The excellent location of Meno A Kwena Tented Camp gives us the opportunity to offer numerous safari options that includes Makgadikgadi & Nxai Pans National Parks, and Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). We also arrange safaris that combine the Kalahari with mobile and permanent camps in the Okavango Delta and Chobe areas.

Fully Inclusive safari booking option varies from low season (December-May) to high season (June-November).

January to February 2009 – US$300

March to May 2009 – US$350

June to October 2009 – US$600

November 2009 – US$400

December 2009 – US$350

Meno A Kwena Tented Camp is limited to 16 beds so it is necessary to contact us well in advance to secure a booking. Only email booking requests are accepted for efficiency.

The Boteti River Safari Experience

The migratory water dependant zebra and wildebeest herds concentrate along the Boteti River during the dry winter months (June to November), obviously this is determined by the rains, and water availability in the saltpans.

The deep Boteti River gorge is a unique environment, by Botswana standards, of riverine habitat in the middle of the dry Kalahari. This creates a rich diversity of wildlife in a very concentrated area. Some of Botswana’s most impressive wildlife concentrations occur along the riverbed during the dry season, including the large herds of zebra and wildebeest, antelope, elephant, white rhino, predators, giraffe, hippo, crocodile, many bird species, and spectacular views.

A number of resident species do not migrate away at the onset of the rains and so the Boteti area maintains a population of wildlife all year round.

Suggestion: At least two nights is essential to fully appreciate the Boteti experience. Watching impressive wildlife concentrations coming to drink right in front of camp in comfort and relaxed, with minimal disturbance to the wildlife, and walking are recommended. With three nights we can spend more time in the Boteti area to experience other sections of the riverbed by vehicle further a field.

The Makgadikgadi Pans Safari Experience

The Makgadikgadi Pans National Park covers a vast area from the Boteti River, through its interior of scrublands, palm belt and grasslands to the extraordinary saltpans to the east. The interior of the park supports desert adapted wildlife – oryx, springbok, ostrich, jackal, Meerkats, to name some of the common species. During the wet summer months (November to June), the zebra and wildebeest form impressive herds in the open grass plains and pans.

The saltpans are accessible during the dry months (June to November), and this is when we will travel deep into the dry saltpans for the spiritual experience of space.

Suggestion: We look for the zebra and wildebeest migrations concentrated in the saltpans during the summer rainy season (November to June). It is recommended to spend at least three nights at Meno A Kwena Tented camp to be able to do a day trip with picnic lunch to the saltpans. The other day could be spent in Nxai Pan National Park.

Suggestion: It is an extraordinary experience to sleep out on the saltpans under the stars during the dry season (June to October). We offer a special price for three nights at Meno A Kwena doing the wildlife experience, and then a fourth night sleep-out on the pan after an afternoon trip by quad bike from the pan shoreline.

The Nxai Pan National Park Safari Experience

Nxai Pan National Park adjoins the northern boundary of the Makgadikgadi Pans national Park to create a vast 12 000 square kilometre protected ecosystem within the Kalahari. It takes us an hour to get to the park from camp and so requires a day trip with picnic lunch. Baines Baobabs, famous trees painted by 1800s explorer and naturalist, Thomas Baines. The grove of massive trees is a spectacular sight to behold against a backdrop of saltpan and big skies. In the dry season (June to November), the area is popular because of the well-known behaviour of the resident lion pride hunting springbok all day long at the only waterhole in the park. Tim and June Liversedge recently produced a large format film about these lions called ‘Roar – The Lions of Kalahari.’

Suggestions: At least three nights are required to do the Nxai Pan day trip with the Boteti River experience during the dry season (June to November). We take a picnic lunch on the day trip to Nxai Pan and Baines Baobabs.

Suggestion: During the wet season (November to June) we will take all our guests, who stay at least two nights, on safari to Nxai Pan National Park. The lush fertile grasslands attract large herds of zebra, springbok and oryx to breed in relative safety from the predators visible from large distances over the short grass plains. These trips do require that we take a picnic lunch and spend a full day out from camp.

Suggestion: Should guests want to visit both national parks during the wet season it is advisable to stay at Meno A Kwena Tented Camp for four nights.

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve Experience

The CKGR, as we call it, is over fifty thousand sq kilometres in size! So to cover this vast Kalahari reserve would involve a major safari expedition. We concentrate our efforts on Deception Valley in the north of the reserve. The ancient riverbed is the maternity ward for countless antelope that migrate from the sandy waterless scrublands of the interior at the start of the rains (November/December). And of course there are the opportunist predators concentrated in the area during the wet season, particularly cheetah.

Deception Valley is too far for us to visit on day trips and so we operate with a ‘fly camp’. No not flying safaris. A fly camp is a very simple and highly mobile unit equipped with the bare necessities. A visit to this remote region, even with a basic camp, is often the highlight of the trips we have on offer because it is a real safari adventure. Don’t be misled by basic either, the bedrolls, in the safety of bow tents, are a luxury, there are no camps and lodges in CKGR at all! We take all the meals, drinks, tables and chairs, washing water for bucket showers with us for anything from one night to six nights.

Suggestion: The wet season (November to June) is most productive for wildlife viewing safaris. At least two nights in CKGR are recommended to maximize the experience and improve chances of seeing more predators in the area.

Suggestion: We can operate up to six days in CKGR. We would spend two nights in each area of the vast northern part of the reserve. This isn’t advisable for the not so adventurous.

The Kalahari Safari Experience

The complete Kalahari experience would cover all the areas discussed already, plus a visit to a bushman settlement west of CKGR. These trips can be operated all year round except that there would be limitations should the saltpans be too wet to travel through. The seasonal variations would influence the amount of time spent in each area.

The Kalahari Experience would start in Maun and a road transfer to Meno A Kwena Tented Camp from where trips to Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi Pans National Parks would be operated. Quad biking into the saltpans for a sleep out under the stars, and telescope stargazing experience. A stopover at Meno A Kwena for the night en route from the saltpans to CKGR would be necessary to break the long journey. The safari would end with the bushman experience before returning to Maun.