Gunns Mokoro Bivouac

a genuinely earthy and intense safari experience

Gunn’s Mokoro Bivouac is located in the Okavango Gunns area of the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana.

This deliberately very simple mobile camp is set out in the bush in advance of your arrival. It can accommodate up to twelve guests.

The camp is centred on a simple table and chairs for dining and a campfire area. The staff have separate tents for food preparation and sleeping.

The atmosphere of the camp is inherently very intimate, with just your guides, a cook and camp assistant. It really feels like you are a step deeper into the wilderness than back at the main Gunns Camp.

Rooms

Guest accommodation consists of dome tents with stretcher beds, separate shared safari-style bathroom facilities including a washstand, shower and long-drop toilet.

Activities

Gunns Mokoro Bivouac provides the following guided activities …

• Mokoro canoe safari
• Walking safari

When it comes to trip shapes and durations in Botswana, most visitors combine 2, 3 or 4 lodges by light aircraft over 6-12 nights, one or two of which will usually be here in Okavango Delta, combined with the Linyanti Waterfront and/or Makgadikgadi areas.

These trips are often done in combination with further nights at the Victoria Falls and/or down in the Cape.

The usual stay duration in this Okavango Gunns area is 2-4 nights.

Seasonality

The Gunns Concession experiences considerable seasonal variations.

The May-Sep cool dry season is the classic time to visit, as the wildlife viewing is superb, with the animals being drawn in from the dry hinterland towards the rising floodwaters. However, here in the southwest of the Okavango Delta the flood is usually late and, in recent years, has become unreliable and relatively light, potentially affecting the availability of the area’s iconic mokoro canoe safaris. If the floodplains are dry, then walking safari becomes possible and some camps are permitted to offer vehicle safari.

During the transition period between the peak of the dry season and the start of the green season, Oct-Dec, the Gunns Concession area can be a real epicentre for wildlife activity, with the convergence of big herds of herbivores. This is the hot season and humidities are becoming uncomfortably high as the rains approach. When the rains break, the wildlife disperse quickly into the vast hinterlands in search of better grazing and becomes much more difficult to access.

During the Jan-Apr main season, the bush is verdant and beautiful, the animals are well-fed and there’s lots of wildflowers and baby animals around. Water levels are likely to be low during this period, meaning that the availability of mokoro canoe safari can be rather unpredictable. If the floodplains are dry but walking and vehicle safari may be offered. The Boro River channel usually continues to flow all year, so motorboat safari should be possible throughout.

The camps are significantly discounted and become increasingly attractive as the conditions improve through the period.

Getting there

Gunns Mokoro Bivouac is reached by boat from Gunns Camp or Moremi Crossing.

The Okavango Gunns area can only be accessed by light aircraft into the nearby airstrip, which has daily flight connections with all other camps in Okavango, Linyanti, the main airport at Maun (for connections to Central Kalahari, Nxai, Makgadikgadi and Johannesburg) and north to Kasane (for connections to Livingstone and Victoria Falls).

From the airstrip it is a short walk to one of those two camps. From there it is a mokoro canoe journey of 1-3 hours to the camp, depending on the time of day, water levels and wildlife movements.

usually combined with at least one other camp in Botswana