The delightful Setari Camp (meaning ‘tree’ in Setswana) offers a quintessential Okavango water safari year round. A network of treehouses with breath-taking views over the sparkling, clear Delta waters, your safari at Setari will be an exclusively water based experience. A visit to the heronry provides spectacular birdlife and Setari is well placed for a glimpse of the elusive sitatunga antelope and the rare Pel’s fishing owl. Catch and release fishing is available in-season.

Situated on an island known as Little Duba, Setari Camp is in a private concession (called NG 24) of 120,000 acres. Little Duba is 1.2 kilometres by 700 metres and surrounded by palm trees and seven lagoons. This is a deep-water environment, more so than most camps in the Okavango Delta. Given the nature of the environment, this is not a big game experience. Instead the focus is on the magnificent landscape and the aquatic.

No game drives are offered, so no game such as large predators and herds of antelope or zebra will not be a focus of the experience. There will be plenty of wildlife to see, however, and the camp offers a unique experience of immersion in the characteristic Okavango Delta landscape of papyrus reed beds, permanent channels and lagoons.

Setari Camp is located at the base of the Panhandle, where the Okavango river begins to spread out into the alluvial fan of the Okavango Delta. The camp itself is constructed like a huge tree house: walkways high above ground level connect tents, the thatched main area, the pool and gym, giving great views over the crystalline waters and reed beds.

The area is ideal for birders who will encounter migratory species, numerous aquatic birds, raptors and even the rare and elusive Pel’s Fishing Owl. There is a seasonal heronry. Guests should also have a great chance of seeing the rare Sitatunga antelope which is specially adapted to the watery life in the Delta. Other inhabitants of Little Duba are a Leopard, Hippo, Baboons and a single Hyena.

Activities offered at Setari Camp are trips in one of the camp’s three boats (two with an upper deck for an elevated view) that have been specially adapted for game viewing. Guests may also drift serenely along the waters of the channels in one of Setari’s five mekoro, or dugout canoes, as inhabitants of the area have done for centuries past. Bush walks on nearby islands are also offered with the possibility of seeing elephant or sitatunga. A maximum of six guests at one time will take a boat ride to the best islands for walking in the south of the concession and will be guided by two professional expert guides, one of whom carries a rifle. Setari has three professional guides and five qualified polers who power and guide the mokoro.

A whole day trip by mokoro is also offered. The day will begin after an early morning breakfast. After poling to the south of the concession, you will disembark on a larger island and take a safari on foot. There will be a picnic lunch after which you return to camp to watch the sun set with a sundowner.

Setari’s staff can provide tackle for bream and tiger fish fishing on a catch and release basis.

Finally, guests are able to visit Jao village on Jao island where you can meet the local people and perhaps watch the women practising the ancient art of basket weaving which is a proud and still vibrant Botswana specialism.

Setari Camp accommodates a maximum of twenty guests. It has eight double tented suites and one family suite, all of which are light and spacious. All are en suite with a freestanding bath, separate indoor shower and outside shower. The rooms all have supersized beds and mosquito nets. Each tent is decorated in a classic but crisp style and set in an elevated position in the trees with its own private deck to maximise the views out onto the floodplain and the spacious main seating/ dining area and bar, swimming pool and gym are similarly situated to take advantage of the views.

The family room is the closest tent to the main area and is also conveniently close to the pool. It can accommodate a family of four in two separate but adjoining tents. Children must be six years and above and families with children aged between six and twelve years must take a private boat and guide. Babysitting can be arranged.

The main area has a large deck for dining al fresco. There is a separate deck with a fire pit for sitting round the camp fire in the evening. Wifi is available and there is a curio shop. Electricity is provided by a combination of solar power and a generator.

Setari Camp is reached by a thirty five minute flight in a light aircraft from Maun to the camp’s airstrip.