Makgadikgadi Pans National Park - Botswana

Meno A Kwena Tented Camp

Camp Kalahari 

Jack's Camp 

Moremi Crossing, Okavango Delta

Moremi Crossing is a 16 tent camp built on a palm fringed island surrounded by the Moremi’s game-rich seasonal floodplains and overlooking Chief’s Island. Moremi Crossing is a new style safari camp combining luxury with simplicity. This is a 100% eco-friendly development featuring the latest in solar and waste disposal technology.

The Okavango Delta
The Okavango is an immense river that never meets the sea. Instead, its crystal clear waters spread across the Kalahari Desert, forming Africa’s largest wetland wonder. The Delta is an abundant oasis amid the vast plains and pans of the desert that covers most of Southern Africa. Its waterways are a mesh of meandering and intercepting channels, creating a haven for Africa’s most celebrated wildlife.

Botswana: New look for Botswana hotel

The Masa Square Hotel in Gaborone, Botswana, has reopened following extensive renovations as well as a rebrand. The hotel was officially launched by Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama last week.

Formerly the Lansmore Masa Square hotel, the property has opened under new ownership and management. 

The marketing and management contract was awarded to aha last year.Developments at the hotel include a fully renovated foyer and reception, the introduction of Don Carlos restaurant, and Carlitos café, both of which boast new menu options. The hotel’s terrace area has also been fully renovated – offering a café-style wooden deck and covered seating spilling out on to the Masa piazza.




Aha has also launched 30 new Masa Suites, which are fully furnished modern short-stay suites designed for comfort and convenience for business or leisure travellers opting for a self-catering-style executive stay.

Masa Square Hotel GM, Greg Soutter, commented: “We’re incredibly excited by the big changes one now finds at Masa Square Hotel, coupled with the reputed charm and excellence that guests and patrons have always come to know from Masa. There’s truly a well-diversified offering for everyone, and this is simply yet another step on our journey towards being a hospitality brand that rivals all others.”

“Of the many incredible addresses under our careful and respectful management, Masa is standout destination. Not only for its bespoke offering but its enviable location too,” said Neil Bald, MD of aha Hotels & Lodges.

The property is in the heart of Gaborone’s New CBD and offers 152 luxury rooms spread over seven floors, a restaurant and café, rooftop infinity swimming pool and event space, including conference facilities accommodating up to 200 people. Aha also manages Chobe Marina Lodge. 

The first rule in tracking lions: NO running!!

Walking safaris in Botswana bring travellers out of the jeep – and their comfort zone – and onto the dry, African soil to hunt for one of the greatest predators in the animal kingdom.

 Taking a simple walk had never seemed so dangerous. Gathered around a camp table set up with maps, field guides – and gin and tonics – we plotted our stroll into the late afternoon heat. Normally jovial, our guide Paul Ditiro looked around the group, fixing us with a serious look. “The first rule is no running – at all,” he said, his usual glimmer of mirth buried in the gravity of the moment. “And we will walk in a single file line, with me at the head. We have four of the big five out there – and you can easily stumble into them. This is the best way to truly encounter nature. You can smell and touch and taste and feel it. It’s a truly unique thrill.”

I was at Footsteps Across the Delta, a small, remote camp deep in the heart of Botswana’s famed Okavango Delta. As its name suggests, Footsteps focuses exclusively on “walking safaris”, small hikes that bring people out from the jeep – and their comfort zone – and onto the dry, African soil. Here, I would take two daily hikes, always accompanied by an armed guide. The Okavango surrounds travellers with a plethora of bird and animal life, but I was here seeking just one thing: big cats.

 

Our group was an unlikely band of adventurers – a middle-aged doctor-lawyer couple from Scotland, an elderly but able Spanish couple from Barcelona, and me: a tenacious – but slightly terrified – travel writer. As we ambled out of camp, headed for a small pond known as Paul’s Pan (so-named by our leader, after himself), poufs of dust billowed out from under our boots. The Okavango is part of the Kalahari Desert, and nothing but a thin layer of scorched grass and 300m of sand lay under our feet. Botswana is a perennially thirsty country, a place that’s 70% desert, where a drop doesn’t reach the ground for 10 months of the year. Perhaps to appease the gods of precipitation, the country has named both its currency and its national road system pula – in English, rain.

But being here just a few weeks before the start of the annual December rains gave us a strategic advantage in our search for felines. During the dry season, animals don’t have the luxury of shady, green hiding places. They’re flushed out onto the barren, brown savannah, and forced to gather at the few sources of water not yet sapped by the relentless and unforgiving sun.

