For the first time since opening in 1991, Wilderness Mombo – the legendary flagship camp on Chief’s Island in Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve – is inviting guests to experience its wildlife-rich floodplains from both land and water.
Wilderness Mombo has set the benchmark for exceptional wildlife viewing in Botswana, prized for its nutrient-rich floodplains that draw an abundance of prey species, and some of the highest predator densities on the continent – though, until now, always from the seat of a 4×4. As part of the Moremi Game Reserve, the camp’s Chief’s Island private traversing area has historically been governed by park regulations permitting day-time game drives only, while the channels immediately around camp have never been navigable for water-based excursions.
This year, both restrictions have lifted together. Recent regulatory changes have opened up land-based activities, and after-dark hours, to guests, unlocking night drives for the first time, while exceptionally high water levels – fed by strong local rainfall and the seasonal inflow of water from Angola’s highlands – have reconnected the channels and floodplains around Chief’s Island, opening the way for boating and mokoro excursions.
‘For more than three decades, the Mombo story has been told from the seat of a game-drive vehicle,’ says Simon Stobbs, Wilderness Chief B2B Sales Officer. ‘Now our guests can head out after dark on a night drive, and glide across the reconnected channels by mokoro or boat. It’s truly spectacular to see the Delta like this – the same Place of Plenty, but a whole new way to experience it.’
Night drives reveal a different Chief’s Island after dark, when genets, civets, springhares and Mombo’s resident lions and hyenas are often at their most active. Boating runs from Kubu Jetty on a dedicated six-seater boat with a covered canvas canopy, offering a relaxed, on-the-water take on the afternoon safari, with snacks and refreshments included. Mokoro excursions, poled by experienced guides in traditional-style canoes, offer a more intimate exploration of the newly inundated channels.
Whether by vehicle or by water, the game viewing remains exceptional: Chief’s Island’s private traversing area continues to concentrate some of the highest predator and prey densities in the reserve, while the reconnected channels put guests just as close to the action from mokoro or boat.
Affectionately called Mmadikampa, the ‘Mother of all Camps’, Wilderness Mombo has spent 35 years defining the African safari experience. This latest evolution gives guests access to the full spectrum of safari experiences within a single, storied destination.
GOOD TO KNOW:
• Available to guests staying at Wilderness Mombo and Wilderness Little Mombo
• Boating: six-seater boat with covered canopy, operating from Kubu Jetty; offered as an alternative to an afternoon game drive; snacks and refreshments included
• Mokoro: traditional-style canoes, poled by experienced guides, for a quieter, more intimate exploration
• Night drives: led by experienced guides
• Age restriction: 16 years and older for all three activities
• All new activities are seasonal and subject to water levels, availability, weather and operational conditions
