The largest island in this area, Impalila Island, is at the very tip of Namibia. It gained notoriety during the 1980s as a military base for the SADF (South African Defence Forces), as it was strategically positioned within sight of Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It still boasts a 1,300m-long runway of compressed gravel, but now its barracks are a secondary school, serving most of the older children in the area.

Charter flights into this landing strip are possible, though most visitors usually reach Impalila with a short boat transfer from Kasane.

There is a customs and immigration post on Impalila, which opens from 07.00 to 17.00. It's fairly laid back and informal as borders go, but remember that you'll have to clear customs and immigration for Botswana and Namibia when you arrive/leave at the start/end of your stay. Also note that neither of these can organise game drives in Chobe; they're limited to boat trips.

Impalila Island Lodge
(8 double chalets) PO Box 70378, Bryanston 2021, South Africa; tel: (27) 11 706 7207; fax: (27) 11 463 8251; email: info@impalila.co.za
Situated on the northwest side of Impalila Island, overlooking the Zambezi's Mambova Rapids, Impalila Island Lodge has in many ways brought the island to people's attention.

Accommodation is in one of eight wooden chalets, each with twin beds or a king-size double. It is fairly luxurious, and was built by Karen and Dusty Rodgers and opened in December 1994. Much is made of polished local mukwa wood, with its natural variegated yellow and brown colours. The raised-up chalets have a square design, enclosing a bathroom in one corner, giving blissfully warm showers from instant water heaters. Below the high thatch ceilings are fans for warmer days, and mosquito nets for most nights. Large adjacent double doors open one corner of the room on to a wide wooden veranda, overlooking the rapids. These doors have an optional mosquito-net screen for when it's hot, though are more usually glass. Being next to the river can be quite cold on winter mornings.

Activities at Impalila include guided motor boat trips on the Zambezi and Chobe: the Zambezi mainly for bird watching and fishing, while longer boat trips to Chobe offer remarkable game viewing on the edge of the national park there. Mokoro trips explore the shallower channels, and even run the gentle rapids, whilst guided and independent walks are possible on the island. Superb fishing (especially for tiger-fish, best caught on a fly-rod) is all around, and the guides are experienced enough to take beginners or experts out to try their luck.

Since the lodge was merely a project on the drawing board, the team at Impalila has worked in a very low-key, but positive way to involve the local community. Currently the lodge pays into a 'community development fund' that is utilised by the community for various projects – the clinic, the school, measures to encourage preservation of wildlife and to conserve the local environment – and administered by Dusty and the local chief. Now there are long-term plans to start a wildlife conservancy including Impalila Island, but these could take years to realise. However, because of their excellent approach, don't miss the visits that the lodge organises to local villages, as they can be very rewarding.

Note that Impalila has a super sister-lodge in Namibia's Caprivi Strip (on an island in the Kwando River, just northeast from the Kwando concession in Botswana). It's also a first-rate spot with an even more progressive programme of community involvement.
The main part of the lodge is a large thatched bar/dining area and comfortable lounge built around a huge baobab. This is open to the breeze, though can be sheltered when cold. The wooden pool deck has reclining loungers, umbrellas, and a great view of the river. Impalila's food is excellent and candle-lit three- or four-course meals around the baobab make a memorable scene. It is a stylish, well-run lodge ideal for fishing, birding, or just relaxing, with the added bonus of game viewing from the river in Chobe.


Ichingo Chobe River Lodge
(7 twin-bed tents) PO Box 55, Kasane, Botswana; tel/fax: (267) 6250143 (on island); fax: (267) 6250223 (in Kasane town); email: ichingo@iafrica.com
First set up in 1993, Ichingo was the idea of Dawn and Ralph Oxenham. Ralph was originally working in Livingstone, when they both embarked upon their own canoe trip from Katima Mulilo to Livingstone for one holiday. Dawn overturned her canoe in the Muwomba rapids and, exhausted and frustrated, ended up staying on the island where she had scrambled ashore. That was Impalila Island, and the inspiration for starting a lodge here.

Initially managers ran Ichingo, but in 1996 Dawn and Ralph decided to refurbish and run it themselves. It stands on the south side of Impalila, just east of the Cresta Mowana and a few kilometres from Kasane. It overlooks the quiet backwaters of some of the Chobe River's rapids, and there is no noise from the mainland.

Ichingo's accommodation is walk-in Meru tents, which are more rustic than Impalila's chalets. The shower/basin/toilet are en suite, at the back under thatch, and there's a balcony at the front, overlooking the river through thick vegetation.

Activities include game viewing, birdwatching and fishing from motor-boat trips, mokoro excursions, fly-fishing in rapids, and walks around the island and along nearby floodplains. Unusually for a bush lodge, the camp actively welcomes children, even when not accompanied by adults, as craft activities can usually be organised for them.

Ichingo's large thatched bar and dining areas overlook rapids on Chobe River, and this relaxed, rustic camp makes a super base for river trips and game viewing from boats along the Chobe River.