Moremi Game Reserve

• Third Bridge

  The campsite Botswana Tourism picks out as a favourite with self-drive campers. It sits near the Sekiri River, which is lined with papyrus, and the tourism board talks up its sunsets.

  Botswana Tourism Organisation, Moremi Game Reserve (archived copy of 14 January 2026; the live page returned a server error on 12 October 2026)
• Xakanaxa Lagoon

  A lagoon near the tip of the Mopane Tongue, at the point where the permanent swamp gives way to plains that flood only in season. Expert Africa rates the game around here and Third Bridge among the densest in the reserve.

  Expert Africa, Moremi Game Reserve (sighting rates reported by its travellers, seasons and areas)
• Chief's Island

  An island more than 60 km long on the edge of the permanent swamp, raised just enough by a fault line to stay dry through the flood. It was the Tawana chiefs' hunting ground before the 1970s. There is no public vehicle access, so you see it only from a fly-in camp.

  Expert Africa, Moremi Game Reserve (sighting rates reported by its travellers, seasons and areas)
• Khwai River and North Gate

  The river is the northern boundary. North Gate is reached over a pole bridge, with the campsite just inside on the south bank and loops of track through riverine forest and floodplain to east and west.

  Tracks4Africa blog, North Gate or Khwai community camp (2021)
• Mboma boat station

  A boat station on the road between Second Bridge and Third Bridge where you can take a mokoro or motorboat trip into the channels. It is an easy way for a self-driver to see the wet side of Moremi.

  Sun Destinations, Moremi self-drive from Tuskers Bush Camp (2017)

• Only about 30% of Moremi is dry land. The rest lies inside the delta's swamps, lagoons and floodplains, which is why most of it cannot be reached by car. source
• Robert and June Kay, who arrived in 1958 and led the campaign for the reserve, were called 'dangerous agent provocateurs' by the local colonial official. Local officials opposed both the conservation society and the reserve. source
• Wild dogs in the Moremi area have been the subject of a research project since 1989, which is why you sometimes see one wearing a tracking collar. source
• Rhino have been lost here twice. White rhino released in Moremi and Chobe between 1967 and 1980 were poached out, and after a 1992 survey found only about 27 left in the north, the survivors were caught for the new Khama Rhino Sanctuary. From 2003, 33 white and five black rhino were released at Mombo on Chief's Island. In the nine months to January 2020 poachers killed 22 rhino on the island. source
• In 2008 Moremi was voted best game reserve in Africa by the African Travel and Tourism Association at Indaba, South Africa's main tourism fair. source

Checked 12 October 2026.

• very likelyElephantAll over the drivable part, with big herds along the Khwai River and around Xakanaxa Lagoon. All year, with the biggest gatherings in the dry season, May to Octobersource
• very likelyHippoLagoons and channels throughout. Every one of Expert Africa's travellers reported seeing hipposource
• very likelyZebra and giraffeGrasslands and floodplains. Nearly all of Expert Africa's travellers saw bothsource
• very likelyLionKhwai River, Xakanaxa and Third Bridge. Nine in ten of Expert Africa's travellers to the Moremi area reported seeing lion. All year, easiest in the dry season, May to Octobersource
• likelyRed lechweFloodplains around Xakanaxa and Third Bridgesource
• likelyBuffaloKhwai River and around Xakanaxa Lagoon, in large numbers by September. About three in four of Expert Africa's travellers saw them. All year, best in the dry season, May to Octobersource
• likelyLeopardRiverine forest along the Khwai and the woodland around Xakanaxa and Third Bridge. About three in four of Expert Africa's travellers saw onesource
• likelySpotted hyenaThroughout. Three in four of Expert Africa's travellers saw onesource
• possibleNile crocodileEvery flowing channel in the reservesource
• possibleAfrican wild dogOpen grassland and woodland around Xakanaxa and Third Bridge. Packs cover a lot of ground, so it comes down to luck. About two thirds of Expert Africa's travellers saw themsource
• possibleWattled crane and slaty egretWetlands. Expert Africa calls the slaty egret raresource
• possibleSouthern carmine bee-eaterSeen in flocks at Third Bridge campsite. Rainy season (a February visit)source
• rareCheetahOpen grasslands. Fewer than one in five of Expert Africa's travellers saw onesource
• rareSitatungaReed beds along the channels. About one in seven of Expert Africa's travellers saw onesource
• rareWhite and black rhinoAbout 150 lived in the northern delta in 2019. Poachers killed 92 in 2020 and 2021 and the government moved the 40 or so that were left out of the delta. Do not plan a trip around seeing one heresource

Likelihood is for a normal visit of two or three days, from the sources linked. Nothing is guaranteed in the wild.

Malaria

Moremi is in Ngamiland, which the CDC lists with the Okavango among Botswana's malaria transmission areas, and it recommends prescription antimalarials for travellers there. See a travel clinic well before you fly, because some tablets have to be started days ahead. source

Malaria season

The UK's travel health service rates the risk in the northern half of Botswana, the Okavango Delta included, as high from October to May and low for the rest of the year. Cover up and use repellent from dusk in any month. source

Park rules

The speed limit is 40 km/h. You may not get out of your vehicle or walk except inside campsites, lodges, hides and picnic sites, and you may not drive or leave your campsite between closing and opening time. Gates open at 06:00 and close at 18:30 from April to September, and run 05:30 to 19:00 from October to March. Feeding animals is an offence. source

Open campsites

South Gate campsite has no fence, and campers at North Gate report hyenas coming through after dark and lions calling close by at night. Pack food and rubbish away. source

Channels and lagoons

Crocodiles live in all the flowing channels and swimming is prohibited. source

Remote driving

Botswana Tourism warns campers that these are remote areas reached only by four-wheel drive, with heavy sand and rough ground, where water, petrol and food may not be on sale. Carry what you need for the whole stay, and take out medical insurance that covers evacuation. source

• Fill the tank and the jerry cans in Maun. There is no fuel in Moremi. A regular on the 4x4 Community forum wrote in January 2020 that the Puma station at Muchenje was the only pump between Maun and Kasane on the route through Savuti. one source
• The four public campsites are run by private companies, not the wildlife department: Third Bridge by Xomae, Khwai (North Gate) by SKL, and Xakanaxa and South Gate by Kwalate Safaris. Book each with its operator well ahead, then pay the reserve entry fee to DWNP at the gate, where a Maun self-drive agency says cash and cards are both taken. one source
• Treat a water crossing with suspicion even when it looks shallow. Two brothers in a Land Cruiser in 2025 began to sink in soft mud on a 10 metre crossing on the way from Xakanaxa to North Gate, and had to back out and take another road. one source
• Roads around Khwai and Xakanaxa often go under water when the delta rises, so check conditions before you set out and have a second route in mind. one source
• Bring all your drinking water. The campsites have standpipes, but the water needs boiling and treating before you drink it. one source
• Mboma boat station, on the road to Third Bridge, is the place to break the drive with a mokoro or motorboat trip into the channels. one source

Checked 12 October 2026. Conditions change, so confirm with the park or venue before you go.