munga.travel
A Swiss-founded collection of camps and small-group journeys in Botswana and Zimbabwe, born at the Munga Plains camp. A different kind of safari.
Where Munga began
2021. Seven days of mobile safari without signal, then the bush plane on a gravel airstrip in the middle of nowhere. The guide asked the pilot: “What is the news of the world?” A global crisis, another pandemic: anything could have happened, and no one would have known. What mattered was around us: the beauty of untamed nature, wild animals close by. We became kids again; we relearned how to be bored. Munga was born right there, and every journey tries to find its way back.
Three guiding threads
Wildlife
The Chobe holds Africa’s largest elephant population, along with lions, leopards and buffalo; in the Matobo, rhinos complete the Big Five. We watch at the animals’ pace: engines off, at a respectful distance, for as long as it takes. The days follow the light, not a checklist.
450+ bird species · drives at dawn and dusk
Wellness
Munga Plains was built as a retreat centre first, and every journey keeps that spirit. A safari is not a full day in a 4×4: the days leave room to stretch, walk, or sit facing the plain and let what you have just seen settle.
Healthy cooking · time for what is around us
Wisdom
The culture here is alive: the names of the places, the songs, the painted shelters of the San. Every journey sets time aside for the encounter — workshops with artisans, village visits, conversations with crews hired from the neighbouring communities. Understanding who lives here, and since when, is part of the journey.
San rock art · neighbouring communities · workshops with local artisans
Our destinations
The parks
Botswana’s first national park, built around a river that gathers Africa’s largest elephant population in the dry season. Lions, buffalo and hippos share the riverfront. Our mobile safaris reach further, to Savuti in the south of the park and the Moremi reserve on the edge of the Okavango.
A maze of granite kopjes balanced on each other for two billion years. It is the sanctuary of the white rhino — approached on foot with the rangers — and holds one of the highest leopard densities in Africa.
“The smoke that thunders”: the Zambezi drops in one motion into a basalt gorge, and the spray sustains a rainforest along the rim. From March to June, high water brings the falls to full power.
Signature journey 2027
Nine days, Matobo, Victoria Falls and the Chobe. Groups of 4 to 8, French-speaking host, flights from Geneva included.
Matobo3 nights
rhinos on foot, San rock art
Victoria Falls2 nights
Mosi-oa-Tunya, natural wonder
Chobe River3 nights
elephants, safaris by boat and by land
Our story
In 2021 Thierry was a sales director in Swiss tech, with a lake-view apartment and the feeling of living someone else’s life. One mobile safari in Botswana moved everything: he bought land on the floodplain, nearly lost it all, and built Munga Plains with a team from the neighbouring villages. The rest fills a book.
The unfiltered story of building Munga.
About the book →
In the field
Botswana and Zimbabwe, 2024–2026, by our crews and travellers.
