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Camp Moremi

Tlogoeankwes, Botswana (general), Botswana

The rooms - bathroom on the left, bedroom on the right.

Camp Moremi is a Desert & Delta luxury safari lodge located near the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The lodge is fairly small (with only enough rooms for 22 guests), and it offers a slightly more 'wilderness' housing experience than some of the other luxury lodges we stayed in. The food was great, and the staff were all very happy, helpful, and knew every guest by name.

Camp Moremi offers a pretty typical game viewing experience. They do offer some water-based outings on motorboats, but they primarily offer game drives in a 4x4. By the time we visited Camp Moremi, we had been on a number of 4x4 game drives, and I didn't feel that we saw anything new at Camp Moremi. The water activities may have been interesting, but after Camp Moremi we were scheduled to go to Xugana Island Lodge which is a pure water-based lodge also operated by Desert & Delta. The guides recommended we do our water activities at Xugana Island Lodge, and we followed their advice.

The water level was unusually high when we visited in July, and many of the roads were flooded. The 4x4's were capable of going through the water, and sometimes the water was so high it even covered the bottom area of the jeep where our feet were!

Accommodations

The bathroom

Each room at Camp Moremi is made up of two "tents" with proper floors - one bathroom, and one bedroom. There is a short walk between them, but it is safe to move between the rooms at night since the walkway is raised (and safe from hippos).

Our bedroom had a lot of openings to the outdoors that bugs seemed to have no problem getting through. The room wasn't quite sealed well enough. The bathroom had the same problem with bugs, but it wasn't too bad, they were mostly harmless bugs. One wall in the bathroom only went up halfway, and the rest was just a bug screen. It was an interesting experience, going to the bathroom and showering with a big window. It was completely private from the road and the neighboring tents, but fairly visible from the bedroom. The water in the bathroom was heated by a gas heater, so hot water was available.

Electricity was available during the day for charging devices, and lights were available at nighttime from battery power. The beds were comfortable, and the mosquito net did a good job keeping bugs off us. The rooms didn't have any heating/air conditioning, and during the winter it was quite cold in the mornings. We were provided with hot water bottles in the evenings to warm the beds, and they were reheated for our morning drive. Be sure to bring lots of layers!

Daily Itinerary

The bedroom

Camp Moremi was operated by Desert & Delta, just like Xugana Island Lodge. The schedule at the two lodges was identical. Someone knocked on our door to wake us up at 6am, and then came back at 6:30am to escort us to the breakfast area. We went on a morning game drive and made it back to the lodge by brunch time at 11:30am. The afternoons were siesta time, and we all met up again at 3pm for tea time. The afternoon drives left at 3:30pm and returned between 6-6:30pm. We were escorted back to our rooms afterwards, and picked up again before dinner time at 7:30pm. The staff lit a camp fire in the evening, and people stayed to chat and drink until around 10pm.

Food

The Evening Indoor Dining room at Camp Moremi

The food at Camp Moremi was similar to that at Xugana Island Lodge - it was all good. We had cereals for breakfast, an omelette bar and salads for lunch, and a buffet dinner. Alcoholic drinks such as local wines/spirits/beers/juices were included.

Activities

The view from the lookout deck at Camp Moremi

The activities at Camp Moremi were pretty standard game drives. If you have been on other safaris, you will know what to expect. You enter a 4x4 and drive around looking for animals. Unlike at Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge, the vehicles at Camp Moremi are required to stay on the roads, so what you can see is limited to whatever happens within viewing distance of the roads. The roads are small dirt roads that go around the bush, so if you're lucky you can see some incredible sights.

During the morning activity, there is a 20-minute break about 2 hours into the drive where you can have some tea/coffee/water/juice and stretch your legs. During the evening activity, the 4x4 stops about 15 minutes before sunset so you can watch the sun set and enjoy an optional alcoholic beverage that the guide packed in a cooler.