Travel Guide Khwai & North Gate

This region was the first to host camps on its soil, no longer intended for hunters but for lovers of wildlife photography. Extremely famous in the 1950s and 1960s for the abundance of its crocodiles, whose skins were hunted from far away, it has become a tourist destination since hunting was banned and the tsetse fly was definitively eradicated. In the extreme north-east of Mopane Tongue, the waters of the Okavango are at their northernmost point in the delta and the riverbed is narrowing. This is the Khwai River. Beyond the floodplain that surrounds the riverbed, the riverine forests are superb, populated in particular by large acacias and leadwoods. Wildlife is very rich. Forsaking Chobe, it finds here its water points during the dry season: among them, zebras, buffaloes, wildebeest, herds of elephants, the extremely rare roan antelope, the lion, sometimes in large numbers, the leopard too, more discreet, as well as the unavoidable hippopotamus. The range of birds is varied, mixing waterfowl and more terrestrial birds. Different species of birds of prey are very well represented here, a sign... of a well stocked stall of small game. The queen activity is the game drive, on the numerous tracks and loops inside the Moremi reserve, along the river or in the forest. Noteworthy west of North Gate is the Dombo Hippo Pools lagoon with its many semi-aquatic species. An important detail on Khwai: the river of the same name, habitat appreciated by the hippos, particularly present here, marks the northern border of the reserve. In the south, the traveller is still in Moremi and therefore subject to the "curfew". To the north, he is in the Khwai Community Reserve. Same inhabitants, same wildlife, but less curfew. It is therefore possible to organize night drives there. This greater freedom has encouraged many tour operators to use this community reserve (NG19) as much as Moremi itself. In the reserve, a superb camp is set up near the bridge on stilts. Since it has been privatized, the camp is better maintained. Contact SKL Camps for reservations. The village of Khwai is close by; the traveller can walk around there and meet the locals and the community that runs the camp nearby. Outside the reserve, the community of Khwai offers a completely wilderness camping area. The traveller will find only very discreetly marked campsites. Khwai River Lodge, of the Belmond Safaris company, as well as Bushways organize all the activities in the reserve: game drives, visits to cultural villages..