This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more

Skip to main content

Talk to an expert 1-800-242-2434 Lines now closed

User menu
Machaba Camp
Machaba Camp
Machaba Camp
Machaba Camp
Machaba Camp
Machaba Camp
Machaba Camp
Machaba Camp

Reviews of Machaba Camp

Wildlife sightings and reviews

36 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Machaba 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 Jun-2018, 18 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Machaba Camp.
Lion

83% success

Leopard

94% success

Cheetah

6% success

Wild dog

78% success

Elephant

100% success

Giraffe

100% success

Hippo

100% success

Zebra

94% success

Spotted Hyena

94% success

Wildebeest

72% success

Buffalo

71% success

Sable antelope

23% success

Aardvark

7% success

Roan antelope

7% success

Pangolin

0% success

Sitatunga

0% success

Showing 31-36 of 36
Duration
Arrival date
Mrs C
Tring

"Wow. Wonderful"

3 nights Arrived 19 Mar 2016
"What a camp. Management and staff amazing.

Food good. They organized a dinner out in the open.

Excellent safaries. We saw a leopard every day and even tracked one. They got us home late if we were tracking an animal.

Good accomodation but needed a mostiquo net, as I got bitten quite badly and holes in tent where zip broken that let in animals and water.

Bed amazing, big and comfortable" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Prof E
Grahamstown

"Loved Machaba"

3 nights Arrived 19 Mar 2016
"Our family loved Machaba Camp!

As a family of five, our choices were limited, but we couldn't have been happier with Machaba. We had the elegance of 'glamping' but the convenience of family in the family tent. It was superbly designed and provided enough space and privacy for us all. The meals were superb and we felt very taken care of as vegetarians.

My children loved our guide (we all did) and we had the best luck with animals (leopard kill, hyenas, etc). The best part was the service of the staff, who were - to a one - excellent." See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Uli
Germany

"Wild dogs & leopards every day !!!"

3 nights Arrived 18 Sep 2015
"The camp is beautiful located at the river - all tents have river view and we saw elephants along (and in) that river passing the camp every day.

The management around Elcke makes an excellent job like all members of the staff we've met.: We always had the feeling of being part of a big family. The tents are spacious and clean and have all you need incl. power 24/7 for charging batteries. There is a nice plunge pool perfect for cooling down during the siesta (temperature in late September at noon were about 35-40°C !!!) and watching the passing elephants. The food was good and varied.

The game drives were amazing: We saw wild dogs and leopards every day and sometimes several times at different places. One morning we saw the wild dog pack of 7 strong adults at a kill (we must have missed that only a few minutes ago) and a hyena and a leopard close-by looking for leftovers. The Khwai area is a concession and so it's allowed to drive off-road - a real big advantage to the National Parks like Moremi and Chobe !!!. So we were able to follow the dogs and also one leopard when hunting and many sightings would have been impossible without leaving the roads. We didn't see lions but that is the reason why this area is well known for good sightings of dogs and leopards!

After saying all this it's needless to mention that our guide Moreri was a very good one. With him we did not only have spectacular sightings and action - he also showed us patience when one evening (the sun was already going down, lights getting low) staying more than one hour in the middle of nothing in front of a hyena den. But then we had one of the most touching moments of this trip: a only few weeks old hyena cub appeared and started to weep, cry and shout for its mother - incredibly noisy and bloodcurdling in the (apart of this) total silence of the upcoming night. And then we became witnesses of the meeting of mother and cub with playing, suckling ...." See all these reviews: 15n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mrs P
Alderley Edge

"A very special place full of surprises"

2 nights Arrived 21 Aug 2015
"We have wonderful memories from this camp. The staff worked harder than anywhere else we visited to make every guest's experience special. The bush dinner was spectacular and Shaun's method of under-chair heating a triumph!

Meals were varied and very well cooked: vegetables not overcooked, meat perfectly judged. The room was spacious, the bed super comfy.
There were several children in the camp and they seemed to be having a wonderful time despite the lack of technology!

Our guide was skilled at manoeuvring in to good positions for close views of the wildlife. The presence of so many other vehicles does detract a little from the experience but is not within the camp's control At times we felt our guide stayed too long at a sighting. Even our fellow guests who were avid photographers had had enough on one occasion and told the guide we were ready to move on. His reply that he was"doing something" i.e. adjusting his camera, did not endear him to us!

Thoroughly enjoyed the mokoro trip.

The manager, Elcke, is a superb hostess. She went to considerable lengths to arrange a trauma nurse to fly in to check the injury I received in an accident at the previous camp at a time which didn't interfere with my day's activities. Her energy seemed boundless and I was in awe of her ability to look after all the guests and staff. Machaba does indeed seem like a family!" See all these reviews: 15n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr D
Hanger Hill

"Very Stylish... Slightly less substance..."

3 nights Arrived 2 Jun 2015
"This was our third and final camp on our safari and in many ways wish we'd stayed here first on the basis that this camp is possibly more suited to an overnight respite from travelling rather than a safari location in its own right.

