Okavango Delta, Botswana
Wilderness Little Vumbura
A stunning island in one of the Delta's private concessions
Set within the swishing grasses and leafy jungle of the Okavango Delta, Little Vumbura is classic Botswana at its best. Expect to see elephants roaming on the outskirts of the camp, snacking on the fruits that drop from nearby mangosteen trees, and bring your binoculars to spot myriad birds flitting about the channel.
You’ll eat meals crafted by expert chefs, who utilise local ingredients by farmers and producers within the region, and be able to relax by refreshing plunge pool on the reading deck, which overlooks the grassy plains.
Each of the tented suites here offer a private hideaway within the wilderness, with views across the channels and plains beyond the camp, which often teem with wildlife. Animals aren’t the only thing worth watching out for here, though: spend evenings on the secluded star deck for spectacular sightings of stars and constellations in the night’s sky.
Highlights
Local community engagement through the Okavango Community Trust
Plunge pool overlooking the wilderness
Family-friendly suites available
Private safaris and nature walks
Canoeing, fishing and helicopter rides available
The impact of your stay:
- Wilderness, in collaboration with CLAWS, is making strides in stabilising lion populations in the Northern Okavango Delta through the Pride in Our Prides project. This initiative involves providing lion collars that serve as a crucial tool to alert community members when lions approach their villages. These collars are linked to virtual fences, or geofences, automatically activating alerts upon the proximity of a collared lion. This innovative approach significantly reduces lion/livestock mortalities, fostering a harmonious coexistence between communities and wildlife.
- The Wilderness school infrastructure programme is actively enhancing access to education for children residing in rural areas around wildlife protected zones in Botswana. By improving learning environments, this initiative contributes to the educational development of children in these remote regions.
- Having strategically placed camps across the continent, Wilderness has successfully conserved over 2.3 million hectares of land. With ambitious aspirations for the future, they aim to expand this conservation effort to 5 million hectares by 2030. This vision underscores Wilderness’s commitment to preserving natural landscapes on a substantial scale.
Trip Inspiration
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Places to combine Wilderness Little Vumbura with
Linyanti
With uninterrupted views over Osprey Lagoon, and a fantastic vantage point from which to watch the areas mega-herds of elephants, Wilderness DumaTau and nearby Wilderness Little DumaTau are perfectly located for making the most of your stay in the Linyanti Wildlife Reserve.
Each spacious tented guest suite has been positioned to offer great views whether you’re relaxing on your deck, or cooling off in your plunge pool. You’ll also find the tents include spot-cooling, meaning you can find respite from the hot afternoons indoors. Spend time investigating the ‘curiosity boxes’ you’ll find mounted on the walls in your room and the drawers filled with fascinating artefacts and information. They’re a great way to learn more about the area’s wildlife and rich history. Look out for unique elephant and wild dog art in the rooms and library made from reclaimed snare wire.
Wilderness Safaris have constructed both camps to give maximum comfort and offer guests a large array of facilities. In addition to the in-tent cooling systems, you’ll discover that the central Osprey Retreat which sits between the two camps boasts a pool, drink and snack counter and a Safari Boutique area, offering you more space to mingle with your fellow guests if you choose to do so. Large decks, plunge pools and awnings are attached to each of Wilderness Duma Tau’s eight tented suites as well as at the four at Wilderness Little DumaTau.
The Wilderness DumaTau team continues to focus on the sustainability of wildlife corridors, as they have done since 1997. They believe that it is more vital than ever to protect large wildlife corridors of wilderness, like those within the vast Linyanti Wildlife Reserve – especially for the African elephant and wild dog that cover extensive ground.
Staying at Wilderness DumaTau offers you easy access to the Linyanti floodplain as well as the Savuti Channel, in fact, it’s the only concession from which you can access both. The region has all the habitat diversity to make it a haven for wildlife, and is well-known for its elephant concentrations as they congregate along the waterways and lagoons during the dry winter months. General wildlife viewing is excellent year round including impala, wildebeest, red lechwe, Burchell’s zebra, giraffe, Cape buffalo, chacma baboon, vervet monkey, and warthog. Predator sightings of lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog and spotted hyena are good. As well as day and night game drives, you can explore on nature walks or take to the water on motorboats or the river barge (depending on water levels).
The Kalahari
The malaria free Tswalu Reserve, owned by the Oppenheimer family, consists of over 100,000 hectares of the ‘green’ Kalahari grasslands home to eighty mammal species and 340 varieties of bird.
Furthermore, the reserve is not further divided up into concessions or reserves and the only accommodation is the Motse Camp and Tarkuni House, which only allow for a maximum of thirty guests at one time in the entire of Tswalu. If you are staying for three nights or more you’ll also get a complimentary private vehicle, guide and tracker to make this your very own private Kalahari. The motto is, if you see another Range Rover on your game drives, complain.
And whilst you really couldn’t get any further from a package holiday, the accommodation at Tswalu truly does have it all ‘wrapped up’ as far as a five-star safari lodge goes, with more luxury, authenticity, exclusivity and conscientiousness than any other in Africa. Having won awards for both their spa and conservation work, you just have to see the efforts they make to look after the wildlife and support local communities to know the lengths they go to look after you.
