Little Mombo Camp – XXL tents for two

Mombo Camp is the flagship camp of the renowned safari operator Wilderness Safaris. The pinnacle, in other words, of safaris and places to camp out in when in Botswana. It seemed to me like just the thing for my 50th…

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A birthday outing for my Big Five-O.

Monika and Mirjam, safari specialists with The Safari Source came up with Little Mombo Camp as the grand finale for our safari adventure. True to its name, it’s a small camp with all of five “2-person tents.”

Naturally, anyone celebrating a 50th birthday would be a little hopped up about an alleged climax and finish for a trip… On the other hand, I arrived feeling a bit blasé, sure that there was no way that the camps we had already stayed in could be topped. It may also have had something to do with the fact that as we flew in this time, our plane had not been chewed on by hungry hyenas again…

Piece o’ cake…

Lunch in the Bush – Little Mombo Camp Style

Upon arrival, we are welcomed by camp manager Will, a South African. Since it was around noon, the young man lost no time in leading us straight to the lunch buffet picturesquely laid out in the open air lounge. Well, all right, this is a promising start…

After this first pick-me-up, the much anticipated taking possession of our room is next. Or, rather, the move into the 2-person tent, of course, since there are no rooms per se here…

Camping out in a tent for two

By way of the raised wooden walkway that is typical in the Okavango Delta, Will escorts us to our tent. Already at a distance, you can sense that a pup tent this is not. And, then, stepping into it, it’s enough to take even a hard-bitten safari veteran’s breath away…

… besides the obligatory four-poster bed with mosquito net (there were practically none, this being June and still early in the season), you find yourself taking in an awe-inspiring ensemble of lounge, cocktail bar, and a bathroom that is really something to write home about: with twin showers (!) and a make-up table with a view of the Moremi Game Reserve, it’s like nothing we’ve ever experienced!

You can enjoy the same view, naturally, from the “loo with a view” and from the small, private gazebo.

Or from the outdoor shower. It figures.

Sometimes, the safari already starts right at the tent:

What it’s like to go on safari to stalk leopards we caught here in another video.

A slightly bigger Mombo Camp

Should the walls start closing in despite the wide-open layout of Little Mombo, take the wooden walkway a short way in the other direction and you’ll find yourself in the big Mombo Camp, legendary flagship camp of safari operator Wilderness Safaris.

And since you can never have enough variety, meals here are not invariably eaten in camp…

Picnicking in style

Back in Little Mombo Camp, the day goes pretty much on the same schedule as most safari camps: Wake up is at 6 a.m., breakfast is served at 6:30, then it’s shoulder your camera backpack and off we go on the hunt! We come back in from the wild side shortly before noon. After lunch, a brief siesta is granted, and then it’s back out on safari at 3:30 p.m., with time out before dark for a sundowner somewhere in the bush, and later a relaxed dinner for the guests by candlelight back at the camp closes out the camp day.

I suppose you could say you’re always eating here, unless you happen to be out lying in ambush :-)

On the second day, our guide Sevara, instead of driving us back to camp at lunchtime, takes us to a tree-shaded spot where they have already set up a lunch amid the greenery. Call it a picnic — and I mean a real one! Picnic in style, I like!

It doesn’t get any better than this!

Sincere thanks…

…to camp manager Will! Nothing could be finer than the way he attentively looks after his guests’ wellbeing while casually regaling them with his hair raising bush adventures! A big thanks also to all Little Mombo Camp staffers; they spoiled us around the clock.

And, of course, many thanks go to our guide Sevara for the unforgettable safari outings!