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Kwara Concession: The Okavango's waterways and predator action
Kwara Private Concession at a glance:
Location: Northern Okavango Delta, Botswana; Concession NG20; 30 km water boundary with Moremi Game Reserve | Main access: Maun Airport (MUB), approximately 30 minutes by light aircraft to Kwara airstrip; 80 minutes from Kasane |
Size: 1,750 km² / 175,000 ha, one of the largest private wildlife concessions in the Okavango Delta | Best time to visit: Year-round; peak wildlife viewing July–October; wild dog and hyena denning May–August; Godikwe heronry October–December |
Accommodation: Kwara Camp (adults only, 18+); Splash Camp (family-friendly, with Splash Enclave for private groups); 4 Rivers (remote, walking specialist) | Activities: Game drives, night drives, walking safaris, mokoro excursions, motorboat cruises, helicopter safaris, Godikwe heronry visits |
Malaria risk: Yes, antimalarial medication strongly recommended; consult your doctor before travel | Currency: Botswana Pula (BWP); US dollars, South African rand, British pounds and euros accepted at camps |
Why visit the Kwara Private Concession?
Few private concessions in Botswana’s Okavango Delta offer what Kwara does: 1,750 square kilometres of diverse, wildlife-rich terrain shared by approximately 30 guests at any one time across its three camps. That ratio, a figure most safari destinations cannot approach, means the wilderness here genuinely belongs to the people exploring it.
The concession occupies the northern edge of the Delta, where three distinct habitat zones exist within a single traversing area. Permanent papyrus-lined channels and lily-filled lagoons run through the southern section; seasonal floodplains and forested tree islands fill the middle ground; dry mopane woodland and open savannah extend to the north. This variety is what makes Kwara unusual: it is one of the few Okavango concessions where both land and water activities are available year-round, in every season and regardless of flood levels.
The concession shares a 30-kilometre water boundary with Moremi Game Reserve, and wildlife moves freely between the two. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and African wild dogs are all reliably present, and finding them is the work of a guide and dedicated tracker deployed on every activity. That two-person combination is a primary reason that predator sightings here are both more frequent and more immersive than at most camps in the Delta.
After dark, the concession comes into its own. Night drives are a rare privilege in the Okavango, and Kwara is one of the very few private areas where serious after-dark vehicle safaris run as a matter of course.
5 Reasons We Love Kwara Private Concession
Night drives as standard, not a special request: Kwara is one of very few Okavango concessions permitting after-dark vehicle safaris, a rare privilege that opens the bush to aardvark, aardwolf, civet and nocturnal predators most safari-goers never encounter.
Wildlife at the water's edge, day and night: Each camp sits beside permanent water, whether a lagoon, a waterhole or a river channel, where elephants, hippos, red lechwe and predators arrive on their own schedule throughout the day.
Wild dogs and spotted hyenas den within the concession: May to August brings extended stays from both species, settled long enough to follow them for days, with packs and clans raising pups and teaching them to hunt as you watch.
Land and water activities every month of the year: Permanent southern channels and dry northern savannah mean mokoro, boat cruises and game drives all run year-round, a rarity in an Okavango that most concessions, committed to one habitat type, cannot match.
Walking safari territory: 4 Rivers' airstrip approval in 2023 opened the Tsum Tsum floodplains and Maboa Island for the first time, with guided walks through Delta terrain untracked by any other camp.
All you need to know about Kwara Concession
Things to do in Kwara Private Concession
Game drives with a guide and tracker: Every vehicle carries both a guide and a dedicated tracker, two specialists whose combined reading of terrain and animal behaviour ensures excellent wildlife encounters.
Night drives after dark: Spotlit after-dark safaris, rare in the Okavango, reveal aardvarks at their burrows, aardwolves through the scrub and civets crossing the headlamp beam in terrain invisible to day-only camps.
Mokoro on lily-filled waterways: A traditional dugout canoe, poled silently through papyrus and water lilies, brings you to water level, close to kingfishers, frogs and waterbirds that a game drive engine cannot approach.
Motorboat cruises through Delta channels: The double-decker boat navigates the Kwara and Monachira channels, with hippos surfacing alongside, bee-eaters lining the papyrus fringe and elephant trunks periscoping above the water as they swim across.
Walking safaris: From tracks in soft mud to the particular quiet of a mopane thicket, walking shifts every sensory register. At 4 Rivers, guided walks extend onto Maboa Island through terrain no other camp in the Delta accesses.
Helicopter safaris over the floodplains: A doors-off flight reveals the concession's waterways, palm islands and lagoons from above, the vantage point at which Kwara's water-and-land scale becomes fully visible - available on request at additional cost.
What wildlife can I see in Kwara Private Concession?
The full suite of large predators: Lions, leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and African wild dogs are all reliably present. Off-road access and two-person guiding teams combine to make Kwara one of the Okavango Delta's most consistent predator destinations.
African wild dogs through wet season and dry: Multiple packs are resident year-round. From May to August, when packs den and raise pups, consecutive-day observation of Africa's most endangered canid becomes possible in a way few destinations can offer.
Elephants, hippos and red lechwe: Elephants wade channels and visit camp fringes; hippos hold territory in the lagoons; red lechwe bound across the floodplains in their distinctive half-gallop, water splashing around each stride.
