Reviews of Kanana
(95%) From 50 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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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.
Kanana Camp
Kanana has excellent staff and guides, they treated us incredibly well and wanted for nothing. The camp is well laid out and both communal areas and tents are up there with the best of them.
The only down side was the location as at the end of the season the waterways are often too shallow to navigate and limits what they can do.
Another very well run camp at Kanana
This was another excellent camp: run by Mark and Georgi, we really enjoyed it. Our room was large and comfortable, and the common areas of a good standard. The food was a highlight, the best of the three camps we visited, although all were good.
Our guide Kenny was great - very knowledgable and willing to find what we were interested in - including stopping a game drive to take us out on the boat to see Pels fishing owl, when it had been spotted. Water trips were very good, especially to the heronry.
We were there on Botswana independence day, so we were treated to the national anthem (twice! - second time with us singing from a sheet!), a wonderful dinner, and a moving speech by Aubrey (another guide) on his pride in his country. A good mix of game, birds, lovely camp, great people.
Great water based activities at Kanana
The water based activities were the highlight here. We visited the heronry twice. There were large numbers of egrets, storks and pelicans. We also went fishing and watched a fish eagle catch fish. Our guide was very helpful in trying to meet our wishes in respect of the water based activities.
The land based game viewing was not so good as the wildlife was fairly scarce. As the brochure had pointed this out we were not disappointed.
The staff sang to us on two of the three nights we were there which was lovely.
Kanana - a gem in the Delta
Kanana provided an excellent mixture of land and water based outings in the Okavango Delta region of Botswana. We were able to go on a short walking safari and enjoyed the boat ride to the heronry and excursions in the mokoros.
From the welcome choir onwards, the staff were attentive and knowledgeable and made every effort to make sure our stay was enjoyable.
The tents were large, comfortable and well spaced. The food was varied, plentiful and well presented. It was nice that the guides had dinner with the guests.
One of the sundowners was interrupted by two lionesses! Fantastic!
great safari at Kanana
great guiding, fishing at sunset was fun, everything was perfect. Mark, the manager, is a very nice person and does a great job.
Read more about the whole safariGreat time at Kanana
Kanana has been the second camp we stayed in after our arrival in Botswana. Being in the Okavango delta, Kanana is completely different from the area we were coming from (the Makgadikgadi Pans). This means that we have managed to see different animals, birds and plants. On our drive from the air strip to the camp we have seen elephants, an hippo, monkeys and impalas and on our first game drive in the afternoon we spotted giraffes, kudus, warthogs and many different kind of antelopes. Kenny, our guide, was very nice and friendly. He was very prepared and helped us identifying birds and trees.
The managers Mark and Georgie made us feel very welcome, as did all the rest of the staff. Again, the food was really nice and plenty of treats. The accommodation was spacious, comfortable and clean. We have fully enjoyed our activities including the trip on the mokoro during which we saw many birds( amongst which the bird eagles, different kingfishers, African darters, jacanas, herons, storkes, etc), otters and hippos, while floating amongst all the lovely water lilies and other aquatic plants. Then on the way back to the camp, on board of a small motorised boat, we came across elephants bathing themselves and eating papyrus. That was great!
We went out again on the small boat with a guide called Ono. He took us to the herons ring. Unfortunately it was a bit early for the season (they are expected later in June /July) but we could still appreciate the beauty of the place. Ono showed us a pelican colony and we got quite close to some hippos which were very funny and interesting to watch while they yawned, dived in the water and got upset with each other trying to defend their territory. The highlight of the afternoon boat trip was spotting a sitatunga (a water antelope) which apparently is very shy and quite difficult to spot. Even Ono was quite excited when we saw it.
We went out for a night drive but we only saw some impalas, one elephant and a bush baby (or rather the eyes of a bush baby watching us). We have been told that at the moment is a bit too cold for the animal (being still winter there) and they do not come out much at night. Nevertheless we still liked it. At night, from our cabin, we could hear thousand of those minuscule frogs but also hippos and elephants. It was very exciting knowing that those large animals were just outside the camp...
The morning we left we had the camp to ourselves as all the other guests had gone out. The table for breakfast was set in front of the lagoon so that we could have the amazing view all to ourselves! After that our guide Kenny walked us to the air strip and on the way he explained all about animal tracks and behaviours and we talked about the traditions of local people. When we arrived at the air strip we found another guide waiting with our bags and we were ready to jump on a plane to go to our next camp. We really had a great time in Kanana!
Kanana, close encounter city.
Another warm welcome on landing and another great mini-safari on the way back to Kanana Camp. Our guide Maipaa was a gentle giant for whom nothing was too much trouble. Likewise our host/manager Mark and his wife and all of the staff were great.
Kanana has lots of potential for those wishing water activities with both motor boats and mokoro available, and fishing trips a great way to spend an afternoon. The game here was a little less than other camps that we visited but we did see less spotted genet here which we saw nowhere else as well as Cape hunting dogs and hyenas and many more species as well as great birds including lots of wood hoopoes.
One night we were woken by noises outside our tent (the tents at Kanana are very spacious and comfortable) and on opening the sliding doors we found a mother elephant with her calf browsing on the foliage hanging over our deck area. We watched them for about 10 minutes before they wandered off. The next day we heard them foraging nearby during the morning and then in the afternoon during siesta time they came along to the communal lounge/BBQ area and walked straight across by the fire pit. Just to be so close to them was amazing.
A short trip by mokoro took us to an island where we were able to have a beautiful hour or so walking with Maipaa, by far the best way to see the wildlife and gain a better understanding of the flora in the area.
Definitely the lap of luxury in the most beautiful surroundings. Fully recommend.
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.
