Mombo Camp
Fauna and Flora
Camp Details
full brochure in pdf
Mombo Camp has arguably the best big game viewing in Africa. Located in the Mombo Concession on Chief's Island in the heart of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, the sheer numbers and variety of wildlife all year round defy description. Mombo Camp is the Africa only seen in documentaries: from elephant to buffalo to tiny steenbok, vast herds of herbivores are trailed by numerous lion, leopard and cheetah on the hunt!
Mombo Camp is located in the Mombo Concession on the northern tip of Chief's Island within the Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. This area boasts enormous concentrations of plains game and predators - providing arguably the best big game viewing in all of Africa.
Built under large, shady trees and overlooking the floodplains which teem with wildlife all year round, Mombo Camp comprises nine spacious tents raised two meters from the ground. Bathrooms are en-suite, with both indoor and outdoor showers. Magnificent vistas are the order of the day, with all the rooms, the sala, long veranda and lounge area all taking advantage of the very best that the Okavango Delta has to offer. Mombo Camp's main living and dining areas are under thatch, but a boma makes for a delicious dinner under the stars. There is also a plunge pool in which to relax.
The best big game viewing experience starts on the veranda at Mombo Camp, with unbelievable concentrations of game occurring right in front of the camp. Guests often find animals wandering past, right under their rooms!
Activities at Mombo Camp include morning and afternoon game drives. Open 4x4s provide an exquisite vantage for viewing the high concentrations of plains game and all the predators - including the big cats. Lion sightings are frequent. Guests at Mombo Camp can also expect to see leopard and cheetah, wild dog, spotted hyena, large herds of buffalo, elephant, white rhino, southern giraffe, blue wildebeest and Burchell's zebra.
Black and white rhino have been reintroduced to the region with outstanding success (albeit most are further away from Mombo Camp), thanks to the Botswana Rhino Reintroduction Programme.
FAUNA AND FLORA
Chief's Island
Mombo Camp is located in a drier region of the Okavango Delta which is quite unlike the water-inundated areas elsewhere. Habitats here vary from secluded island sanctuaries with papyrus fringed channels to low sandy islands and dry grasslands where the vegetation and wildlife flourish. Here the larger mammals move in their numbers - offering some of the best big game viewing in Africa.
Mombo Camp is more familiar to those who dream of the Africa of wildlife documentaries with open grassland plains dotted with acacia trees and thickets. Ancient floodplains, long since dried up, form permanent savannah divided by swathes of dense mopane and acacia woodland. Raised, tree-covered islands ranging from a single termite mound to large landmasses are common. Trees such as real fan palms, sycamore figs, jackalberry and mangosteen characterise these island communities separated by open grassland and fragrant wild sage.
Little Mombo and Mombo Camp are situated on Mombo Island, an extension of the north-western end of Chief's Island which effectively splits the Okavango Delta into east and west. The whole of Mombo and Chief's Island fall within the Moremi Game Reserve. This zone is also marked for low intensity safari usage, making both Little Mombo and Mombo Camp incredibly exclusive and remote.
The sheer numbers and diversity of wildlife surrounding Mombo Camp all year round ensure that every guest has a breathtaking big game viewing experience: from herds of buffalo to the diminutive steenbok (a pretty dwarf antelope), to elephant, white rhino, southern giraffe, impala, blue wildebeest and Burchell's zebra. Lion, leopard and cheetah are all found here; and even smaller predators like serval and side-striped jackal are occasionally seen.
This abundance and variety of wildlife owes much to Mombo Camp's positioning on the ecotone between east and west Okavango Delta. To the east lies the ancient Kalahari sands and grassland vegetation, and to the west lies the more modern, water-borne sediments and vegetation of the Okavango fan. The annual cycle of flooding also allows large numbers of wildlife to utilise both habitats to the maximum.
Between March and May, when the waters come, large mammals are able to move into the Chief's Island area, which contains rich resources of grass and Acacia woodland. The wetlands are fringed by large hardwood trees, containing shade, cover, nesting areas, and food, for a wide variety of mammals and birds. By September and October the waters have started to recede and leave behind vast floodplains of short, green grass when the islands are now at their driest. This is the secret to the amazing diversity and quantity of wildlife in the Mombo region.
Birdlife is prolific around Mombo Camp, with waterfowl like African Jacana, Pygmy-Geese, massive Goliath Heron and migrant waders in summer being particularly common.
It is no surprise that this richness and diversity of habitats, wildlife and birdlife is legendary amongst the tribal huntsmen of the 19th and 20th centuries. It was by their efforts to protect this legacy that the Moremi Game Reserve was established.
CAMP DETAILS AND ACTIVITIES
Wilderness Safaris Premier Luxury Camp with 9 rooms
Pool
Spa
Type - 100% Game drives. No water activities although guests will see water in the area at times.
- Game drives via 4 x 10-seater open 4x4 Land Rovers each accommodating a maximum of six or seven guests, allowing each guest an outside seat (each vehicle is equipped with a tree book, a bird book, a mammal book, a pair of binoculars and insect repellent in a centre consol on each row of seats)
- Game drives on Chief's Island
- Best game viewing in Botswana
- Night drives not possible at present
- Private vehicle on request (maximum five vehicles in the concession with three primarily being used at Mombo main camp, one at Little Mombo and one available for private vehicle booking).