A day on safari at Feline Fields Vintage Camp

What's a safari with Feline Fields Vintage Camp really like? What are the sensations of being immersed in the incredible wilderness around Botswana's breathtaking Khwai River and its lush channels? Do you have everything you need in this wonderful and stylish tented bushcamp? What does a typical day consist of? Let's find the answers to these questions and so much more...



It's still dark outside when your day begins with a gentle "knock knock" at your tent door. If you've asked for an early shower there will be some rustling outside your bathroom as Shadrack and Proctor fill your bucket shower with water warmed over an open fire, followed by a call that everything is ready! If you don't want to shower there will be warm water in a jug waiting at your basin in front of your tent so you can freshen up before embarking on your morning adventure - exploring the Khwai Community Reserve!

Dawn is beginning to break as you make your way down the path that runs parallel to the Mbudi Channel to the dining tent where a fresh cup of coffee and some rusks await - early morning fuel for the expedition that lies ahead. Then it's time to climb on to the open game vehicle and head out with your guide into the wilderness that's slowly being revealed by the rising sun. A cool breeze kisses your cheeks and all around you birds are calling, signalling the start of another fabulous day in wild Africa!

Daybreak delights

As you emerge from the riparian woodland that surrounds Feline Fields Vintage Camp the beauty of dawn over the Khwai Community Reserve is breathtaking. The sky is several shades of orange and pink as the sun breaks free of the horizon and begins its steady climb, zebras and wildebeest are moving slowly across the open floodplains dotted with dead knobthorns - victims of the annual Okavango inundation that turns this region into a wetland every year between May and August. A lone bull elephant with a broken tusk browses on the ever-present mopane scrub as white-fronted bee-eaters begin their search for insects in the skies above.

The road meanders its way through the diverse landscape of savannah grasslands and riverine thicket dotted with lagoons and channels, and at every turn there is something unique to see... Rafts of knob-billed ducks and spurwing geese gliding across mirror-like water; herds of sable grazing on the soft grasses at the edge of the channels; red lechwe making their way across waterlogged marshes; a lone lioness snoozing in some shade at the edge of the treeline... 

This is the Khwai Community Reserve - a 180,000ha paradise filled with an abundance of life and a fierce beauty that captivates and beguiles, on the eastern fringes of the Okavango Delta, wedged between the Moremi Game Reserve and Chobe National Park. Part of the greater Khwai ecosystem that's home to around 400 people, all of Babukakhwe or River Bushmen descent. They are the custodians of this place and live in complete harmony with their wild neighbours, helping to conserve and protect it for future generations.

Coffee with hippos

Your guide takes another turn, and you are immediately surrounded by tall trees and welcome shade - respite from the sun that's now shining strongly and increasingly warmly. The vehicle stops next to a lagoon - home to a curious hippo - and you are invited to climb down and enjoy some coffee, cookies and muffins, all designed to keep you going until breakfast. Coffee never tasted so good, and you marvel at the baking skills of Kelapile "Moss" Mosika, Feline Fields Vintage Camp's resident chef. 

Back on the vehicle you wind your way steadily back "home" to the camp, arriving in time for a hearty breakfast overlooking the Mbudi Channel, with a beautiful fresh fruit salad, yoghurt, cereals and cold meats as well as cooked options and lots of hot toast, of course! The conversation around the breakfast table is lively, recounting the morning's adventures. 

After breakfast there's time for a shower, if you didn't get one in before you left, and either some rest and relaxation back at your tent or, if you prefer to get some exercise in, a trip to the nearby crossing where you can safely swim in the waters of the Mbudi Channel to your heart's delight. 

A swim in paradise

The water is warm and the colour of tea, thanks to the tannins in the aquatic plantlife, but wonderfully clear and refreshing, nonetheless. There are no hippos or crocodiles in this fabulous lagoon, thanks to the regular use as a crossing point for vehicles making their way across the channel. But you do spot the odd shoal of tiny fish and plenty of frogs!

After spending an hour just floating and enjoying the experience of swimming in the wilderness, you take a short drive back to camp. Lunch is served at around 13h00 and is a light affair with lots of salads and deliciously tasty accompaniments like steak skewers, chicken strips and freshly caught pan-fried tilapia. You grab the chance to do some birding from the verandah of your tent before high tea - the prelude to your afternoon adventure - discovering the secrets of the Mbudi Channel by mokoro! 

Another short drive brings you to the mokoro station and your community poler who is waiting to show you the beauty of Khwai from the water, offering you a hippo's eye view of life in this fascinating eco-system. 

Magical mokoros

You settle into the comfortable seat of the mokoro and kick off your shoes, wondering at the skill of your poler as he pushes off from the bank and effortlessly manoeuvres the traditional dugout-style canoe through the long grasses at the edge of the channel. In olden days, he explains, mokoros were made from trees like the sausage tree (kigelia Africana) but today, in an effort to preserve the magnificent riparian forests along the river and its channels, they are reproduced in fibreglass. 

While the mokoro beneath you may not be old-school, the experience of being expertly poled along the winding channels and through lily filled lagoons is timeless and perhaps the best way to absorb the magical spirit of the Khwai... You stop to examine minute frogs on the grass stems that surround you, watch colourful kingfishers darting in the branches above and give potentially grumpy hippos a wide berth. 

Gliding magically through the water, the late afternoon sun dancing on the gently rippling surface, dragonflies and butterflies filling the air around you as African jacanas navigate the lily pads with their huge, splayed feet, you forget everything except the here and now. This is the definition of tranquility and an adventure not to be missed. 

A stylish end to the day 

As the sun dips you make the return trip along the channel, passing by the camp en-route, eventually reaching the crossing where you swam earlier... There on the bank is a table set with drinks and snacks, and in the water ahead of you floats a makeshift table with colourful cocktails, as the camp team welcomes you to a bush sundowner par excellence! You grab a cocktail as you glide past and come to rest on a soft sandy beach, alighting to enjoy a spectacular sunset. 

Darkness is falling as you make your way back to camp on the game vehicle, using a spotlight to find elusive nocturnal creatures along the way. It's dark by the time you reach camp, and the dinner table is set with gently flickering oil lamps, with the campfire burning brightly close by. The sounds of frogs and crickets is almost deafening, interrupted by the distant call of a hyena and the steady "brrrr" of a skops owl. Above you the night sky is dotted with a billion stars, twinkling like diamonds on a bed of black velvet. 

Dinner is an ensemble of three wonderful courses, yet again demonstrating the talents of Moss and her creative abilities in a bush kitchen that's regularly raided by honey badgers! Nightcaps under the stars around the fire are the perfect way to end the day's adventures before being escorted back to your tent, having a wonderful late-night shower and climbing between fragrant cotton sheets for the best sleep you've ever had.