€346.80 for 1 Night
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Little Machaba Camp
€346.80/ Night
24/7 Support
Looking for help choosing or for a property we don't list? Message our Private Rates Concierge on WhatsApp for member rates and insider knowledge on the right stay
An intimate four-tent safari camp in Botswana's Khwai Concession, on the edge of the Okavango Delta, with classic 1950s-style tents and superb wild-dog country.
Collection:
Award Winner 2018
Africa's Best New Hotel
Free extra on us
Couples who book for 3 nights or more will receive a complimentary 45-minute massage.
Need To Know
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Four classic-style luxury tents raised on wooden decks, sleeping a maximum of eight guests; two are couples' tents, and two are family tents, with en-suite and outdoor showers.
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Reached by light aircraft to a Khwai airstrip, then a short game-drive transfer; the camp arranges flights from Maun or between camps.
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In the private Khwai Concession on the north-eastern edge of the Okavango Delta, overlooking a floodplain and bordering the Moremi Game Reserve.
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Morning and night game drives, guided walking safaris and, when water levels allow, mokoro canoe trips; a plunge pool, a library and a communal dining deck.
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Children under 12 are welcome only on an exclusive-use booking of the whole camp; the camp runs on solar power, without air-conditioning or hairdryers.
- Our Favourite Tent: the honeymoon tent, for its private outdoor bathtub over the floodplain.
Check in - Check out
Check in from 14:00; check out before 12:00.
We Love
- The wildlife. The Khwai is superb game country, with big elephant and buffalo herds, leopard and lion, and some of Botswana's best sightings of wild dogs.
- The concession. Being a private area rather than a national park, it allows night drives, off-road driving and walking safaris that the neighbouring reserve does not.
- The intimacy. Just four tents and a maximum of eight guests, with owner-run service warm enough that guests routinely describe it as staying with friends.
- The tents. Classic 1950s safari style on raised decks among the riverine trees, with indoor and outdoor showers and a private deck over the floodplain.
- The ethos. Solar-powered, built without permanent foundations so the site can be returned to bush, a genuinely low-impact camp rather than a marketed one.
Key Features
Book Your Stay at Little Machaba Camp
€346.80 for 1 Night
Location
Address
Khwai Concession, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Travel Info
Little Machaba is a fly-in camp, reached by light aircraft to a Khwai Concession airstrip, usually via Maun, then a short game-drive transfer to camp. There is no self-drive access, and light-aircraft luggage limits apply, around 20kg in soft bags.
Nearby Places
30-minute drive from the Khwai landing strip (free pickup/drop-off service provided), or a 5 –hour drive from Maun.
250m
Last Updated: 2026-07-10
Expert Review
Origins
Little Machaba is the smaller, quieter sister to Machaba Camp, set on the same island in the Khwai Concession on the north-eastern edge of the Okavango Delta, but run as a separate, more intimate camp of its own. It belongs to Machaba Safaris, an independently owned, owner-run safari company with camps across Botswana and Zimbabwe and a quarter-century of doing this well, and it is built in the classic style of a 1950s safari: canvas tents, wooden decks, oil-lamp romance, but with the comforts of the present quietly folded in.
There are just four tents, raised on decks and linked by walkways that wind through the riverine trees, sleeping a maximum of eight guests in all. Two are designed for couples and two for families, and each has an en-suite bathroom, an outdoor shower and a private deck looking over the floodplain, where elephant, buffalo and antelope pass through. The camp sits in one of Botswana's most productive wildlife areas: the private Khwai Concession, which borders the Moremi Game Reserve and shares its unfenced game, but, being a concession rather than a park, allows night drives, off-road driving and walking safaris that Moremi does not. Add mokoro trips when the Delta floods, a plunge pool, a communal dining deck under the stars and a genuinely light environmental footprint, and Little Machaba is a classic, personal safari camp of the best kind.
Top Secret
The Khwai is some of the finest wild-dog country in Botswana, and guests regularly return from a single drive having watched a whole pack of these endangered painted dogs hunt at dusk; ask your guide, they know the packs' territories, and time an afternoon drive around them.
The Review
Little Machaba is a small, classic safari camp that gets the essentials exactly right: a superb location, genuine intimacy and warm, owner-run service. It sits in the private Khwai Concession on the north-eastern edge of the Okavango Delta, the smaller sister to the ten-tent Machaba Camp on the same island, and with only four tents and a maximum of eight guests, it feels less like a hotel than a private camp you happen to be sharing.
The tents are built in the classic 1950s safari style, canvas on raised wooden decks, linked by walkways through the trees, with an easy, understated decor in natural tones. Each has an en-suite bathroom and a romantic outdoor shower, a private deck over the floodplain, and the honeymoon tent an outdoor bathtub; the camp runs on solar power and forgoes air-conditioning and hairdryers, part of a genuinely low-impact approach rather than a marketed one. Comfort is not sacrificed, good beds and linen, hot water, a plunge pool, even Wi-Fi, but the emphasis is on being close to the bush.
The wildlife is the reason to come. The Khwai is among the best game areas in Botswana, with large elephant and buffalo herds, leopard, lion and, notably, some of the country's finest sightings of endangered wild dogs. Because the concession is private, guides can offer night drives, off-road driving and walking safaris that are not permitted in the neighbouring Moremi reserve, and when the Delta is in flood there are mokoro canoe trips too. The guiding is excellent and singled out by guests again and again.
A few honest points. This is a remote, fly-in camp, reached by light aircraft; children under 12 are accepted only if you book the whole camp exclusively; water-based activities depend on the seasonal flood; and, as anywhere, sightings vary; some guests report fewer lions in recent seasons. But for an intimate, authentic and beautifully run Delta safari, with wild dogs on the doorstep, Little Machaba is among the most appealing small camps in Botswana.
