Khwai Tented Camp

There are 6 Luxury Tented Rooms, all featuring large, plush double or twin beds and looking out over the tranquil lagoon waters. Battery charging facilities are available but no wi-fi, which gives guests the chance to disconnect and immerse themselves in the incredible wildlife around them. Tea and coffee making facilities are available so that guests can sit out on their room’s private verandah with a refreshing drink and enjoy watching the glorious African sunrise. The tented rooms are spaced apart for privacy, and each one features an en-suite bathroom with indoor shower facilities and a double basin.

Guests are provided with three mouth-watering meals a day, which can be enjoyed out on the terrace under the starry sky, or in the cosy and comfortable indoor dining area. Meals can even be brought out to guests in the bush, for an exciting dining experience with safari views of patrolling elephants and playing hyenas. A boma is located beside the main area for cooking delicious fire-roasted dishes, and guests can gather around the fire pit and connect with one another as traditional tribe leaders would have done. Tea, coffee and soft drinks, as well as alcoholic beverages are all included, and premium imported spirits and champagne can be provided at additional cost.

Venture out into the bush on an exciting game drive and see the Okavango Delta’s amazing wildlife up close. Drive up to prowling lions and giant elephants and watch them behave in their natural habitat from the safety of the safari vehicle. The experienced guides will teach you incredible facts about the huge range of creatures that live on the Khwai Concession.

Night drives are also available and offer the unique chance to find some of the delta’s nocturnal creatures. The darkness adds an extra immersive element to this experience as you watch adorable bushbabies and civets go about their nightly routines. You may also see some of the predators who are most active at night, such as leopards who return to the high trees to reclaim their prey which they store up there to protect it from scavengers.

Drift along the Okavango waterways in a dug-out canoe and watch the wildlife from the safety of the Khwai River. Mokoro safaris allow guests to get an idea of the truly massive size of the Okavango Delta. Learn about the river and its fascinating inhabitants while hippos swim alongside you and elephants drink from the riverbanks. This is a seasonal activity, due to the delta’s changing water levels, and is best enjoyed during the green season (November to April). For safety reasons, guests must be 16 years or older to travel in a mokoro.

Embark on a guided walking safari, and discover the hidden places that safari vehicles cannot reach. Walking safaris are all about stealth and sneaking up to wildlife so that guests can watch game behaving naturally and undisturbed. Your guide will teach you how to recognise animal tracks, and follow the clues left in the bush that will lead you to exciting game-viewing opportunities.

The Khwai River is home to over 300 species of Botswana’s birdlife. Grab a pair of binoculars and search for the endangered wattled crane, or listen to the songs of the Arnot’s Chat and Hartlub’s Babbler. The Okavango Delta’s different seasons can affect which birds are available to spot. For example, the green season brings in large numbers of colourful carmine bee-eaters as they migrate for the season.

On visits to the local Khwai village, guests can meet local communities and discover their way of life. By working together with the local villages, Khwai Tented Camp has been able to give them the chance to be self-sustainable. The camp has also been working with local communities to spread appreciation for the wildlife by providing resolutions to human and wildlife conflict.

The African Bush Camps Foundation has established a number of projects that aim to improve education, empowerment and conservation efforts within the local communities where they operate. They work with members of the community in order to improve school facilities, provide educational textbooks and supplies for students, and supporting a local health centre, as well as encouraging these communities to form a peaceful relationship with the local wildlife, and finding ways to resolve human and animal conflict. African Bush Camps contribute $10 USD towards the Foundation’s running costs for every night that a single guest stays at one of their camps.

Pack for a Purpose is an initiative that encourages travellers to benefit local communities by using spare suitcase space to bring much-needed supplies for their Conservation Education Program and Women’s Craft Groups. Supplies can be dropped off at your accommodation and will be used to aid a local project, such as craft groups, where local woman are taught skills that allow them to make traditional and non-traditional items such as traditional basketwork, hand-sewn and embroidered products and hand-beaded glass and food nets. These items can then be sold to provide incomes, start small businesses and even support the construction of homes.

Khwai Tented Camp uses solar power to help offset the carbon emissions generated by receiving tourists travelling by air. Khwai Tented Camp is also a non-permanent structure, meaning that it can be fully removed without causing any detrimental or lasting effects on the landscape. The African Bush Foundation runs a ‘Greener Camps’ programme which means that ‘African Bush Camps Safari Properties are committed to operating in a sustainable manner, ensuring that we preserve the environment, culture and conservation of Africa. Where possible we use solar power, low energy lighting systems, wastewater treatment, greywater recycling, and single-use plastic reduction initiatives.’ This means that the impact on the environment caused by African Bush Camps is kept to a minimum.

The biggest threat to African lions is conflict with humans. Livestock is vital for many people’s livelihoods, and if lions attempt to attack livestock, it can have devastating effects for both the owners, and the lions themselves if people were to retaliate. Because of this, the Lion Guardian teams are trained to empower and educate local communities about living in harmony with wildlife. By providing an income for the local members of the community that become Lion Guardians, the African Bush Camps Foundation is able to support the guardians and their families as well as protect lions and livestock.