delta
04
The Okavango Delta
05
The Okavango Delta
06
The Okavango Delta
07
The Okavango Delta
08
The Okavango Delta
09
The Okavango Delta
10
The Okavango Delta
11
The Okavango Delta
12
The Okavango Delta
13
The Okavango Delta
14
The Okavango Delta
15
The Okavango Delta
16
The Okavango Delta
17
The Okavango Delta
18
The Okavango Delta
19
The Okavango Delta
20
The Okavango Delta
By light aircraft from Maun to the Xaranna airstrip, about ten kilometres north-east of the lodge, and then the last stretch by road, by boat or by both, depending on the water. When the flood is up, the final part is on foot across the floodplain on a timber walkway. Mack Air, a Maun bush airline, flies the hop on shared seats or as a private charter in a Cessna Grand Caravan EX, which carries up to eleven passengers.
Maun has daily scheduled flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town. The light aircraft can also connect from Kasane or straight from another camp in the Delta, so a combined trip need not double back through Maun, and Helicopter Horizons flies helicopter transfers in a Bell 407 or Bell LongRanger for five guests, a Bell 505 for four or a Robinson R44 for three. The bush flights take twenty kilograms a person including hand luggage, ideally in a soft bag.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, puts the whole Okavango Delta in the northern half of Botswana, where it rates the malaria risk as high from October to May and recommends antimalarial tablets for those months, and as low for the rest of the year, when it advises awareness and bite avoidance. The American CDC includes the Okavango district among the areas where it recommends preventive medicine.
Low risk is not no risk, so a June to September trip still deserves a conversation with your doctor or a travel clinic. We plan travel and are not medical professionals: whether to take tablets, and which, is a decision for you and your doctor. Every suite has a mosquito net, and long sleeves and repellent from late afternoon make sense in any month.
Usually from May to September, when the year's flood reaches the southern Delta. In those months the lodge runs mokoro outings in traditional dugout-style canoes and motorboat cruises along the channels and lagoons, and catch-and-release fishing joins them from July to September. All of it is in the rate, but none of it is fixed: the water arrives at a different level and on a different date each year.
There are age limits on the water. Motorboat cruises are for children of twelve and over, and mokoro trips, like the guided walks, are for sixteen and over. Outside the flood months the days are spent on game drives that run on after dark and on walks, and the drier ground opens up country the boats cannot reach.
Yes, children of every age are welcome. The family suite is two suites joined by passages to a shared lounge and pool deck, each with its own bathroom, and sleeps two adults and two children, or three children on request. One other suite takes a third bed for a child of sixteen or under. The lodge runs a children's programme for ages three to twelve, with baking, tracking and stargazing, and childminding at extra cost.
Shared game drives take children from six, at the manager's discretion, and shorter drives can be arranged for three to five year olds. For a young family we would add a private vehicle and guide, at extra cost, so every child can come out and the drives run to their timetable. Tell us their ages when you enquire and we will plan the days around them.
Almost everything on the ground. The rate covers the suite, three meals a day, soft drinks, house wines, local beers and spirits, laundry, park fees and the transfers between the airstrip and the lodge. It also covers the outings: game drives, guided walks, the seasonal mokoro, boat and fishing trips, birding, stargazing, a back-of-house tour of the lodge's solar and water systems, and a visit to the Sexaxa village school near Maun on the way out, when departure times allow.
The extras are scenic helicopter flights, treatments in the wellness centre, a private vehicle and guide, champagne, fine wines and premium spirits, and gratuities. We include medical evacuation cover as standard.
June to October. As the Kalahari dries, animals move onto the Delta's permanent water, and from July to September the flood is at its height, which is when the mokoro and boats have the most to explore. June and July mornings are cold in an open vehicle, while October is the hottest month and can pass forty degrees. April, May and November sit in between.
December to March is the slow season for big game, with long grass and animals spread wide, but it has its own case: migrant birds in breeding colour, newborn antelope, dramatic storm light for photographers and far fewer people. Pack layers and a warm jacket for winter dawns, light neutral clothing, and a rain jacket from November.
rated five stars by our clients
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
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.