Indeed, not 10 minutes into our first walk, we came across some wildlife – two giraffes, which we caught in the middle of a rather private moment. The jokes flowed naturally. “Ah, look at those two necking,” one of the Scots said. “She only wanted a back rub,” chipped in one of the Spaniards. Ditiro used this as a teachable moment. As the giraffes decided to make trails away from us – looking none too happy – Ditiro explained the humans have binocular vision, something that we share with all other predators. When prey animals (zebras, antelopes, giraffes) see eyes on the front of the head, they instinctually know that the animal (lion, leopard, or human) is a threat.

Ditiro then switched gears, kneeling down over a big, dry pile of scat. “You see, even elephant dung is fascinating,” he said, picking through it with a stick. He proceeded to open it up, showing us what the animal had eaten, and explaining how, in years past – and sometimes, even now – the stuff was used in the day-to-day lives of locals. “This dung can have medicinal qualities, and when you burn it, it keeps away mosquitoes,” he explained.

We proceed farther out from camp, skirting both Paul’s Pan and another small pond, the latter inhabited by a single, ornery hippo who snorted his displeasure as we passed. “He is showing us how tough he us,” Ditiro explained with a smile. As we walked, Ditiro shared stories from more than a decade of guiding at Footsteps – from the time their resident hyena, nicknamed Fat Albert, snuck in and sunk his teeth into a fire extinguisher, causing it to explode (he was fine, and back in camp scavenging again a few nights later) – to the night a leopard brought her kill into camp and ate it in a tree, right over top the campfire (fortunately, everyone was safely ensconced in their tents).

 

But the friendly banter stopped when Ditiro spotted something unusual: a couple of vultures in a nearby tree. Motioning to them, he said, “when you get 10 or 15 of those, then you know you have barbecue down below.” But as we walked toward them, more and more vultures gathered, landing on the leafless tree and swooping overhead. “We have a curious situation,” Ditiro said, suddenly serious. “Stay close, and single file everyone – no gaps.”

We passed the vulture tree – all of us keenly aware of the danger that may be all around us – and emerged into a large, open area that would be a meadow after the annual rains.

Disappointingly, there was nothing. No big cats or other predators in sight.

We ventured out on the plains and pans several more times over the next few days, but the encounter with the vultures was the closest we would come to seeing any big-time hunters at Footsteps. While lions and leopards are commonplace in the Okavango, sightings are never guaranteed, and these creatures can be fickle – staying and sleeping in one area for days, then stalking dozens of miles away, at the drop of a hat.

But Ditiro assured me that we would see one – there had been sightings at other camps reported over the radio network that connects these far-flung spots – so he and I left the group to visit another camp, Kanana, to continue our search.

Few of the Okavango’s more than 60 safari camps are connected by road, and access is provided by a handful of small Cessna airlines, which shuttle visitors from camp to camp, bumping down on grass or dirt landing strips and tarrying only long enough to drop one load of guests and pick up another.

We touched down at Kanana, quickly getting down to business. There, our excursions mixed driving and walking, taking a jeep deep into the hinterland, then hoofing it through tall, brittle grass and across vast, scorched savannah. Camp managers told us that lions had been spotted in the area – two males, in their prime. As we drove down the sandy road, Ditiro – one hand on the wheel – leaned a long way out of the open side of the vehicle, spotting and dismissing, one by one, different sets of tracks. “No, just baboon,” he would say, quietly, or “far too old”. But then he saw what we were looking for – lion tracks, fresh ones. “The tracks are the most important thing,” he said. “The tracks lead you to the animal.”

Ditiro parked the jeep and slung a big .458 rifle (sometimes inelegantly known as an “elephant gun”) over his shoulder as we trudged back into the long grass. At first, there was no sign of lions, but Ditiro read the behaviour of the animals around us – or lack thereof. The fact most of the prey had vacated the area was a good sign that the lions were here.

We made a big, crazy circle on foot – from the jeep, through several meadows, around a big pan and back to the jeep – but we still couldn’t find them. On a whim, Ditiro decided that we should turn back – and that’s when we saw them, two big boys hunkered behind a set of bushes. We had walked within a few metres of them earlier, completely unawares.