To start with the positives, the decor and facilities here are very good - everything is tastefully decorated and very much has a luxury feel. The tents felt very secure, even though we were very remote, and the location itself was fantastic with numerous animals passing through, making for excellent viewing. The food here was possibly the best we had in any of the places we stayed on the trip.

Unfortunately the quality of the game drives and activities here did not meet expectations for a number of reasons. Foremost, the format here provides one guide per vehicle only - there were no trackers to assist the location of wildlife and this put sole responsibility on the driver. In itself this lends towards being problematic, however, in this instance we don't believe our guide was able or willing to locate animals through tracking himself and relied solely on the radio contact with other safari vehicles. This meant that we spent the majority of our drives driving on the parks roads waiting to see what our 'luck' brought.

One example in particular, one morning we found fresh cheetah tracks and attempted to track the animal; however after a short time our guide announced that the cheetah had disappeared. The other guests in the car with us were safari professionals on holiday, and insisted that the tracks were fresh. Based on their knowledge we should have been able to find this and were disappointed when we ultimately drove on.

Aside from this, we felt this camp places more emphasis on appearing high-end than delivering real value. Whilst out on a drive one morning, we chanced upon a leopard stalking a herd of red lechwe and were happy to sit and watch to see the outcome of the hunt. Unfortunately the stakeout was peppered with requests from camp to return back as some newer guests needed picking up from the airstrip and all other vehicles were committed to a picnic elsewhere. In fairness to the guide, he fought our case for us after we insisted that we wanted to stay - however the repeated interruption was distracting both to us and the animal and a source of frustration.

A final example was on our third day when we opted to stay in camp and not do a game drive. We had been told by one of the staff that there were 5 male lions in the camp, but if we stayed in the bar area with the senior staff we'd be perfectly safe. However, after about an hour we noticed that the bar area had emptied and that we were completely on our own. We began walking back to or tent and passed the staff quarters where we were met by one of the back-of-house who appeared shocked that we were on own when 5 lions were in the camp. The staff really looked after us and made sure that we were safe here, but the senior team were no where to be seen. As it turns out, they had gone on their own safari in our 'spare' vehicle.

We wouldn't normally write a long review and want to make it clear that not all aspects of Macahba were negative. We did manage to see some great game just sitting by the bar area and the facilities were lovely as were the staff. All in all the stay here was adequate we enjoyed our time, however we wouldn't stay here again in the future." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location:
Average
Service:
Average
Activities:
Poor
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Ms R
Rotherhithe

"Fantastic safari at Machaba Camp"

3 nights Arrived 23 May 2015
"Fantastic experience, getting the balance between informal and luxury just right. It's luxurious and sustainable at the same time. We had possibly the best stay anywhere here... food was fantastic, although not somewhere you want to go for dieting! Set on the bank of the Kwai river, you're able to eat your food while Elephants stroll past and Hippos grunt at you. Truly memorable.

The safari experience was out of this world. Small groups, excellent guides who get to know what you're after quickly too. So with three nights and 2 Cheetahs, 4 Leopards, 7 Lions plus a pack of Wild Dogs it was truly exceptional. Easily the best safari experience of our trip - we were lucky with the Cheetahs though as some guides who'd been there over two year hadn't seen them before. Fantastic for photography too!" See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Showing 31-36 of 36
92%
36 reviews of Machaba Camp by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
27
6
2
0
1
Filter by month

Holiday styles & special interests in Botswana

From birdwatching breaks to walking holidays, find great ideas for your trip in Botswana.


Birdwatching

Birdwatching

Diverse habitats, discreet hides and superb guiding.

Cultural experiences

Cultural experiences

Get an insight into Africa's cultures and history.

Family holidays

Family holidays

Hand-picked camps for an incredible family safari.

Honeymoons

Honeymoons

Romantic safaris and castaway island retreats.

Luxury

Luxury

First-class service, scenic vistas and unparalleled comfort await you during these carefully selected luxury holidays. 

Photography holidays

Photography holidays

Great holidays to suit the keen photographer.

Private villas & houses

Private villas & houses

Enjoy Africa with just your friends & family

Riding holidays

Riding holidays

Explore Africa's wilderness on horseback.

Solo Travel

Solo Travel

Trip ideas ideally suited for a solo traveller.

Walking

Walking

Explore Africa's most scenic trails on foot.

Walking safaris

Walking safaris

Explore Africa's untouched wildernesses on foot.

Wellbeing

Wellbeing

Wellness escapes in stunning locations

Wildlife safaris

Wildlife safaris

These trips include hard-hitting game and fascinatingly elusive species alike, as well as superb guiding and a variety of diverse ecosystems.

Other lodges in Moremi Game Reserve

Alternative places to stay in this same area.


Botswana Private Mobile Safari

Private Mobile

The Botswana Private Mobile Safari has no fixed location; it's exclusive to your group and comes with a top professional guide. Expect comfortable camping, great food, and a superb wildlife experience wherever you decide to go.


