About the Trail
The Kanana Mokoro Trail offers Okavango holiday visitors a unique African safari experience by having the opportunity to view rare animals like the Sitatunga and Pel’s fishing owl. One of the advantages of experiencing this trail is that just four people can be accommodated at a time, in two twin bed tents. The camp site is home to two professional guides, a personal chef, a housekeeper and mokoro guides. The bathroom facilities include basic long drop’ facilities and bucket showers. Lighting is by rechargeable 12 volt lamps that use solar power, and there are only gas operated freezers. This Okavango holiday offers bush–style cooking, using fire and coal only. Communication is limited to radio, between Maun and Kanana camps, and there is a satellite phone for emergency use only.
The Itinerary
Day 1 Maun/Okavango Delta
A uniformed Ker and Downey representative will meet you at Maun Airport, and you will be escorted on your 20 minute charter flight into the Okavango wilderness. Once you arrive at Kanana airstrip, your guide will drive you to the Kanana Camp. Here you will climb into a mokoro (traditional canoe) and sail into a world of hushed stillness in the Okavango Delta. Once you arrive at the secluded island and have made your way to the rugged bush camp, the hospitable staff will welcome you with a refreshing, cool drink.
A guide will introduce you to the region and it will be time to venture out onto the lily-covered water channels, as he tells you about the diverse ecosystem surrounding you. The abundance of aquatic life includes Fish Eagles, Painted Reed Frogs, Malachite Kingfishers and Red Lechwe. Upon your return, you will indulge in a hot shower, iced drinks and a three-course dinner, all while you enjoy timeless wild tales around a roaring campfire.
After an introduction to the region by your guide and host, it will be time to venture out onto the lily-covered waterways, and begin to learn about this diverse environment, as your mokoro guides point out some of the inhabitants of this aquatic world including red lechwe, fish eagles, painted reed frogs, golden orb spiders and malachite kingfishers. On return to camp, a piping hot shower under the stars awaits. Iced drinks and a three-course dinner culminate around the blazing campfire listening to your hosts tell tall tales of their time in the wilds.
Day 2 Okavango Delta
After breakfast, your guide will take you out on a mokoro to explore the exquisite islands which are a haven to around forty species of large animals, the most elusive being the Sitatunga. This creature is a swamp loving antelope, related to the horned antelope, nyala and bushbuck. As adults these animals stand one and half meters at the shoulder. They are magnificent swimmers and spend much of their time in the water. They have long splayed hooves to allow for easy movement through swampy marshes and they live in the majestic papyrus swamps. They can take to the water if they need to get away from predators such as leopard or wild dog, and will be hard to spot when they lie submerged in pools with only their nostrils above the surface.
This Botswana holiday region in Kanana is prime habitat for the Sitagunga, along with rare birds such as the Pel’s Fishing Owl and slaty Egret. As the day’s sun becomes too hot, the guide will lead you back to your Botswana lodge for cool drinks and a lazy lunch. You may then relax in your hammock or under the shade of the boma. Later that afternoon, you walk across the island, searching the Mangosteen for the exceptional Pel’s Fishing Owl.
Day 03 Okavango Delta/Maun
After an early breakfast and transfer back to Kanana Camp, you will be taken to a charter aircraft. Once here, activities include rides, walks and fishing from the mokoros. All equipment is provided by the camp. Transfers to and from the Trails camp are by mokoro only. The camp is mobile and moves depending on water levels, so that guests may stay in areas occupied by the water loving Sitatunga.
The Kanana camp gets you into remote territory where you can enjoy the best of Botswana safaris. Here just four people share in the experiences of stunning Botswana wildlife, and you have the opportunity to see rare animal and bird life in a rustic Okavango holiday bush safari trip.
Activities
Mokoro rides, walks and some fishing from mokoro for bream, pike and silver catfish. The camp is equipped with fishing rods and spinning lures.
Transfers to and from the Trails camp are by mokoro. The camp is ‘mobile’ and is moved depending upon the water levels, thus allowing guides to stay close to the areas occupied by sitatunga (it is not moved every night). Camp capacity is maximum of four people accommodated in two twin bedded bow mosquito proof tents. Each tent has adjacent bucket shower and ‘long drop’ toilet facilities. Lighting is by rechargeable 12 volt lamps, charged by solar powered and refrigeration is by gas-operated freezers. All cooking in the camp is bush style, using fire and coals and the decades of experience from our camp chefs. Communications are by radio with Maun and Kanana Camp, which acts as a supply base, though there is a satellite phone in camp for emergencies.