Jacana Camp

a very strong focus on wet safari activities

Jacana Camp is located in the Jao Concession in the Okavango Delta area of northern Botswana.

The camp is centred on a modest two-storey open-sided building under thatch, with an intimate lounge area and gift-shop downstairs and the main dining area upstairs. To the left there is a small swimming pool on a deck above the water. Tucked away in a forest clearing behind is a very cosy campfire area.

One aspect we always appreciate is the amount of wildlife that can come into camp. The most obvious animals here are the elephants which come into camp, including a large bull called Jack, and Harry the Hippo, who can often be seen splashing and grazing around the periphery. The island is also very rich in bird-life. notably the fabulous little malachite kingfishers.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Jacana Camp is in just five comfortable guest tents set around the northern end of the island and accessed by a network of ground-level pathways and low board-walks. They take the form of Meru tents on raised decks, with a small verandah out front, from where glass sliding doors lead into the bedroom area, with the bed draped in a large walk-in mosquito net. To one side another sliding door leads to an indoor bathroom with conventionally plumbed basins, shower and toilet, with a rather lovely additional shower outside.

Activities

Jacana Camp provides a range of guided activities …

• Mokoro canoe safari
• Motorboat safari
• Walking safari
• Vehicle safari (May-Oct)

It is important to understand that a wet camp such as this does not generally provide a great deal of hard-hitting wildlife interaction. The experience here is all about a subtle and gentle appreciation of an incredibly beautiful wetland environment.

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 Jao Flats area is 3-5 nights.

Seasonality

The Jao Flats Concession is particularly good during the flood season, not quite so strong at other times.

The May-Jun flood season is generally considered to be a great time to visit. Temperatures can drop towards freezing during the night, but this has little adverse effect on safari and most camps are significantly discounted during this period. During the high flood camps in the wetter areas are usually able to offer boating activities. The other camps continue to be able to offer vehicle safari, largely on Hunda Island, where leopard sightings are famously reliable.

The Jul-Sep dry season is the classic time to visit the Okavango Delta and is considered to be the best time for wildlife viewing. On the Jao Concession, the floodwaters recede and open up more dry land for vehicle safari, improving the reliability of sightings. There usually remains enough water for all camps to continue to offer boating activities, although this can start to become seriously limited into September.

The Oct-Dec hot season represents the transition to the start of the rains and temperatures and humidities can become uncomfortably high in advance of the rains. With the floods having receded in most areas, the wildlife tends to become very concentrated around the few remaining water sources, making for very strong wildlife viewing. Boating activities are now only possible in the limited network of permanent deepwater channels.

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

Jacana Camp can only be accessed by light aircraft into the nearby Jao 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 the approach is usually a ten minute drive across Jao Island to a jetty, from where it is around half an hour by motorboat through the network of channels and out across the open lagoon to the camp itself.

usually combined with at least one other camp in Botswana