Ditiro cocked the gun as one of the lions sat up on his haunches, eying us with an intensity that I had never before encountered. I was now prey, and nothing but a bit of African savannah, Dit

iro’s elephant gun and the whim of a cat stood between me and certain death. It was terrifying.

As the lion slowly waved his tail, Ditiro told me to hold steady. “He is deciding whether or not to charge,” he said, as my heart pounded in my ears. “He’s about 50m away. He could close this distance in less than two seconds.” I had never before felt so exposed – just a guy standing on his own two feet staring down one of the greatest predators in the animal kingdom.

“Look at those muscles, look at those claws,” Ditiro told me, in hushed tones. “He’s a pure killing machine.” After a few minutes – maybe five, maybe 15 – it was time to go, and the lion didn’t charge.  Bumping back to camp, I felt the adrenaline coursing through my veins, a natural high that I will never forget. In the rosy glow of that rush, I felt eternally fortunate. Happy to have had such an amazing experience. And lucky to be alive.

The new Camp Okavango - OPENS!

Desert & Delta Safaris has great pleasure in announcing that construction of the new Camp Okavango is now complete and we welcomed our first guests back to our Okavango Delta paradise on Nxaragha Island on the 14 April 2016.

The rebuild of Camp Okavango took a total of 5 months which began with the complete removal of the original camps infrastructure. The new camp has moved to the edge of the Nxaragha Island to take advantage of the impressive delta scenery but kept within the original camps general location to ensure there was minimal impact on the environment during construction.

AN ECO-CONSCIOUS DELTA CAMP

In keeping with our sustainable tourism objectives, Camp Okavango has been built using a variety of modern, non-invasive, building techniques. Along with the eco-friendly design of the lodge, it is now run entirely on renewable solar energy. The seventy kilowatt solar power plant provides the camp with twenty four hours of clean, green energy. 

In addition to this initiative we have further reduced the impact on the environment by installing a state of the art water treatment plant that can provide approximately 20 000 litres of environmentally friendly waste water a day. This water is now used to irrigate the camp environment as well as Camp Okavango’s private grass airstrip. Previously this water was extracted from the Delta, but with this new technology it is now pumped into our irrigation system to maintain the natural grass surfaced airfield which guests use to access the lodge every day.

LAYOUT & DESIGN

Perfectly poised on the edge of the Nxaragha Island, Camp Okavango’s expansive main area has been built on elevated wooden decks with interconnected walkways linking the two lounge areas, dining room, library, self-service bar and curio shop.

In front of the thatched lounges sweeping ramps lead to the lower decks with two open-air fire pits and comfortable seating areas to relax and take in the natural surroundings. There is a third deck which leads off from the main area into which hosts a secluded rim flow swimming pool and thatched lounge for those warm summer days.

GUEST ACCOMMODATION

Camp Okavango has twelve rooms, accommodating a maximum of 24 guests in eleven intimate safari suites and one family suite. All rooms are on elevated wooden platforms and are connected with the main lodge via a wooden walkway.

Each of the guest rooms have been carefully placed beneath the natural Okavango Delta vegetation offering impeccable views over the delta. Inside, the expansive open-plan rooms have a bedroom (double or twin configuration), lounge and en-suite bathroom. The en-suite bathrooms have double vanities, double shower and a separate water closet. Through the large stack away sliding doors the rooms open onto a private viewing deck from which to take in the spectacular scenery.

The new family unit incorporates two separate bedrooms both with en-suite bathrooms with inter-leading doors for easy access between the rooms. With the inclusion of a family room, Camp Okavango now forms part of our new Ultimate Family Safari Packages which offer families the opportunity to experience the diversity of Botswana on an easy to book and flexible itinerary.

5 Highlights of Botswana

  1. Reaching Chief’s Island

Any trip to the Okavango Delta, whether by boat, or plane, starts seconds after you have launched, or lifted off. Your vantage point matters not, it is always magnificent. Admittedly, if you really want to grasp the true beauty of the Okavango Delta one should fly as much as possible over the 15 000 square kilometres that make up this heritage site.

There are not many places in the world that match its beauty and tranquility. Be it in the landscapes that are forever framed by palm trees and magnificent trees, or the sparkling waters that glimmer as you fly over them, or perhaps the quintessential sound of active hippos grunting, or the bubbling sound of water racing under your mokoro, and the ever present cry of an African fish eagle’s call.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the Okavango Delta is definitely a place that will soothe and lull anyone’s chaotic rhythm of urban living and bring one’s pulse back to a natural beat that will allow your senses to be well enthralled, yet never exhausted.

