Exploring The Magic Of Monachira
Long-time friend of Machaba and seasoned safari guide, Mike Myers, recently embarked on an exploratory trip to the site of our new Monachira Camp. Join us as we dive into his insights and reflections on this remarkable location.
As a young guide in the 80s, all our photographic safaris took place in the National Parks of Botswana. In the Okavango Delta, we could only operate in the Moremi Game Reserve where our camping safaris took place by mokoro on the floodplains to the west of Chiefs Island. We would travel by mokoro to find a small island, carrying a basic fly camp for our guests. Once set up, we would walk to locate the animals with the Bayei polers guiding us as they knew the area intimately.
We also used small mobile campsites at places like Third Bridge, Txanakaka and North Gate to do game drives. The combination of the two made for a wonderful week’s safari getting to know and understand the wonders of the Okavango Delta and its abundant natural beauty.
Between safaris, when I was in Maun, I got to talk with the hunters who told stories of the areas where they went. We could not go into these areas during the hunting season, but we were able to access them by doing a camping trip by boat and staying on the remote islands. This became called the Trans Okavango and would go either from Maun to Shakawe or from Txanakaka to Maun on the Monachira, Ngugha and Boro rivers.
“The whole point of a water-based camp is to slow the pace down and get into the rhythm of the Delta and this is what I believe will be the magic of Monachira Camp” - Mike Myers
This was my favourite way to spend time out in the Delta when we were not busy, as it was my first real chance to explore the remote rivers and channels I had heard so much about but never seen. It was during these trips that I got to know the Monachira Channel and last week I had the pleasure of revisiting it to see the start of building the new Monachira Camp for Machaba Safaris.
This new Camp is in the first stages of its build on an island right on the famous Monachira Channel and so I found myself in familiar territory flying over the landmarks and water-ways of my youth to reach the site. I spent four days camping at the site to have a good look at the area and to take some photographs as the build gets underway.
The actual site of the new Monachira Camp is on an island right next to the channel, a stone’s throw from the famous horseshoe-shaped lagoons of Xobega and Gcodikwe.
This is classic Okavango water camp country where boat and mokoro activities are available all year long and the habitat is beautiful. Water lilies and the various types of Delta vegetation, papyrus and miscanthus grass edge the channels. It is a short trip by boat to the big lagoons where the heronries are situated and an ideal place for a sunset drinks stop.
Game drives are also possible and there is much to see in the area. We heard a leopard close to camp one evening and a lion calling in the mornings when we were there. We had good sightings of zebra, wildebeest and red lechwe as the new water from the annual flood flowed onto the floodplains near the camp. Bird life was spectacular, and I heard Verreaux’s Eagle Owl calling in the early morning on the camp island, among the great sausage, Marula and Ebony trees.
The whole point of a water-based camp is to slow the pace down and get into the rhythm of the Delta and this is what I believe creates the magic of Monachira Camp. Just like back in the 80s, a mokoro is the perfect way to explore the floodplains and let the beauty of the Okavango Delta reveal itself. Add boating, photography, birdwatching, game drives, and a perfect location, and I believe the new Monachira camp will be the ideal place for a truly magical water experience.
