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Claire
Khwai Concession: Exploring and Elephants
Connection, Conservation, and Community in Khwai Concession, Okavango Delta
Okavango Links:
Okavango Delta: Wildlife, Wetland, and Perfect Wilderness | Pel's and Papyrus on the Okavango Panhandle | Moremi Game Reserve | Khwai Community Concession | What To Pack For a Safari To The Okavango Delta | Okavango Delta Quick Travel Tips
The bridge over the River Khwai is the beginning of the adventure as you exit Moremi North Gate and head into the neighbouring Khwai Concession. Just in case you forget that you are embarking on a wild adventure, this bridge is there to remind you. Wooden poles shudder as you drive over rust-coloured water, surrounded by floodplain.
The village of Khwai is a symbol of conservation success. After Moremi was proclaimed a game reserve, the displaced people of the area settled here – and derive income and employment from ecotourism-related activity in the area. With a population of around 400 people, living on land that is open to one of Africa’s most famous wilderness areas, these are people living in harmony with wildlife. Children go to school while game viewers move in orbit around and through the village. This has become the natural order of things.
This concession lies is surrounded by famous names for safari in Botswana. It neighbours Chobe National Park, Linyanti Reserve, and Moremi Game Reserve - with open borders that reach across Southern Africa's wildlife havens.
Our campsite was a patch of cleared bush alongside the river at Khwai Hippo Pools Campsite. It turns out this spot gave an almost amphitheatre view of this stretch of river. Our campsite was a corridor for breeding herds and bulls throughout the day and night. There was rarely a moment in camp that we didn’t have a view of elephants. We’d often hear them at night in our campsite – adding layers to the darkness. One night, we had a bull feeding on the tree above us – so close I could hear the grind of seed pods between his teeth and the incredible hush of his breath, commanding silence. →
Mists Over Twisting Rivers
Winter morning mists over the river give this time of day a very different feeling. With sometimes very cold pre-dawn temperatures, we watched wild dog hunt kudu through the mist in smoky drama.
During the day, single elephants would silently go to the water – a silk-like rustle delicately giving away their presence as they entered the water. At other times, breeding herds with babies would drink and wallow – crossing with periscope trunks and calves bobbing in their wake. As the sun reached its pinnacle, the river water would reflect onto the sides of elephants like illuminated stained-glass renderings of the promised land on parchment skin.
Simply being in the campsite was an adventure in and of itself. As we arrived, a dakha boy crashed into the bush from the reedbed next to camp – a huffing, snorting reminder to watch where you walk. We heard leopard at night and woke up to find hyena tracks centimetres away from our tent walls. One morning, mating lions woke us up a mere couple of metres from beyond the gauze of our tent door. →
Grunting, Hooting Sunsets
This is one of those pictures you can hear if you've been around hippos. They truly become part of the unforgettable sights and sounds on the river.
It was winter and the temperatures were freezing before the sun warmed up to full heat. In the early mornings, fog would rise from the river as if misting the windows to write some wonderful, wild, disappearing message. Steve got up to take a video, only to film a kudu leaping into the water to escape a pack of hunting wild dogs on the other side of the river. No person has exited a sleeping bag as fast as I did that morning.
The area around the camp was a mix of expansive golden grassland, fringed with forests and dotted with watery vistas occupied by hippos. On drives through the concession, we sat with the engine off with a breeding herd of elephants. We watched a herd of buffalo cross a grassland in a slow-motion wave of shadow. We followed fresh wild dog tracks right up to the main road of the village.
We watched a duel between zebra stallions that was a shock of violence. However, it also seemed to hold a ritual courteousness between rounds - rites of battle that didn't preclude biting and kicking in the most potent sense of the word. It was both dance and chaos - clouds of dust swirling in this great, grassed stadium. →
The area around the camp was a mix of expansive golden grassland, fringed with forests and dotted with watery vistas occupied by hippos.
The Best Way Is By Water
A mokoro trip is one of the most memorable ways to explore the channels in and around the Delta. Apart from the view one gets of wildlife, it provides amazing insight into the lives of local people who have travelled this way for generations.
We looked across the river into Moremi and followed the road that links up this area with Chobe National Park and Savute. These are big name safaris – places loaded with legend and amazing reputations. Visiting the Okavango Delta and places like Khwai and Moremi Game Reserve is a gem in a geographically bejewelled area.
The KAZA Transfrontier Park allows elephants and other wildlife in key Southern African regions move freely along corridors that unite countries and conservation efforts. Watching elephants walk into the distance in places like this is a connection between anyone who views them and top secret wilderness areas – places humans do not go. As I look at the map, I am aware of what a tiny dot I am in the majesty of the movement of elephants.
From our rustic campsite on the edge of a river in the Delta, planes and helicopters buzzed overhead and boats and mekoros slid along the river. So many people were experiencing this place in so many different ways. I used Delta water to paint watercolour elephants next to the Delta and I felt how the rivers in Southern Africa are the lifeblood of connection. This is a place that brings together feelings of big Africa – a place of wild abundance – and modern man. It is the beating heart of tourism – resonating with some part of us that yearns to see the world without human imprint. And it is the connective tissue that provides context for so many of Southern Africa’s wonders. →
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The Height of Excitement
Open to Moremi and other protected areas, Khwai offers premium game-viewing opportunities - with a location that so perfectly connects it to big-name Botswana safari destinations.
On the Water's Edge
Whether you are wild about wildlife or birdwatching, the water is an attraction for an array of species.
Prepare for your safari to Khwai Community Concession and the Okavango Delta by following a few simple packing tips and getting the best safari clothing and accessories. Get in-depth Okavango Delta safari packing advice and quick tips for travellers to the Okavango Delta from our experts and your comprehensive safari packing list.
Dazzling Sights
Keep checking gaps of grassland for a flash of perfect wildlife on the move.
Wetland in Silhouette
Spectacular sunsets cast beautiful scenes in silhouette, so you can sit next to a fire and outline the events of the day.
Grey At Scale
We lost count of the number of elephants we saw in Khwai. Connected to incredible wildlife areas, these giants are given freedom to move - a cause for celebration for conservation.
Bridge Over the River Khwai
Driving over the bridge between the Khwai community and Moremi Game Reserve is an adventure in itself - connecting wild places in wild ways.
Botswana Safari Links:
Okavango Delta: Wildlife, Wetland, and Perfect Wilderness | Pel's and Papyrus on the Okavango Panhandle | Moremi Game Reserve | Khwai Community Concession | What To Pack For a Safari To The Okavango Delta | Okavango Delta Quick Travel Tips | Mokoro Okavango | Off The Beaten Track Safaris: Okavango Delta | Expedition Tested: Okavango Delta | Rowing the Okavango: A Lockdown Virtual Expedition | Raw Botswana | Kgalagadi, the Magic of Nowhere |