100% (69 reviews)
Xigera Safari Lodge

Xigera Safari Lodge

Located deep in Botswana's Okavango Delta, Xigera Camp normally focuses on mokoro excursions and motorboat trips, with 4WD game drives when water levels permit.


98% (36 reviews)
Xakanaxa

Xakanaxa

Xakanaxa Camp is a well-established traditional camp beside a huge lagoon within the Moremi Game Reserve, with access to some superb game viewing.


90% (32 reviews)
Khwai Lediba

Khwai Lediba

Khwai Lediba offers a traditional African safari experience, with very comfortable tented accommodation, in a fantastic game area north of the Moremi Game Reserve.


95% (33 reviews)
Sable Alley

Sable Alley

Smart, independent and well-run, Sable Alley overlooks a beautiful, hippo-filled lagoon within the diverse Khwai Private Reserve.


94% (30 reviews)
Okuti

Okuti

With an innovative design and good service, Okuti Camp offers game drives and boat trips in a beautiful, game-rich part of Moremi Game Reserve.


95% (22 reviews)
Mombo Camp

Mombo Camp

Mombo is one of Botswana's most exclusive safari camps, set in a beautiful, remote location within the Moremi Game Reserve and with exceptional game densities.


100% (12 reviews)
Little Machaba

Little Machaba

Overlooking the Khwai River and Moremi Game Reserve beyond, Little Machaba is a classically designed camp with very comfortable tents in a great game-viewing area.


87% (9 reviews)
Chief's Camp

Chief's Camp

Chief's Camp is situated on Chief's Island, within the Okavango Delta's Moremi Game Reserve. Experience one of Botswana's top game-viewing areas by 4WD and mokoro.


93% (8 reviews)
Hyena Pan

Hyena Pan

Fairly rustic, and relatively inexpensive, Hyena Pan overlooks a natural waterhole that attracts an almost constant parade of animals.


91% (7 reviews)
Skybeds

Skybeds

Situated in a private reserve close to Moremi Game Reserve, Skybeds offers a simple yet wonderful opportunity to sleep under the stars and watch wildlife from your bed.


86% (7 reviews)
Camp Moremi

Camp Moremi

In one of the best locations for game viewing in Botswana, Camp Moremi sits at the tip of the Mopane Tongue, overlooking Xakanaxa Lagoon.


97% (6 reviews)
Little Mombo

Little Mombo

One of Botswana's top safari camps, Little Mombo stands on the north side of Chief's Island, in the heart of the Okavango Delta's Moremi Game Reserve.


97% (6 reviews)
Little Sable

Little Sable

Little Sable camp is located in the Khwai Private Reserve – which borders the Moremi Game Reserve and Chobe


95% (4 reviews)
Tuludi

Tuludi

Tuludi is a brand new luxury camp, within the Khwai Private Reserve, built on a site under giant leadwood trees and overlooking the Okavango Delta floodplains.


100% (3 reviews)
Sango Safari Camp

Sango Safari Camp

Sango offers comfortable tented accommodation, without some of the frills often found in Botswana's camps, with an area that's scenic and gets excellent, consistent game sightings.


100% (1 review)
Mokete

Mokete Camp

New for July 2023, Mokete has 9 luxurious tents, raised on platforms above the surrounding bush and offers an experience of the Kalahari Wilderness.


80% (1 review)
Khwai River Lodge

Khwai River Lodge

Khwai River Lodge is a luxurious and well-equipped safari camp, on the northern edge of Moremi Game Reserve. This area isn't exclusive, but it is beautiful and has excellent game.


No reviews yet
Khwai Leadwood

Khwai Leadwood

Khwai Leadwood is a luxurious lodge located in the heart of the Khwai Community Concession, offering guests exceptional service, stunning scenery, and unforgettable wildlife experiences.


No reviews yet
Monachira

Monachira

A new lodge in Moremi Game Reserve, with a focus on water-based activities, the family-friendly Monachira will be opening in May 2025.


No reviews yet
Tawana

Tawana

An exclusive new lodge on the banks of the Gomoti River, Tawana has just eight very spacious suites.


No reviews yet

Login to Expert Africa

Sign in with password

Sign in with email link


New to Expert Africa? Create an account

Forgotten your details?

It's free & quick to set up

  • Save your wish-list
  • Send us an enquiry
  • Pay online for your trip
  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Give us feedback on your trip
  • Full site benefits of the site

Need some help? Talk to our team

Newsletter background

Stay in the know with Expert Africa

Join our newsletter. Get the latest on new camps and lodges, insights from our team, uplifting conservation stories and more...

A few more details and you're subscribed

Thanks!

Almost there! We've sent you an email to confirm your subscription. Just click on the link and you'll soon be receiving our newsletter in your inbox.

In the meantime, take a look at our previous Bush Telegraph newsletters.
Africa