Duke's Camp










Duke's Camp: Our View
Dukes Camp is a new safari camp in the northern Okavango Delta on the private Kgao Island. Access to Duke’s Camp is by light aircraft or helicopter. Duke’s Camp offers high end luxury in a game rich area of the Okavango Delta that is as varied in landscape and safari activities as it is in wildlife!
After arriving by charter flight at the Duke’s Camp airstrip we were welcomed by our driver and driven along a winding, sandy track, through a delightfully wooded area, past winding streams, to Dukes Camp which is set on an island surrounded by Okavango Delta tributaries.
We had arrived at Duke’s Camp just in time for high tea. Guests sit on the floor of one of the large rooms in the huge tented communal area, on Persian carpets in an Arabian Nights setting, with large colorful cushions as backrests. There are leather pouffes too, for those who struggle to sit on the carpet. Tea and coffee is served from ornate silver kettles, along with a selection of high tea cakes and savories. At the entrance to the communal tented area there is a long, dark wood table, along with remarkable zoology exhibits set in dark wood cabinets behind glass. Many fascinating framed maps adorn the tented sides of the communal area, and there are chill areas within, where one can relax on day beds. Shoes are left at the entrance!
The rooms at Duke’s Camp are eclectic and clunky with dark wood beds boasting thick fabric canopies. Heavy red and cream fabric, and dark wood, is the predominant theme in both the tented rooms and the communal area.
After high tea we enjoyed a gentle Mokoro along the shallow, peaceful waterways that surround Kgao Island, before sundowners on a nearby slightly raised sandy “beach”. Our guides were enthusiastic and of a high standard, descriptions that don’t always go together.
Dinner was outside under lamps, 3 course, plated, with good service, food, and wine. We all sat together at a long tableclothed table. Fellow guests were from all over the world, interesting people, resulting in scintillating dinner conversation.
While there are a couple of double rooms at Duke’s Camp, most of the rooms are twin, something to remember when booking this safari camp. Duke’s Camp is one of the few safari camps in the Okavango Delta that excels in all respects. It is a relatively expensive safari camp, even for the Okavango Delta, but all in all Duke’s Camp is worth the expense.
Duke’s Camp: Quick Facts
- 8 Canvas tented safari rooms, en-suite bathrooms with indoor shower, on raised wooden decks (5 twins, 2 doubles, and 1 family unit)
- Vintage safari aesthetic of plush fabrics, Persian rugs and hand-carved four-poster beds
- Game drives, day, night, and offroad
- Boating, fishing (seasonal), and mokoro (boating and mokoro depend on prevailing water levels)
- Guided walking
- Scenic helicopter flights and hot air ballooning (both at extra cost)
- Fly camping (additional cost)
- Swimming pool
- Dining ‘mess’ tent and adjoining library/lounge
- 24-hour electricity in all guest tents (100% solar-powered)
- Wi-Fi available at the pool area
- Complimentary laundry service
- Children from 6 years welcome
Duke’s Camp: The Details
Duke’s Camp is situated on a 220 000-acre (89 000-hectare) concession in the northern sector of the Okavango Delta, located just north of the iconic Vumbura and Duba Plains, and adjoining the renowned Moremi Game Reserve. The unusually large size of the concession, coupled with limited human impact and a vast abundance of wildlife, ensures a stay at Duke’s Camp is a rare opportunity to enjoy a truly wild and untouched corner of the Delta.
The camp itself is pitched on an island along the shores of a permanent lagoon, all but hidden amid the boughs of indigenous leadwood and ebony trees. This is a landscape of tawny grasslands interwoven with shimmering channels, ancient woodland, and ilala palm-islands.
Duke’s Camp is open year-round, with each season offering its own unique character and opportunities for adventure in the Okavango Delta. Although water levels in the surrounding channels begin to recede from approximately October, the unique location of Duke’s Camp ensures that it receives the first pulses of new floodwaters, often as early as February. This promises near year-round access to perennial channels for mokoros, and boat safaris. It’s very rarely, in a deep drought year, that boating can’t be enjoyed at Dukes year-round!
Guests can look forward to morning and afternoon into evening game drives, exploring this pristine private concession, home to a rich array of wildlife including healthy populations of lion, leopard, cheetah, and elephant. A highlight of any visit to the Delta is sighting the semi-aquatic red lechwe and rare sitatunga antelope, both to be found here.
A night fly-camping on a remote, lantern-lit island, sleeping under the stars with a mozzie net and a bedroll, is offered at an additional cost. Myriad fish species of the Okavango Delta, including African pike, nembwe and tilapia are found here. Note that fishing is catch and release and is not permitted during the breeding season, from 1 January – 31 March. The Okavango Delta is a haven for birders, with more than 350 species spotted in the region. While the arrival of northern hemisphere migrants makes summer the best time for birding, twitchers will be mesmerized year-round.
The Tsodilo Hills is a fascinating World Heritage Site that is located just 30 minutes flight away from Duke’s by helicopter. The Tsodilo Hills have a special significance to the Bushmen who have been living here for thousands of years. With over 4,500 individual paintings, Tsodilo is a treasure trove of ancient rock art with some of the highest concentrations in the world dating back to between 800 to 1300 AD. A half day helicopter trip should be booked in advance to spend a morning exploring these Hills and their paintings.
Scenic helicopter flights are offered here, providing an entirely new perspective over the Okavango Delta, also at an additional cost.