This trip offered us all a blessed chance to view the Delta from above with a short plane ride from Maun to Chiefs Island, and without further a due we were whisked off from our island runaway to our base camp (and home for the next five nights) in the middle of this water-wilderness.

If you are a parent, enjoy the ride, but every so often have a look at your family who will be fully engrossed and pointing out the elephant herds and giraffe journeys that can be viewed from the air. It will be a moment that will make the whole trip ‘worth-while’ and you have not even landed yet.

2. Morning mokoro rides

After a cup (or a few cups) of coffee and a light breakfast we set off for our morning walk on a series of islands near Chiefs Island. We did not zip around on noisy motor boats from one sighting to the next, oh no… in the Delta you travel one pole stroke at a time, and just inches away from the water, in a mokoro (a locally designed dug out canoe). Using the shallow water channels we weaved our way through waterlily clad ponds, and lush papyrus fringed waterways, avoiding the hippos until we reached our mooring and the start of every morning’s walk.

These gentle rides gave us all the precious time required to not only view the landscape from a newly found perspective, but to gently wake up our senses and tune them up into the sounds of the Delta whilst the eyes got used to focusing on the smaller details like reed frogs, spiders, kingfishers and damselflies.

3. Walking the islands on foot

Even for veterans of African travel, a walking safari in the Delta is a must do. This is why we were here, to explore the Delta on foot with a team of skilled local guides that grew up and still live in the delta. Their immense knowledge and stories of growing-up in the Delta enthralled us all while we traipsed different islands and came across general game like red lechwes, impala, zebras and elephants. It was a huge privilege to share this beautiful space with such graceful creatures and many a precious moment of discovery was had.

4. Camping under the stars

Whether it is elephants whilst you are having lunch, or hippos grazing their way out of the water at night, something is bound to walk through camp at one point or another. During our stay we had elephants, baboons, civets and even a pod of hippos walking through camp. With only a canvas tent separating you from the elements, you have to be prepared to take back a memory (or two) of you being truly in the mix in the Delta. It was indeed no surprise when after our first night at camp, Jesper Morch (the father in the family), quipped “You are right Sean, this place does give you the full sense of wilderness”.

5. Moremi Game Reserve and its wildlife – Oh… and did I mention WILD DOGS!!!!

Back on terra firma we headed for our second destination in the itinerary, the renowned and always bewildering Moremi Game Reserve. Suffice to say Moremi lived up to each and every expectation. On our first evening in Moremi, we had just unpacked the car, and camp had been setup, before we decided to take a short game-drive. Within five minutes from camp, a few turns, and a lavish dose of luck we found ourselves staring at a pack of wild dogs in disbelief, possibly the best opening act any national park could ever dish out. Just as things seemed they could not get any better, the whole pack engaged on a hunt and chased a herd of impala across a nearby grass field. It was indeed an unforgettable experience, and as it turned out, we were graced with daily sightings throughout our stay in Moremi.


 
Suffice to say this was a one-of-a-kind experience, a very special safari for the discerning and seasoned that I hope to be part off again when the next chance emerges.

   

Welcome to Botswana

Blessed with some of the greatest wildlife spectacles on earth, Botswana is one of the great safari destinations in Africa. There are more elephants in Botswana than any other country, the big cats roam free and there’s everything from endangered African wild dogs to aquatic antelopes, from rhinos making a comeback to abundant birdlife at every turn.


This is also the land of the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert, at once iconic African landscapes and vast stretches of wilderness. Put these landscapes together with the wildlife that inhabits them, and it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that this is wild Africa at its best.


Botswana may rank among Africa’s most exclusive destinations – accommodation prices at most lodges are once-in-a-lifetime propositions – but self-drive expeditions are also possible. And whichever way you visit, Botswana is a truly extraordinary place.
 



Top responsible travel tips for Botswana

1. Be considerate of Botswana’s customs, traditions, religion and culture.

2. For environmental reasons, try to avoid buying bottled water. Fill a reusable water bottle or canteen with filtered water instead.