Sable and roan antelope: Large sable herds appear in the western concession's ancient woodlands, while roan antelope favour the drier mopane country to the north, two antelope species that reward the patience of a full stay.
The Godikwe heronry, October to December: The Godikwe Lagoon becomes a breeding colony visited by motorboat, hosting yellow-billed storks, Marabou storks, sacred ibises, black-crowned night herons, African darters, reed cormorants and egrets nesting in remarkable numbers.
Rare and nocturnal species: Night drives bring aardwolf, aardvark and porcupine out of the darkness. Cape clawless otters inhabit the Tsum Tsum River, and pangolins, extraordinary rarities anywhere on the continent, are on record in the concession.
Where to stay in Kwara Private Concession
Each of the three camps within the Kwara Concession occupies a different corner of the wilderness, faces a different kind of water and suits a different kind of traveller. Choosing between them is less a question of quality than of character.
Kwara Camp sits on a forested island overlooking a permanent lagoon where elephants, hippos and red lechwe move through without announcement. Nine tented suites face the water from raised decks, each with a private viewing deck, indoor and outdoor showers and a freestanding ball-and-claw bathtub. Two swimming pools anchor either end of camp, each with its own deck and bar. This is strictly adults-only, with a minimum age of 18 and a minimum three-night stay, the natural choice for couples and serious wildlife travellers who want quiet and refinement in equal measure.
Splash Camp centres on a permanent waterhole, with ten contemporary suites and two family rooms all facing water. Children are welcome, and the atmosphere is warmer and less formal. Splash Enclave, a private area within the camp, can be exclusively reserved for groups of six to ten guests, with its own lounge, bar, dining room, fire pit and plunge pool, an ideal arrangement for families, celebrations or private travel groups who want the concession largely to themselves.
4 Rivers occupies the western edge of the concession on the banks of the Tsum Tsum River, terrain no other camp accesses. Nine tented suites and a family suite face Maboa Island across the water. The main area opens fully to the channel, with a water-level fire pit and a boardwalk threading through the trees. Guided walks onto Maboa Island are the centrepiece of the programme, exploring Delta terrain that became accessible to safari tourism only in 2023. For travellers who want their sense of discovery to feel genuinely earned, this is where the Okavango still has something left to reveal.
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Frequently asked questions
The Kwara Private Concession (NG20) is a 1,750-square-kilometre private photographic safari area in the northern Okavango Delta, Botswana. It shares a 30-kilometre water boundary with Moremi Game Reserve and is operated by Kwando Safaris.
The concession sits at the northern edge of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, accessed by light aircraft from Maun or Kasane. It is not part of Moremi Game Reserve but borders it directly, with wildlife moving freely between the two.
Lions, leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and African wild dogs are all reliably present, alongside elephants, hippos, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, sable antelope and red lechwe. Night drives add aardwolf, aardvark and civet to the list.
The concession is open year-round. July to October delivers peak wildlife concentration and reliable predator sightings. May to August is the best period for wild dog and hyena denning. The Godikwe heronry is most active from October to December.
Fly into Maun Airport (MUB), the main gateway to the Okavango Delta, and connect by light aircraft to Kwara airstrip, approximately 30 minutes away. Kasane Airport is an alternative gateway, approximately 80 minutes by light aircraft.
Kwara Camp is adult-only and overlooks a permanent lagoon. Splash Camp is family-friendly, faces a waterhole and includes Splash Enclave for private groups. 4 Rivers occupies the remote western concession on the Tsum Tsum River, with walking safaris as its centrepiece.
Splash Camp and 4 Rivers both welcome children and have family rooms available. Kwara Camp operates a strict adults-only policy with a minimum age of 18. Splash Enclave, within Splash Camp, can be exclusively reserved for private family groups.
Every activity is led by both a guide and a dedicated tracker, a two-person combination now rare across the Okavango Delta. The tracker reads terrain and signs independently, significantly improving predator sightings in ways a single guide cannot replicate.
Yes. The Kwara Concession is one of very few Okavango areas where land and water activities run in every season. Permanent southern waterways support mokoro and boat cruises through wet season and dry; game drives cover the northern terrain regardless of flood levels.
The Godikwe Lagoon hosts a large-scale bird breeding colony from October to December, reached by motorboat from Kwara Camp or Splash Camp. Yellow-billed storks, Marabou storks, sacred ibises, black-crowned night herons, African darters and egrets gather here in numbers that make it one of the Delta's great wildlife spectacles.
Splash Enclave is a private area within Splash Camp that can be exclusively reserved for groups of six to ten guests. It has its own lounge, bar, dining room, fire pit and plunge pool, entirely separate from the main camp.
Kwara Camp requires a minimum of three nights. Across the concession, three to six nights is the typical recommendation; longer stays are often split between two camps to cover both the Delta's permanent waterways and the western floodplains around 4 Rivers.
Yes. The Okavango Delta is a malaria area and antimalarial medication is strongly recommended for all visitors. Comprehensive travel and medical evacuation insurance is essential. Consult your doctor well before departure to discuss the most appropriate prophylaxis.
Kwara safaris typically start at US$1,050 at Splash Camp and 4 Rivers, and US$1,300 at Kwara Camp. These are per-person, per-night rates, depending on the accommodation comfort level, time of year and activities. This price usually includes accommodation, all meals, game drives, experienced guides, and 24/7 support from our team.
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