Maxa Camp

Caught on a riverine island in the Delta’s Moremi Game Reserve, Xigera is a truly excellent camp amidst the wetlands for its dynamic and varied activities, altered slightly according to the season so guests get the most out of the wildlife and terrain. It’s also the only camp in the area, giving you total privacy and where it doesn’t get much wilder.

Ten simple, standalone, and sublimely comfortable stilted tent rooms are shrouded in the riverine forest, and its main areas are typically and tastefully African: thatch roofs, wooden floors and furniture, warm lantern light, bonfire, a traditional boma and a plunge pool to cool off in.

Xigera’s (pronounced Keejera) position amidst permanent water all year round means you can embark on the area’s signature mokoro (canoe) safari, game drives and motorboat outings. The camp is also a good choice for keen birdwatchers, with Pel’s Fishing-Owl, African Skimmer, Slaty Egret, Wattled Crane and a host of raptors, other waterbirds and colourful kingfishers to be seen.

Open, relaxed and resting on the banks of the eastern Selinda Spillway in the heart of the 320 000 acre Selinda Reserve, this safari camp has a prime location within a territory rich with wildlife.

Having been recently rebuilt, the camp provides a blend of old colonial elegance, updated with contemporary amenities. This is an old-world luxury experience for the modern-day traveler.

Tucked away under its sweeping thatched roof, the camp remains cool in the midday heat, and commands excellent views out over the floodplains and savanna of the Selinda Reserve. The extensive raised decks surrounding both the main lodge and guest tents facilitate wildlife viewing directly from the camp, meaning you can sit back and enjoy a delicious meal and never keep your eye off the local animals.

When you want to get more up close and personal, the camp offers both day and night game drives, on which you will be highly likely to see antelope, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, elephant and buffalo. Whether you choose to travel by foot, boat or 4×4, you’ll have a unique experience of the African wilderness.

Chobe Chilwero’s facilities are incredibly impressive for its wild remoteness, as no other safari lodge in Botswana has a full spa.

Chilwero means “the place of the high view”, which describes this lodge perfectly. Sitting close to Chobe National Park on a hillside overlooking the Chobe River, the lodge offers unparalleled panoramic views across the islands and floodplains as far across as Namibia. This is an incredibly luxurious lodge with just 15 guest cottages, as well as the only full spa in Botswana. Relax in the split-level swimming pool, unwind with a pampering session in the spa or enjoy the gourmet food that the lodge has become known for

The 15 large and very spacious cottages allow for an even greater sense of privacy after the natural seclusion of your surroundings and are tastefully decorated in an earthy and neutral palette, incorporating traditional furniture and fittings but with a decidedly modern and well-equipped feel to them. Each have showers both inside and out, freestanding bath tubs, and a private garden perfected for end-of-the -day drinks and dinner.

The food is delicious, the staff extremely helpful, excellent guides and the views are pretty spectacular.

Various beauty and health treatments are available at the spa from manicures, facials, massage and hydrotherapy.

This was the first safari camp to be built in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and remains an institution of authentic African adventure amidst the varied wildlife and game of this pristine wilderness.

Overlooking the Tau Pan from which this semi-permanent camp gets its name, the maximum here is just eighteen guests in nine comfortable and classic raised, standalone rooms. Each has an en suite bathroom and private decking to make the most of the stark and impressive views over the sandstone ridge.

Your daily expeditions see you exploring Deception Valley, visiting Deception Pan and travelling to the Piper Pan area searching for other intriguing desert species. The property’s top-of-the-range Toyota Landcruisers are extremely comfortable with multiple details that make them perfect for game viewing… roof-top seats, leather bean bags for photography and ponchos to keep one warm on sunrise game drives. Deception Valley hosts huge herds of gemsbok, springbok, wildebeest and hartebeest attracted to the area by the flush of sweet grasses that flourish in the ancient valley following the rains. There is also a good chance of seeing the Kalahari lion, cheetah, brown hyena and meerkats.