Vumbura Plains

Vumbura Plains lies in the extreme north of the Delta, on the edge of a large floodplain where lechwe often splash their way charmingly through the water. This luxury camp offers both land and water activities in a 60 000-hectare private concession that has a wonderful variety of habitats and a great diversity of wildlife.

Vumbura Plains is a luxury camp situated in a private concession in the extreme north of the Delta. The concession, which is leased from the neighbouring community, includes a wide variety of habitats, diverse wildlife and an enormous traversing area of 60 000 hectares (130 000 acres).

The camp comprises two separate seven-roomed satellite camps, each with its own raised dining, lounge and bar area tucked beneath a canopy of cool, shady, indigenous trees and with a magnificent vista across the floodplains. A star-gazing deck with comfortable cushions protrudes into the floodplain, a place to gaze upwards, or a convivial camp fire setting.

If you're expecting a classic safari-style camp, Vumbura Plains breaks all those expectations. Each large, luxurious room is raised off the ground on wooden decks and each comprises a bedroom, lounge, shower and bathroom - with indoor and outdoor shower of course. It is open on three sides, and the billowing curtains between the various areas create the sense of a yacht floating through the floodplains. Each room also has a plunge pool and 'sala' - a comfortable area to lie and relax, watching the waving grasses of the floodplain.

What makes the Vumbura concession so unique is its position on the extreme north of the Okavango. This position encompasses such a wide variety of habitats and species that it has representatives of just about every animal that occurs in the Okavango biome.

Vumbura Plains offers both land and water activities, principally nature viewing in varied habitats in open 4x4 vehicles, nature walks, mokoro trips and boat excursions. Whilst exploring the spectacular ecology of this area, one can enjoy close-up viewing of lion, leopard, elephant, cheetah and buffalo along with all the plains game. Birding is fabulous here with immense species diversity and mind-boggling numbers. The Vumbura area is possibly the only area in the Okavango where one can see red lechwe (an animal that inhabits the fringes of the waterways) and sable antelope (an animal that prefers the dry countryside) on the same game drive.

Conservation:

Vumbura Plains is part of a community participation plan that brings the benefits of ecotourism to the communities that live around the Okavango Delta.

Vumbura Plains is situated in a Wildlife Management Area adjoining and north of the Moremi Game Reserve. It is a community area, and the five villages on the northern perimeter of the Delta combined to form a Trust to manage the affairs of the community and to ensure that any rewards are fairly distributed. The Trust, called the Okavango Community Trust (OCT), has developed a partnership with Wilderness Safaris, where Wilderness leases the land from the community, markets, sells and manages the camps in the area, and in return undertakes to employ, train and wherever possible, uplift the living standards and skills of the community people.

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