Reviews of Kanana
(95%) From 57 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Pangolin Island !!!!
Kanana is a water-based camp inside the Okavango delta with 8 comfortable and spacious tented chalets. Management and staff were very friendly and helpful, the food was good. There are many activities like boat cruises, mokoro, walking safaris but also night game drives day and night.
The day we arrived at Kanana was Day of Independence in Botswana (Sept. 30th): the whole staff was celebrating this and we were lucky to participate this party with finally having dinner outside the camp in the bush!!!
The water activities were amazing: during the boat cruises (we made it twice!) we saw lot of different birds, hippos, water crossing elephants, lechwe antelopes and (unfortunately far away) sitatunga!! But the highlight was the visit of a herony with probably thousands of marabou and yellow billed storks, pelicans, ibises and ....!
Mokoro is a great experience and if you come to the delta you have to do it!!!
We also made 2 walking safaris looking for the small things you usually miss on a game drive: not really spectacular but very informative (Thanks to Simon!).
Although Kanana is a water-based camp the game drives on the island (and the one close-by) offer more game than expected: of course elephants (also in the camp), giraffes, varied antelopes (especially lechwe) and our excellent guide Simon tracked a leopard (almost) perfect hidden in high grass! But he(!!) and we were most excited when we saw a pangolin - very very rarely seen even by local people!!!!
Great Experience in the Okavango Delta
We were greeted with singing and dancing on arrival at Kanana, and the emphasis on service never diminished during our stay. The meals were excellent and, on a couple of occasions, served remotely under the stars.
The tented chalets, set on elevated wooden platforms, are spacious and very comfortable. Views out across the water from the front veranda of our chalet are superb. The reception/dining area, built around a strangler fig, is open and inviting. And sunsets are postcard perfect.
Kanana staff set up a sleeping platform overlooking a seasonal marsh where we were fortunate enough to be able to spend one night, with only mosquito netting separating us from the stars. This much adventure may not be for everyone, but for our family it was delightful.
Activities at Kanana were varied and the guiding was exceptional. Our game drives were very good, observing elephant, giraffe, lechwe, tsessebe, impala, chacma baboon, vervet monkey, African hawk eagle, wattled crane... and most memorable, a lioness suckling two cubs! In addition to game drives, we enjoyed a combination mokoro and walking safari, a morning walking safari (honey badger!), boating safaris through the grass and reed waterways out to a pelican rookery (elephant, hippos, crocodile, otters!, pelicans, storks, kingfishers, African jacana...), and an afternoon of fishing (bream, tilapia, catfish, and African pike highlighted by an African fish eagle making a catch near our boat).
We enjoyed ourselves immensely at Kanana and give it our highest recommendation.
Excellent water camp
Great water based camp. Lots of activities! Friendliest staff at any camp we stayed at and went out of their way to make us feel at home. It was our anniversary here and they sang to us and made us a cake plus a private dinner (all a surprise to us!)
Read more about the whole safari
Kanana review
Excellent service,friendly staff. Views from the chalets somewhat restricted but no real problem.
Good and aware guides. Food fine.
Kanana review
Please see my joint comments about both lodges on previous page - haven't time to redo
Read more about the whole safariKanana review
Kanana Camp is in another league entirely. It's luxurious in every way. The tents are terrific, the bathrooms (with their glassed in shower stalls), the appointments, the dinners - all of it was over the top.
Our guide, Amos, had a great "been there, done that, seen it all" personality. We all enjoyed getting to know him and he has a wealth of knowledge to share. The Kanana system, with a guide but no spotter, worked, but especially on the night drive we took it was perhaps not as efficient as using a spotter.
The water based activities at Kanana are wonderful. We did a mokoro trip, a great motor boat excursion and also went fishing. The delta is so beautiful from the vantage point of the water that we certainly could have happily done lots more of those activities. We also went on a very interesting walk with Amos.
The managers, Viv, Glenn and Tobogo were very friendly and helpful - and the staff were great. Our only niggle about the staff is that they were perhaps a bit too attentive. Every time we came to the common areas, went to pour ourselves a drink, sat down to have a look at a reference book or just to relax, somebody was there to engage us in conversation, to pour the drink for us, to look for a way to help. Perhaps there are some who want that kind of service. We would have preferred them to be just a little bit less "there" all the time.
Two staff people who made our time very special were Owner (the female Owner - although the male Owner was great too) and Priscilla. They are both friendly, articulate and sharp young women. They had the self-confidence and charm to joke and talk with us in an authentic and natural way - even to tease us and poke fun. It was a real pleasure to get to know them - however briefly.
Kanana review
Accommodation was very good. Not as luxurious as Kwando but better than Kwara and totally comfortable.
Food was best of the three camps.
Staff was very accommodating and enthusiastic.
Sometimes the staff were too solicitous i.e. wanting to be so helpful that they did not leave one with any space and it could be a bit claustrophobic - but that is but a small criticism in the context of being very well treated.
Kanana review
Every wish and whim was attended to by the personal touch of the camp managers! Nothing was too much for them.
Really enjoyed the activities, and especially singing and dancing into our dinner with the entire staff.
Although the camp managers were outstanding in their professionalism, service and commitment, we missed having the whole camp staffed by local people (management was South African).
Amos our guide and respected elder was superb - we felt privileged to be in the bush with him.
Excellent when combined with the other camps
No big cats but the water environment was very interesting. We had seen a lot of big cats so it did not matter to us however if someone was expecting to see big cats they might be disappointed.
Very attentive, friendly staff who did everything possible to make our stay a success.
Kanana review
This camp was the best for service and those little touches that make a memorable holiday. A bit disappointed in game drives as not much around apart from antelope but water based activities were most enjoyable.
Went to camp to see heronry specifically and it was well worth seeing. Quieter camp and a very good way to end our holiday. Staff very attentive and arranged special locations for our meals, which was a nice gesture.
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
