Kanana Nyana Opens in the Okavango Delta

Ker & Downey Botswana opened Kanana Nyana on 15 October 2026. It is a new camp on the company’s private concession in the Kanana area of the Okavango Delta, on the border of Moremi Game Reserve. Nyana is Setswana for “small”, and the name is meant literally: four suites, and never more than eight guests.

Ker & Downey has run safaris in Botswana for more than fifty years and already operates Kanana Camp in the same area. Kanana Nyana is the smaller, newer neighbour, built for people who want the Delta with as few other people in it as possible.

Where it is

The camp sits on raised ground above the Xudum River and its floodplains, in the south-west of the Delta. The concession around it is a mix of permanent channels, old forest and open floodplain.

The Xudum is a permanent channel, and the Kanana area around it is a string of islands with palms, figs, ebony and knobthorn trees. What you do here shifts with the rising and falling flood: more water means more time on the channels by boat and mokoro.

Because this is a private concession and not national park, the rules are more relaxed than inside Moremi. Guides can run night drives, and you can walk, go out by mokoro (a traditional dugout canoe, poled by a guide through the shallow channels) or take a motorboat. Fishing is possible for much of the year, depending on the season and water levels.

The wildlife experience

Lion, leopard and African wild dog are the predators the area is known for.

Birders get something extra. The concession has private access to one of the largest heronries in the Okavango, and in southern Africa as a whole. The colony is seasonal. Migratory waterbirds arrive to nest from about July, among them marabou, yellow-billed and openbill storks, and boat trips to see it depend on water levels. Pel’s fishing owl, a large, shy owl that hunts fish at night along wooded channels, is among the regular sightings.

Four suites, four trees

Each of the four thatched suites is named after one of the Delta’s trees: Marula, Sausage, Ebony and Mokolwane Palm. Weathered timber arches frame each entrance. The interiors borrow their colours from the landscape outside, sage green, pale yellow and dusty pink, with natural fabrics and handmade finishes. Every suite has its own plunge pool on the deck and a view out over the water.

Ker & Downey describe the design as restrained: materials and spaces that fit the Delta rather than compete with it. The main area has a bar, a lounge and a dining room that open to the outside. There is also a small gym, an ice bath, wellness treatments in your suite and Wi-Fi throughout the camp.

The tree theme carries into the main area too, where a wall of botanical drawings helps guests put names to what they see on drives and walks.

How the days run

The camp has two safari vehicles, and each one takes no more than four guests. The idea is that guiding stays unhurried and personal, and that the guide can shape each outing around the people in the vehicle.

Days mix game drives and spotlit night drives with guided walks, mokoro trips through the channels and boat outings, plus fishing in season. The camp has also introduced a new sleep-out experience, a night spent out in the bush away from the main camp.

“Kanana Nyana reflects the way we believe safaris should be experienced: intimate, authentic and deeply connected to place. The camp has been designed to enhance the wilderness rather than compete with it.”

Kim Nixon, Chief Operating Officer, Chobe Holdings Limited

Chobe Holdings is the parent company of Ker & Downey Botswana. It is 100% Botswana-owned and based in Maun.

Getting there

Kanana Nyana is a fly-in camp. Guests take a light aircraft from Maun, a flight of about 20 minutes, to the airstrip on the concession, followed by a short wildlife-drive transfer to camp. If you would like to see the Delta from above, our piece on a helicopter flight over the Okavango Delta weighs up whether it is worth it.

Heading on to Chobe? Our Chobe National Park guide covers the next stage, and Mababe River Lodge is an overnight stop on the road from Maun to Savuti and Kasane.

What it costs

Rates run from USD 1,200 to USD 2,480 per person per night (roughly EUR 1,040 to 2,150), depending on the season, and are all-inclusive. The camp is open all year. Ker & Downey publishes current rates and a fact sheet on its Kanana Nyana page.

Related reading: Kanana Nyana is listed with the other camps in our Okavango Delta Where to Stay guide. For the protected area next door, see our Moremi Game Reserve guide.