Moremi
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Wildlife & experiences
Areas of the reserve
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Eight nights across three camps, Maun to Kasane, every leg flown. Three nights in Moremi Game Reserve first, where the drives are dense with game and the days run fast. Then three on a private island in the permanent Delta, where the pace drops to a poler's and the loudest thing is a reed frog. Then two on the river at Chobe, where elephant come down to drink in herds, hundreds at a time in the dry months, seen from an electric boat that makes no noise. The route runs west into the Delta and then north-east to the river, and it ends at Kasane, which is the door to Victoria Falls if you want to keep going. It is the middle length of the Botswana routes we sell: long enough to settle into each place, short enough to hold in nine days.
You fly out of Maun over dry mopane, and by the time the eastern edge of the Delta is under the aircraft the country is green and wet. Camp Moremi stands under old ebony and jackalberry trees on the shore of the Xakanaxa Lagoon: thatched tented suites, a lounge raised up among the tree canopy, a small wildlife library and a pool. Lunch, then the first drive into mopane woodland and out to the floodplain edge; the boma fire is lit for dinner, and hippo in the lagoon are the last thing you hear before sleep.
Out before the sun with your guide. The ground around Xakanaxa holds lion prides, leopard and, on the open grassland, cheetah; elephant, giraffe, impala, kudu and waterbuck fill in the rest of the morning, and wild dog pass through often enough that the guides check the likely spots. Brunch back at camp, then the middle of the day is yours. The afternoon is a motorboat run across the Xakanaxa Lagoon and into its channels: hippo and crocodile at the margins, a fish eagle calling from a dead tree, malachite kingfishers on the reeds, and a chance of Pel's fishing owl in the ebonies at dusk.
A third full day is what sets this stay apart from a two-night visit: six outings in all, and time to go further. This morning the boat goes up the Moanachira River, narrower than the lagoon, with papyrus close on both sides, herons, storks and kingfishers working the bends and hippo surfacing ahead of the bow. The middle of the day is the pool, the viewing platform over the lagoon or the library. The afternoon drive heads for a different part of the reserve and ends with sundowners on the floodplain, the light going orange over the mopane.
One more early drive and brunch, then the flight west. Under the aircraft the dry ground is behind you and the permanent Delta is under the wing: channels braided through papyrus, islands with a palm or two on each, and no road anywhere in the view. You land, and a boat takes you across the Xugana Lagoon to the island. Xugana Island Lodge is one of the Delta's original lodges and was rebuilt from the ground up in 2025; the new camp keeps its old position, with an open fire deck out over the water. The afternoon is a motorboat outing on the lagoon and its channels, and dinner is by the water with the lodge's lights the only ones for a long way.
The morning is in a mokoro, poled through channels where the water is clear to the sandy bottom. Reed frogs chorus at head height, hippo grunt somewhere unseen, and red lechwe break away across the shallows ahead of you. In the afternoon you walk the island with your guide, reading elephant tracks in the sand, watching a monitor lizard slide off a log, finding giraffe among the fan palms. The birding is year-round and the island keeps its residents: African jacana, pygmy goose, and Pel's fishing owl for those who look for it at dusk. Sundowners are on the fire deck over the water.
A longer motorboat run to the distant lagoons, where the channels are wider and you can meet elephant crossing chest-deep, buffalo herds on the far islands, hippo and crocodile at every bend; or a second morning by mokoro if the first one has you. The bird count for this part of the Delta runs past 400 species, and in summer the migrants are in. The afternoon walk goes to a different island: zebra and elephant are the usual company, wild dog cross between the islands in the dry season, and a leopard has been seen up a sausage tree. Your last island evening is on the fire deck.
The flight north-east crosses the whole Delta and then the dry country beyond it, and lands at Kasane. Chobe Game Lodge stands on the riverfront inside the park, the only permanent lodge that does; it opened in 1972 and stayed; most rooms open onto the gardens, a few onto the river, and the boardwalk runs along the water. Late in the afternoon the first electric boat goes out, near-silent, so what you hear is the elephant feeding at the bank a few metres off, hippo, a crocodile sliding in, and the waterbirds on the reedbeds. Dinner is on the riverfront boardwalk.
The lodge holds the only concession inside the park, so your electric vehicle is on the tracks before the gates open and other vehicles arrive, guided by Chobe Angels, the lodge's own all-female guiding team. The riverfront in the early hours holds the elephant concentrations Chobe is known for, with lion, buffalo, giraffe, sable and hyena on the drive. A late breakfast on the boardwalk, then the pool or the spa, or the lodge's eco tour of the solar plant, the biogas digester and the glass recycling that run the place. The sunset cruise is by solar boat, back among the elephant at the water.
