As the accolades have regularly come from far and wide over the years, with the market-leading Lonely Planet guide most oft trumpeting their cause, and Getaway Magazine readers recently voting Ngepi Camp into position No 1 in the campsite ratings, passionate yet astute owner Mark Adcock has always driven forward his burgeoning, near legendary business with a particular vision; “to share nature and develop in visitors an awareness of the environment and the desire to preserve it”.
Presently the accommodation offers 8 lovely campsites actually alongside the river with a further 3 set back into the bush; all of them with water, braii and power point facility together with copious, pleasant shade from the often relentless Namibian sun. Families can be accommodated in 2 bush huts, which each sleep four people and have en-suite facilities. There are still 4 areas, set apart from the above, for the larger overlander truck groups. And last, but certainly not least, are the 8 tree houses, each sleeping two, ingeniously built around the bases of large trees with magnificent crowns.
These too are en-suite and, like the bush huts and campsites, have wood fired donkeys, some even solar heaters, to provide hot water. Nowadays, though, Ngepi is attracting many more individual and indeed upmarket travellers, especially in the self drive segment and this has driven demand for the top end of the accommodation menu. Hence Mark’s decision to build, in the near future, a further three tree houses. Even then, a full house will doubtless often be the case.

The Okavango Delta region of Botswana has, of course, for years been one of southern Africa’s prime, must-visit tourist destinations. And yet the panhandle of that same Delta area of the Okavango River is very much in Namibia, a fact that does not escape the team at Ngepi, also so close to the game-rich Mahango National Park; thus they are currently strongly promoting this relatively unexploited aspect to their many visitors in anticipation of creating a real Namibian Delta hub for tourists. Local Hambukushu guides, Christoph and Kosmos, both born and bred in this area, will help guests to enjoy the wide range of activities offered at Ngepi – but particularly the Namibian Delta Experience; it combines unforgettable mokoro travel on the Okavango River with splendid game viewing in the Mahango Game Reserve and the soon to be proclaimed Bwabwata National Park. Birding, fishing, and local village visits are on the activities list too. Twenty one staff, nearly all drawn from local villages, are employed to look after guests. Hot meals can also be enjoyed in the lodge area. Moreover, there is a lovely cool shaded deck over the river and a remarkable floating, caged swimming pool in the water itself. But what draw the most praise and wonder from visitors are actually the ablution facilities – a range of most extraordinary and artistically designed baths, loos and showers, using only local available artefacts and supplies. Pride of place surely goes to the newly constructed ‘Toilet of Eden’, pictured here. The name Ngepi Camp means ‘how are you’ in the local Thimbukushu dialect; you’ll surely be just fine, or better, after a visit to Ngepi.