Kweene Trails

arguably the best safari experience in Botswana

Kweene Trails is located in the Abu Concession in the Okavango Delta area of northern Botswana.

The trail is usually four nights long and involves staying in two locations, Kweene River Camp to the south and Magwegwe Camp further to the north. Guests undertake safari activities in both camp areas and when travelling between the two locations.

On longer trips, or when conditions dictate, other camp locations may be used. The camps are mobile, so can be easily relocated.

The trail can either be booked on an exclusive basis by groups of up to around 12 guests, or (on certain specific start dates) can be booked by room.
Crew

Kweene Trails is operated by a tight team of around eight or nine staff, who very quickly welcome you into the family.

Each trail is led by an expert guide, who also serves as the host when in camp. A handful of superb guides have all been hand-picked by Simon over the years. They all have an intense passion for being out in the bush.

The guide is assisted by one or two trackers, who also serve as polers when out in the mokoro canoes.

In camp, there is a head chef, an assistant chef and a further crew of 3-5 on support and logistics.

The joy of being alone in the bush like this, with a tight, professional and friendly crew, cannot be overstated. This is certainly a contender for the best safari in Botswana, which is really saying something.

Camps

The camps used on this trail are all relatively light mobile operations, centred on a simple open-sided mess tent, leading out to a campfire area.

Guest accommodation is in 4-5 simple ridge tents, depending on how many are required for each specific group (the dome tents that you may see in images and videos have been upgraded).

Each room has a connected outdoor bathroom, with a water jug for the basin, a suspended bucket shower and a remarkably pleasant and sanitary bucket toilet.

Activities

Kweenie Trails provides the following guided activities …

• Walking safari
• Vehicle safari
• Mokoro canoe safari (Jun-Aug)
• Night vehicle 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 the area is 4-5 nights.

Seasonality

The Abu Concession offers reasonably strong wildlife viewing year round, but with considerable seasonal variations.

During the May-Sep cool dry season, the area usually experiences a strong and reliable flood during, creating a lovely network of floodplains, drawing in good numbers of herbivores and their attendant predators.

The Oct-Dec period marks the transition between the peak of the dry season and the start of the rains, when temperatures and humidities can become uncomfortably high. Before the rains, wildlife viewing around the remaining waterholes is intense. Once significant rain falls the wildlife disperses fast and becomes much more difficult to find.

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

Getting there

Because there is no airstrip in this remote area, Kweene Trails can only be accessed by helicopter.

The Abu Concession area can be connected to other camps in Okavango and the main airport at Maun (for connections to Central Kalahari, Nxai, Makgadikgadi and Johannesburg).

usually combined with at least one other camp in the Okavango Delta area