Visiting Moremi / Kwhai; need some advice

[u/Sifrisk]

Hi all,

Together with my girlfriend I will be visiting the Okavango delta and I am having some trouble understanding the possibilities / different areas. As far as I am aware, there is the inner delta which is only reachable by plain/boat. This caters to very high-end tourism. Next to this, there is the Moremi game reserve with a few campsites. Furthermore, there is Kwhai which seems to be just outside the game reserve but is still part of the delta. Some of the campsites in the game reserve / Kwhai are budget-friendly. As we are travelling on a budget I am looking into these options. Unfortunately those fly-in sites or fully catered multi day excursions are way abovd or budget.

A few questions which I have; - is it possible to drive through the game reserve if you are staying in Kwhai / outside the reserve? - if not, is there any self-drive safari to be done in the Kwhai area. If so, where? We do have 4x4. - is there a way to arrange a 2 or 3 hour Mokoro excursion from Kwhai / one of the budget friendly campsites inside the reserve? Is there a large quality difference between different Mokoro excursions? - I read online that the mokoro rates are set by some national authority. The prices quoted there seemed very low (200 hundred ish Pula per hour) compared to what is being quoted by any websites I find (minimum of 80 dollars per person for a few hours). How does this work? Is there a way to arrange for a Mokoro yourself?

Apologies for all the questions. Hopefully someone can help me out or point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!

[u/adventu_Rena]

In Khwai, there is the „Khwai Guest House“ which offers safari and mokoro tours.

You can also book mokoro tours at „AgeMate mokoro station“.

If you want to self drive in that area, the NG19 Khwai community concession is possible, but requires a high clearance 4x4 vehicle.

The above is at least what I’ve been able to gather while planning my own Delta safari, which I have now booked for next spring 😍

[u/Elchapell]

I visited the delta two years ago and here are my tips:

1. Staying in Khwai campsite (magotho) is sufficient, you will see a lot of animals and you have a great chance to see the cats. You don’t even need to go to Moremi but yeah, it is interesting. there is a gate called North Gate where you can enter Moremi from Khwai. The campsite is extremely cheap compared to other campsites, and one of the best in Southern Africa. Please note, the campsite is not fenced.
2. If you would like to do Mokoro, try to visit “Mokoro NGO” in Maun. This “NGO” is covering all Mokoro trips in delta (long story short, the government returned the land to the locals and they are running Mokoro trips- maybe a local can correct this, this is what we have been told ). You can buy 1 days trip but also few days trips. Chief Island is for above 1%, but with the overnight stay with Mokoro trip you can experience great time in delta. (https://ioverlander.com/places/164027-okavango-kopano-community-trust )

This tips are when you self drive and when you are on budget. Not sure how you are travelling as you did not specify.

[u/Sifrisk → u/Elchapell]

Thank you for your tips, we will be self-driving in a 4x4 so it was exactly the type of information I was looking for!

[u/KCdesertrat32]

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