An early outing if your flight allows, brunch, and the short road transfer to Kasane Airport. From Kasane the road runs to Victoria Falls through the Kazungula border, an easy addition at the end of this route; ask us and we will build it in.
Every camp on this route is reached by air. Scheduled light aircraft, a Cessna Caravan or similar with seats shared with guests bound for other camps, take you from Maun to Moremi, west across the Delta to the island, and north-east over the whole of it to Kasane. The flights are low and slow enough to read the country: dry mopane, then floodplain, then the braided water of the permanent Delta, then dry ground again on the way to the river. Each strip is a short transfer from camp, by vehicle or by boat. On the ground the guides are the camps' own: driver-guides in open vehicles at Moremi, polers and boat guides on the island, and at Chobe the lodge's all-female guiding team in electric vehicles and solar boats. Luggage is soft bags only, 20 kg per person.
Xugana Island Lodge is one of the Okavango's original lodges. It was rebuilt from the ground up in 2025 on the same island, and its lagoon holds water in every month, which is why mokoro runs from here when the seasonal channels elsewhere have dried.
Day 1 · Maun Airport — Arrive; the light aircraft into Moremi leaves from here.
Days 1–3 · Camp Moremi — The Xakanaxa Lagoon inside the reserve: drives, the lagoon and the Moanachira by boat.
Days 4–6 · Xugana Island Lodge — A private island on the Xugana Lagoon in the permanent Delta: mokoro, boat and walks.
Days 7–8 · Chobe Game Lodge — The riverfront inside Chobe National Park: electric boats and vehicles.
Day 9 · Kasane Airport — Depart, or carry on by road to Victoria Falls.
Rates are per person, based on two guests travelling together (sharing).
A single supplement may be applicable to solo occupancy.
May to September for most people: the flood is in the Delta, Moremi's game is at the water and the elephant are on the river at Chobe, all in cool dry weather. October is hotter and the concentrations larger. April and November to December are the green edges, with shoulder rates and more birds; January to March carry the lowest rates, with a fortnight's closure at two of the camps from the end of January.
- —The flood pulse is in the Delta and mokoro around the island is at its best
- —Game gathers at the water in Moremi and predator sightings peak
- —Elephant herds on the river at Chobe, seen from the electric boats
- —Cool, dry and clear; peak rates and the earliest bookings
- —The year's most concentrated game viewing at all three camps
- —Hot afternoons and the first thunderstorms
- —The Xugana Lagoon keeps its water, so mokoro still runs
- —Still peak-season rates on this route
- —April: the last rains, the bush at its greenest, the flood on its way
- —November: migrant birds and newborn antelope
- —Shoulder rates and short afternoon showers
- —Fewer vehicles and fewer guests at each camp
- —The lowest rates of the year, with a closure in early February
- —Green bush, storms, newborns and the predators that follow them
- —Two of the three camps close for a fortnight from the end of January; the lodge at Chobe stays open all year
- —Ask us about a re-timed pairing of camps for the closure dates
Best bit for me was probably the boat in Chobe, although my wife still talks about the mokoro. We saw a ridiculous number of elephants. Really good trip.
Three camps, eight nights, three flights, as written. Send your dates and the names in your party; we will confirm the three camps and, if you want it, the Falls at the end.
- —Eight nights at the three camps as described
- —All meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner
- —Local spirits, wines, beers and soft drinks (premium brands excluded)
- —All scheduled activities at each camp: game drives, lagoon and river boating, mokoro, island walks and the electric-boat cruises
- —All scheduled light-aircraft flights between Maun, the camps and Kasane
- —Park fees and all applicable taxes and government levies
- —Laundry
- —International and regional flights to and from Botswana
- —Premium-brand drinks
- —Travel and medical insurance, which is compulsory
- —Visa fees where they apply
- —Gratuities for guides and camp staff
- —The road transfer to Victoria Falls, if you add it
- —Personal items, and any activity not listed as included
Children of six and over travel on this itinerary. Under-16s share a room with a parent or guardian at every camp, and some activities carry their own age limit. Ask us for a family quote and we will set the rooms and activities to your children's ages.
The light aircraft carry 20 kg per person in a soft-sided bag. A hard suitcase does not fit the hold; we can arrange storage in Maun.