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Jacana Camp
Jacana Camp
Jacana Camp
Jacana Camp
Jacana Camp
Jacana Camp
Jacana Camp

Reviews of Jacana Camp

Wildlife sightings and reviews

27 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Jacana Camp and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Aug-2018, 3 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Jacana Camp.
Lion

67% success

Leopard

33% success

Cheetah

0% success

Wild dog

0% success

Buffalo

100% success

Hippo

100% success

Elephant

67% success

Giraffe

67% success

Sitatunga

67% success

Spotted Hyena

33% success

Wildebeest

33% success

Zebra

33% success

Aardvark

0% success

Black Rhino

0% success

Pangolin

0% success

Roan antelope

0% success

Sable antelope

0% success

White Rhino

0% success

Showing 1-10 of 27
Duration
Arrival date
Pete & Nancy
Stockton

"Jacana Camp review"

3 nights Arrived 18 Oct 2021
"Jacana Camp is located on a little island on the open floodplains of Jao Flats in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. When the water is high it is surrounded by water; this time of year it is not, but the landscape is still so beautiful.

Our experience here will be hard to beat. We heard lions, leopards and hyenas at night along with many, many birds. Animal and bird sightings were outstanding. A few of our favorite sightings: newborn hippo, tsessebe, lion, bushbuck and dung beetle (no kidding, there’s a lot of drama taking place in a pile of elephant dung!) We had dinner outside under the stars and lunch along a waterway. Sundowners in a different location (including a mokoro experience) were always beautiful. The food was delicious, the staff made us feel right at home and our guide, Gora, was the best.

Thanks to camp manager, Abu, for creating such a welcoming experience." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana; 7n in Namibia; 3n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

2 sightings

Elephant

2 sightings

Giraffe

2 sightings

Hippo

2 sightings

Lion

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

1 sighting

Mr & Mrs V
Harlow

"Jacana Camp review"

2 nights Arrived 22 Jan 2020
"We were initially disappointed with Jacana although not through anything they were responsible for. Despite being listed as surrounded by water and offering mainly water activities they had not had any water around the supposed island for over a year. Their boats were all beached some distance away and not operating so the activities were only game drives - not what we were expecting. The delta had suffered from lack of rains last year and Jacana is surrounded by seasonal flood plains so in such an exceptional year can be left a bit dry.

Nevertheless our guide, Mr Bee, did his best and we had enough excellent sightings to make up for this. He too was a good birder. Memorable is the Pel's fishing owl in camp actually eating a fish. We drove to the permanent water of the Jao river near Jao camp where there was at least some remaining water and were rewarded by good views of sitatunga in the open due to the lack of their usual haunt amongst the marshy reeds.

We were also blessed with a long sighting of a lioness moving her three one month old cubs from their birth den across what should have been lagoon to a new den over a mile away" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

1 sighting

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Sitatunga

1 sighting

Mr & Mrs H
UK

"Jacana was a great experience"

3 nights Arrived 13 Aug 2018
"Jacana was surrounded by water at the time we visited and a deliberately chosen as a water based safari. To be honest we didn't really know what to expect and it was difficult to set any objectives. The wish list was really a Pels Fishing Owl and a Malachite Kingfisher. On arrival the team said they hadn't seen a Pels for three weeks! Great start. We saw a Malachite on the first boat trip along with some great elephant viewing in the water and a wide variety of birds.

The highlight of the stay was probably the trip in a Mokoro, so peaceful and relaxing and a great opportunity to quietly get close to birds, animals and frogs. The highlight was a great sighting of a Pels Fishing Owl but the birds and frogs were fascinating as well.

The camp was really good with friendly people and a great guide but on balance three nights was probably enough because there is a limited number of things to do. However we really enjoyed the experience." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

2 sightings

Elephant

6 sightings

Giraffe

1 sighting

Hippo

2 sightings

Sitatunga

2 sightings

Wildebeest

2 sightings

Zebra

2 sightings

Mr T & Ms K
NL

"Jacana Camp review"

2 nights Arrived 12 Nov 2017
"Great place for water-based activities.

