Meno a Kwena Tented Camp

There are 6 twin safari tents at Meno a Kwena, and each one can accommodate up to 2 adults and 2 children with 2 queen-size beds. The rooms have stunning panoramic views of the Makgadikgadi Pans and Boteti River, and lead on to your private verandah where game viewing can be enjoyed. The twin tents feature en-suite facilities, including double basins and both an indoor and outdoor shower.

The King Size Tents are perfect for couples hoping to enjoy a relaxed stay at Meno a Kwena, surrounded by beautiful views and wildlife. The rooms are furnished with oversized double beds and colourful and classically styled fabrics. The windows that surround the tent give it a bright and open atmosphere, as well as providing you with panoramic views of the Makgadikgadi Pans and Boteti River.

Sit out on your private verandah with a refreshing beverage and watch herds of galloping zebra from the comfort of a deck chair. The tents also feature en-suite facilities, including double basins and both an indoor and outdoor shower.

Meno a Kwena has 2 Family Tents. One of which is able to cater for 5 guests, and the other which caters for 4. The larger family tent includes 2 bedrooms, one with a king-size bed and the other with 3 single beds. The smaller family tent features two bedrooms, one with a king-size bed and the other with 2 single beds.

The beds are all soft and comfortable, fitted with colourful sheets to brighten up the room. The tents are light, with lots of windows for game viewing around the clock. Guests will be able to retreat to their private verandah where the whole family can sit back and interact while watching elephants wander across the horizon. Each of the tents has an en-suite which consists of double basins, and indoor and outdoor showers.

The chefs at Meno a Kwena uses fresh ingredients to prepare exquisite meals which are then cooked over an open fire. Breakfast is a selection of cereals, freshly baked bread, yoghurts and juice. After guests have finished their morning activities, you will return to the camp for lunch.

Dinner is served in the evening and will consist of a three-course meal, ending your day under the stars with a delicious dessert and beverage. Guests can also indulge in afternoon tea and cake during the day, along with snacks and sundowner drinks. Meno a Kwena can cater for any dietary requirements and request that guests notify them in advance.

Meno a Kwena is visited by small families of Bushman from the Ju! Hoansi clan village of Xai Xai, which lies on the Botswana/Namibia border of the Kalahari Desert. These families share information about their heritage as one of the last great nomadic tribes with guests staying at the camp, and are able to impart their knowledge of hunting and gathering and surviving in the bush. Having coexisted with wildlife for millennia, the Bushman families will take guests on an insightful journey as you walk together through the wilderness.

View game from a unique perspective in the floating hide. Sneak right up to drinking game at the river’s edge and view the amazing wildlife that congregates by the Boteti River. This experience is perfect for photographers hoping to capture images of wildlife behaving undisturbed in their natural environment.

Venture out on a 2-hour cruise and drift along the tranquil waters of the Boteti River. Look out for the aquatic birds that nest along the riverbanks, and watch herds of elephants, zebra and wildebeest drinking from the river’s edge. Enjoy a peaceful and relaxing cruise, whilst surrounded by rich wildlife and observe the landscape from a different perspective. This activity is dependant on the height of the Boteti River and may be unavailable when the water level is low.

Guests staying at Meno a Kwena for a minimum of 3 nights are able to enjoy a night under the stars at the Pans Sleep-out. Guests will be taken to the edge of the salt pan, where you can enjoy a delicious picnic lunch before reaching the sleep-out site.

The drive takes between 3 and 4 hours and allows for amazing game viewing on the way. Following a campfire dinner, you will be able to sleep under a canopy of twinkling stars. Look out for constellations that can only be seen from the Southern Hemisphere, such as the Southern Cross, and immerse yourself in the nocturnal sounds of the Makgadikgadi Pans.

Set off on an exciting game drive and visit the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. Guests will be able to travel across the Boteti River and spend the day viewing the many fascinating species that live within the reserve. The journey to the park’s gates will take approximately 90 minutes, and guests can enjoy a scenic lunch and tea along the bank of the Boteti River amongst the elephants.

The camp’s experienced guides will teach you interesting facts about the game and predators who live in the park, as well as showing you the best places to view them from.

Meno a Kwena Tented Camp is a Natural Selection safari camp. Natural Selection supports the vision of the Botswana Community and Conservation Initiative (BCCI), which provides regional conservation and support for rural communities to develop sustainable land-use practices that promote conservation-based economic opportunities, facilitate landscape-scale wildlife movements, and provide for climate change resilience.

Natural Selection has also partnered with Coaching Conservation ‘to provide local people with the critical information they need to stay safe and healthy during the pandemic.’

‘Over the last three years, 1.5% of every guest’s stay in [Natural Selection’s] camps has gone towards community and conservation projects. Combined with the direct contributions that [Natural Selection’s] camps make to local community outreach, this amounts to nearly 1 million USD of committed funds.’

Natural Selections has been working with the local Khwai Village in order to identify needs within the community and create solutions.

Natural Selections have launched a number of projects to do this, such as the Feed A Child programme which provides schoolchildren with a healthy vitamin-rich meal at the start of the school day, setting up a pre-school in Khwai Village and providing an income for the teachers, supporting the village elders and disabled members of the community, and providing homes with electricity using solar power.

Natural Selections’ initiatives not only help the local communities but inspires the local villagers to see ecotourism in a positive light, helping to prevent human and animal conflict.

The increase in the number of elephants in the Okavango Delta in recent years is a cause for celebration. However, for villagers along the Delta’s panhandle and outskirts, the sudden boost in elephant numbers means that their land is more likely to be trampled and humans may be at risk of fatal encounters.

Natural Selection has recognised that transportation for local communities is a need, and they worked with EcoExist and the Okavango Community Trust to launch the ‘Elephant Express’ in January 2020. The ‘Elephant Express’ service transports children to schools safely, as well as helping patients get to clinics without the fear of crossing paths with a gigantic elephant.

Natural Selection ensures that 1.5% of your expedition fees goes to wildlife conservation. They also work with the local communities, governments and conservation organisations in order to help protect conservation areas, and sustain them. The camps that are built are subtle and blend in with the environment and the habitats that already exist there, causing minimal disruption to the surrounding wildlife.

Natural Selection started the Etosha Heights Rhino Protection program which is an anti-poaching group that monitor Rhinos, and ensure that poachers are unable to illegally hunt these endangered creatures.

‘We take rhino conservation extremely seriously, and the Etosha Heights team work tirelessly to safeguard the future of these bushveld unicorns and ensure that many more generations can enjoy watching them. Within the reserve, we have an anti-poaching camp and team that are dedicated to protecting the rhinos and preventing any illegal hunting from happening along the boundaries of the reserve’.

‘Our rangers are on the ground 24 hours a day and have completed an intensive training programme to ensure that they’re the best of the best. Combined with new state of the art anti-poaching surveillance technology, this team is a force to be reckoned with.’

The tents at Meno a Kwena are powered by solar energy, helping to reduce the camp’s carbon emissions. Natural Selections build camps that are designed to work around the environments and habitats that already exist there. They work to make camps that are not too obvious so that they can blend into their surroundings and disrupt the wildlife as little as possible.

‘Our newly built camps use local materials, recycled materials and renewable energy. As much as possible, we want each camp to support local environmentally-friendly enterprise, to blend into the environment and to carefully manage and minimize waste.’