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Mombo Camp
The Place of Plenty — and the camp that made it famous.
From our guest surveys — how we gather evidence
Where the reputation comes from
Mombo's standing rests on a mechanism, not a slogan: more than forty years without hunting on this concession has produced wildlife unusually at ease around vehicles — and game densities on the northern tip of Chief's Island that the rest of the Delta is measured against. The Yei people named this ground Mombo, “the place of plenty”, long before any tent stood here; the staff's own name for the camp is Mmadikampa — the mother of all camps — and three generations of Mombo have now stood on the spot, the current one raised from timber and canvas among giant African mangosteen and fig trees, running entirely on solar power.
The camp rides a continuous raised deck above the floodplain: an open-sided lounge, bar and dining room under thatch, a boma for dinners under the stars, a lap pool facing the plain, and a spa and gym behind. The game does not wait for the vehicles — the floodplain in front performs all day, and lunch on your own deck can come with an audience of zebra.
Nine suites, two metres up
Each of the nine suites is a small residence raised two metres above the plain: a sitting room, a separate bedroom with air-conditioning over the king bed, a dressing area, and a bathroom built around a freestanding copper bath with twin vanities and both indoor and outdoor showers. Come back from the morning drive and the plunge pool has already taken the sun — you drop in with the dust still on you, and the plain unrolls at eye level beyond the deck. Outside, the wraparound veranda carries a shaded sala with a double daybed, a sunken couch and a private plunge pool — the between-drives hours here are half the point. WiFi runs to every suite; there is no mobile signal, and most guests count that a feature.
In-suite massages bring the spa to your deck, and meals move wherever you want them — the floodplain view travels with you.
The Delta's reference ground
Morning and evening game drives go out with a maximum of four guests to a vehicle — two rows, a window seat for everyone, and room for camera kit — under guides who rank among the most experienced in the Delta, many with a decade or more on this ground alone. The concession's fame is predator fame: lion prides, leopard and wild dog working plains game in concentrations that begin, quite literally, at the camp's decks. Chief's Island is also the heart of Botswana's rhino story — the reintroduction programme that brought the species back to the wild was anchored at Mombo, and the camp carries that chapter of the country's conservation record like a title.
Seasonal hide sits put you at ground level when conditions allow, birding is serious enough to schedule, and bush brunches follow the morning drive out onto the plain. Night drives are not run — Moremi's reserve rules apply — and the days here have never needed them.
Mombo's suites are few and sought after — it is routinely the first camp in Botswana to fill for peak season. Fix your Mombo dates first and let the rest of the journey arrange itself around them.
Mombo is the Yei word for “the place of plenty” — the name local people gave this corner of Chief's Island long before the first tent went up. The camp's staff have their own name for it too: Mmadikampa, the mother of all camps.
The northern tip of the island
Mombo stands at the north-western end of Chief's Island, deep in Moremi Game Reserve, where the Okavango Delta splits into its primary channels. Light aircraft from Maun land at Mombo Airstrip, minutes from camp.
What it costs.
Rates are per person per night, based on two guests travelling together (sharing).
Predator density on private ground
Every safari country has one name that needs no introduction; in Botswana it is Mombo. The reputation is earned the hard way — by the ground, the guiding tenure, the rhino programme, and forty years of letting the wildlife set the terms. The suites and their plunge pools make the comfort case on their own; the reason to book remains what walks past the deck.
Is this for you
- ✓You want Botswana's most celebrated wildlife ground, with the record to back it
- ✓Four to a vehicle and veteran guiding matter to you — especially with a camera
- ✓You'll take the plunge pool and copper bath, but you're really here for the floodplain
Wildlife here is almost silly, some days you barely seem to leave camp before seeing something. Brilliant guiding. Expensive, yes, but very special.
Tell us your dates and we'll build the Botswana journey around Mombo — the combination of camps, the flights, and the nights that make it work.
The fine print.
- —All meals
- —Local-brand drinks
- —Two scheduled safari activities daily
- —Park fees
- —Return Mombo airstrip transfers
- —Laundry
- —Flights to and from Mombo Airstrip
- —Premium-brand drinks
- —Private vehicle hire
- —Travel and medical insurance
- —Gratuities and items of a personal nature
Children from six years are welcome and share a suite with an adult up to age sixteen; from seventeen they take their own suite.
By light aircraft from Maun to Mombo Airstrip, then a short transfer to camp.
WiFi in the suites and main area; there is no mobile signal at camp.
The camp runs entirely on solar power, and night drives are not run — Moremi's reserve rules apply. Mombo is booked as one leg of a combination with the sister camps elsewhere in Botswana, and we plan the whole route for you.