ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
6-Day Jao & Tubu Tree Safari

Botswana - Fly-in safari

6-Day Jao & Tubu Tree Safari

Duration
6 days
Countries
Botswana
Suited to
2-8 guests
Pricing
From USD 15,280

The journey

Updated on 23 August 2026

The Jao concession is the Okavango at its most photogenic, a 60,000-hectare sweep of floodplain, palm island and channel in the delta's watery west, shared by a handful of Wilderness camps and no one else. This safari stays inside it and simply changes altitude, from water to land. Jao Camp is the concession's flagship, rebuilt in 2019 into something between a lodge and a piece of sculpture: five suites and two villas under a canopy of wild figs, with a spa, a gallery and water on every side. Activities lean wet, mokoro and boating through the channels, with game drives on the islands. Tubu Tree, twenty minutes away on Hunda Island, is the dry pole: the largest piece of solid ground in the area, with tree-lined floodplains that hold the concession's densest game, and a deserved reputation as one of the delta's best leopard camps. Two nights at Jao, three at Tubu Tree, one shared airstrip. June to September brings the flood's peak; the drier months tilt the balance toward the leopards.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

Into the Jao Flats

From Maun the Cessna heads 25 minutes west into the flood, landing on the concession's island airstrip. Jao Camp rises out of the fig canopy like something grown rather than built. The afternoon eases you in on the water: a boat through the channels while lechwe splash across the shallows in front of the bow.

Stay 2

Water at Walking Pace

The full Jao day is water-shaped: a mokoro morning along the papyrus margins, painted reed frogs at eye level and a poler reading the channels from memory, then lunch on the deck and an hour at the spa or the gallery if the heat argues for it. The evening boat finds a sandbank for sundowners as the flats go silver.

Stay 3

Across to Hunda Island

The transfer to Tubu Tree runs by boat through the concession's channels, doubling as a game-viewing cruise, about an hour with stops. Tubu's tents stand on raised decks in the trees at the island's edge. The ground changes under you: the afternoon is a proper game drive, and the guides start talking about leopard immediately.

Stay 4

Leopard Ground

Hunda Island's floodplains and jackalberry lines are worked methodically: the morning follows fresh tracks from the night, and the odds of standing under a hoisted kill by breakfast time are as good as the delta offers. The afternoon drive stays out into the dark, spotlight catching genet, porcupine and the cats beginning their shift.

Stay 5

Island in Full

A last full day to use both of Tubu's registers: a drive to the island's far floodplains where lion and wild dog cross from neighbouring ground, or a return to the water with a mokoro from the camp's channel when levels allow. The final dinner is under the big trees, with the concession's frogs providing the orchestra.

Stay 6

Hunda to Johannesburg

Coffee at first light and a short drive to the airstrip for the 25 minute hop to Maun, connecting to the early-afternoon Johannesburg flight and evening international departures. Five nights inside a single concession, and the sense of having seen the delta from both of its elements rather than past them.

Safari highlights

  • Two nights at Jao Camp, the delta's most sculptural build
  • Three nights at Tubu Tree on Hunda Island
  • One of the delta's best leopard territories
  • Mokoro and boating through the Jao channels
  • A 60,000-hectare concession shared by a handful of camps
  • Spa and gallery at Jao between activities

What is included

Included

  • 5 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • Return regional flights Johannesburg-Maun in economy class
  • Light-aircraft sectors Maun-Jao and Jao-Maun, with airstrip taxes
  • Boat transfer between Jao Camp and Tubu Tree within the concession
  • All meals, house wines, local spirits, beers and soft drinks
  • Twice-daily game drives, mokoro and boating where water levels allow
  • Private concession fees, government levies and VAT
  • Botswana Tourism Development Levy of USD 30 per person
  • Laundry and emergency medical evacuation cover

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa
  • Visas and entry permits
  • Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
  • Premium spirits, champagne and imported wines
  • Gratuities for guides, polers and camp staff
  • Items of a personal nature, curios and telephone calls

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 6-day Jao concession safari cost?

From USD 15,280 per person sharing, rising to about USD 19,980 in peak season. That covers five nights at Jao Camp and Tubu Tree, all meals and house drinks, concession fees, water and land activities, the boat transfer between camps, both light-aircraft sectors and the return Johannesburg-Maun flights. International flights to Africa are excluded and quoted separately.

Why stay at two camps in the same concession?

Because the concession has two personalities and each camp owns one. Jao sits in the deep flood, where the day moves by mokoro and boat and the scenery is the point. Hunda Island is the area's big dry landmass, where Tubu Tree's drives produce leopard with a reliability few delta camps match. Together they cover the water-and-land whole; separately each is half a story.

When is the flood at its best in the Jao area?

June to September. The Okavango's flood arrives from Angola months after the local rains, peaking through the Jao flats in mid-winter: full channels, mirror floodplains and mokoro straight from the rooms. October to December is the low-water window, when the islands grow and game drives range widest. Leopard viewing at Tubu holds up year-round.

How good is the leopard viewing at Tubu Tree really?

Hunda Island's mix of big trees and open floodplain suits leopard perfectly, and the camp's guides follow a set of habituated individuals whose territories overlap the drive network. Sightings are regular enough that many guests see leopard on consecutive days, often hoisted in a jackalberry with a lechwe kill. No camp can promise a cat, but few stack the odds this well.

Are international flights included?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded and booked separately, normally via Johannesburg. This price includes the return Johannesburg-Maun regional flights of about 1 hour 40 minutes each way and the light-aircraft sectors to and from the concession's airstrip, where the 20 kg soft-bag luggage rule applies.

Is the Okavango Delta a malaria area?

Yes, including the Jao concession, with the highest risk from November to April. Prophylaxis is recommended in every month; arrange it with a travel clinic about six weeks before departure. Both camps have screened rooms and provide repellent. A yellow fever certificate is required only if you arrive from a country with transmission risk.