3. Always dispose of litter thoughtfully, including cigarette butts.

4. When bargaining at markets, stay calm, be reasonable and keep a smile on your face. It's meant to be fun!

5. Learn some local language and don't be afraid to use it - simple greetings will help break the ice.

6. Shop for locally made products. Supporting local artisans helps keep traditional crafts alive.

7. Refrain from supporting businesses that exploit or abuse endangered animals.

8. Please ask and receive permission before taking photos of people, including children.


9. When on community visits or homestays, refrain from giving gifts or money to locals.

10. Refrain from buying ivory or other products harvested from endangered animals.

Botswana’s rivers running wild

Reports from Botswana say that the country’s river systems are flowing freely around much of the Okavango Delta for the first time in a decade.
This means that safaris to the country are reporting bumper wildlife sightings, with elephant families and hippos particularly abundant, according to tour operator Expert Africa.
And for the first time in 30 years the Selinda Spillway, the waterway that links the Okavango Delta to the Linyanti Swamps, is flowing.
The Delta is home to a staggering range of wildlife including the endangered wild dog, lions, elephants, wildebeest, spotted hyenas, leopards, impalas, giraffes, baboons, vervet monkeys and around 400 bird species.
The increased water points around the Delta are likely to attract more game viewings and more predatory encounters.
A spokesperson for Expert Africa told us: “Traditionally the best wildlife concentrations have been in the western end of the Selinda Reserve – because that is where the Kwando and Linyanti Rivers are, and the crucial Zibadianja Lagoon.
“In a normal year, there's scarcely any game inside the dry interior of the Reserve during this time of year.  But this year there is, with the Selinda Spillway being used as a corridor. Groups canoeing through this area are reporting a lot more wildlife inland here that would normally have been expected.”
The Okavango Delta is the world’s largest inland delta with no outlet to the sea.

Experimental young artists at work

Most young artists in Botswana still remain under the radar and never get a chance to experiment long enough to make a lasting impression. 

Last week Thapong Visual Arts Centre hosted the first ever Young Artist Exhibition and it was an opportunity for young artists to get exposure. 

Mmegi Staffer Mompati Tlhankane went to the exhibition gallery to see some of the most outstanding artworks from the inaugural exhibition. 

While some artworks are more outstanding than others, collectively the youngsters went all out to show that age is nothing but a number. Growth and experimentation is communicated through every piece.

One of the exhibitors Thato Khomela came up with rather unique and unusual concepts in his collection of paintings.  One of his outstanding artworks is called Bathing in the Moonlight and shows a distinctive view of a woman taking a bath at night.  The artwork itself is a blend of vision, feeling and practicality.  From a distance, the piece looks more like chalkboard paint, but coming closer one could now realise that it is acrylic on canvas.

Another one is called Practice Makes Perfect and it is also acrylic on canvas and the paint is available in varying shades of colour.  He used light and dark to develop dimensional forms.  The portrait shows a monstrous looking finger.  

The portrait looks like it had been stained with a brown liquid.  The artist’s experimentation on the black colour looks picture perfect and demands a lot of absorption from the viewer.  

Khomela told  Arts & Culture that  he saw the exhibition as an opportunity to showcase his skills.  “I experimented with acrylic using monochromatic to create endless colours to explore tints, tones and shades,” he said.

Khomela said he came up with the strategy to bring out his other hidden talents.
“I wanted to differ from other artists and show growth,” he said. He indicated that his Bathing in the Moonlight created a little bit of controversy because people had been enquiring about it.  Khomela said the finger artwork shows that people can get better with practice. “The finger shows a person playing a game we used to call chama or ale. 

The finger is finally perfect after years and years of practice, so is every aspect of life,” he said.

Mombo Camp Botswana

Mombo Camp is located in the Mombo Concession, on the northern tip of Chief’s Island within the Moremi Game Reserve. The area boasts enormous concentrations of plains game and predators which begin virtually on Mombo’s decks, with the surrounding floodplains teeming with game year-round.

 

Built under large, shady trees, Mombo’s nine spacious en-suite tents are raised two metres from the ground providing excellent views, with a long veranda, a sala and indoor and outdoor showers. The camp's main living, bar and dining areas are under thatch, while the boma adds traditional flavour to delicious dinners under the stars. There are two plunge pools in which to soak and a gym to work off the excellent food.

 Game Drives
Game drives via open 4x4 Land Rovers each accommodate a maximum of six or seven guests, allowing each guest a 'window' seat. Please note that as we are in Moremi Game Reserve, night drives are not possible at Mombo Camp.

Massage Treatments

 
In-room massage treatments are probably the best ways in which to relax and restore within the comfort of your room or private deck.

Gym
For those looking to exercise, there is a gym with an incredible view where you can sweat it up.

For more information please contact us at 

res@botswanareservations.com

www.namibiareservations.com