It a smaller and more basic camp than the others we visited in Botswana, but staff service was really great, and the activities were great, so recommended" See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia; 7n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Mrs & Mr P
Essex

"Always my favourite"

3 nights Arrived 29 Jul 2017
"Even after 4 visits, dawn from the deck in front of Jacana is still a breathtaking sight, as are the sunsets over the water.
A fabulous spot for bird watching and we added a couple of kingfishers we hadn't seen before (the striped and a really excellent sighting of the giant). Our guide found the Pels fishing owl for us, both good sightings of a juvenile, and a fleeting sighting of the adult.
This is such a peaceful place and floating around in a mokoro or a boat makes a pleasant respite from bouncing around the bush on a truck.
We had an excellent guide (Broken) who, as a keen photographer himself, was excellent at getting the right positions for photos and for getting up close without disturbing the birds.
Our poler Gee also proved to be very knowledgeable and helpful.
On a night when we were the only people in camp they laid a beautifully decorated table for us for dinner, right by the water's edge.
This camp had the best staff 'choir' that we have ever encountered. It was a pity that, in order not to spoil the surprise of the boma dinner, we hadn't been warned to bring cameras.(Lesson -never go anywhere without one!)" See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 9n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
A, T & H
London

"Pure Paradise"

2 nights Arrived 27 Jul 2017
"Arriving here is a magical experience. The camp is small, relaxed, familial and an intimate part of the surroundings. A very special place. Guiding here was superb--done with sensitivity and quiet expertise." See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mrs L
Basingstoke

"Jacana Camp is in a beautiful location"

3 nights Arrived 5 Sep 2016
"A special camp, surrounded by and accessible only by water.

All the staff were very helpful and friendly. A beautifully decorated birthday cake was made for my husband and accompanied by staff singing Happy Birthday which was very much appreciated.

Our guide, Mr. Bee, was excellent and very knowledgeable. We had really enjoyable stay." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs O
Somerset

"Jacana Camp review"

3 nights Arrived 30 Apr 2016
"Another small camp surrounded by water and a glimpse of paradise within a natural wonder. We love Jacana and although it is undoubtedly a water camp we saw a wonderful array of game and wading birds during several game drives onto the Jao floodplain.

We had the most wonderful sighting of a pair of leopard cubs and wonder of wonders not one but two otter sightings; the first of a family of spot necked in the channel to the boat station and the second of a group of Cape clawless fishing in one of the permanent channels. The camp was run wonderfully well and one could not fault the enthusiasm and efficiency of the staff. Our guide Mr Bee produced everything there was to see and more.

A memorable third stay in a highly recommended camp." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Ms S & Mr K
USA

"Jacana Camp review"

2 nights Arrived 30 May 2015
"The setting and rooms were the prettiest of all our camps but only two days are needed because of limited activities.

Highlights: TH(guide) was fantastic in every way! Mokoro and sundowners was magical. Great birding. Close encounter with elephant at our deck. Paul was new (only two weeks) but very accommodating and had great stories regarding his previous life experiences.

Only low was that the food was less fresh than at other camps" See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana; 1n in South Africa
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs C
Middlesex

"Jacana Camp review"

2 nights Arrived 4 Oct 2014
"The staff were extremely helpful and knowledgeable, right from leaving the aircraft to the end of our stay. The location of the camp was excellent for both water based and land trips with a huge variety of wildlife "on-tap". How our guide found his way through all of the narrow reed channels remains a mystery to this day!

The bird life in the reed beds was spectacular and the excitement on being challenged by a very large bull Elephant along a narrow reed channel cannot be described!

On land, the highlight had to be the encounter with two lionesses and their four cubs, just feet from our Land Rover. What a safari!" See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Showing 1-10 of 27
99%
27 reviews of Jacana Camp by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
25
2
0
0
0
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