Dux Mareja, our guide, raised his left arm in the air like a shield. He warned my family to “step around” as he led them down the main path of andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, a 12-suite hotel on the edge of Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve (all-inclusive, $1,850). We had just finished eating pastries in base camp, a structure that looked like a pangolin with wooden shingles as a coat.
What is it? I asked in a hurry, as my husband, Rob, and Bobby, our son of nine years, moved swiftly together. We looked into the thicket which was hiding many creatures, some of them harmless and others not.
He answered, lifting Bobby into the Land Cruiser. “One of most deadly snakes in the entire world.”
The cobra was never seen in its full glory. We did see two leopards mating in a tree, a group of hyenas playing, and one lion stalking another male competitor. He finally sought shade and flopped down in a dramatic fashion. Then, we followed suit in our own suite. It was propped up on stilts to resemble the nest of the African golden weaver.
Safari can easily lull you into a false feeling of security, even in the Okavango Delta. This is one of Africa’s most untamed areas. Covering 6,000 square miles—about half the size of Belgium—this UNESCO World Heritage Site is like a sponge, always ready to receive. The Okavango River and seasonal rains from the Angolan mountains feed the Delta, which is a series of islands, floodplains and swamps. There are 124 species of mammals and 464 bird species on the checklist of the game spotter.
My first visit, over a decade earlier, made me realize that building, supplying and staffing the camps was not easy. Tented accommodation with sparse furnishings was the norm. Atzaro Okavango, a stylish year-old hotel (from $1.850 per person all-inclusive), is part of the change. It’s a partnership between African Bush Camps, and co-owners from a luxury Spanish hotel company. Singita Elela will debut in 2026 and further the high-design narrative of the area by adopting an organic, airy style.
Sandibe is the crown jewel in the luxury hospitality portfolio of andBeyond. It operates five properties throughout the country. “When we designed Sandibe it was with a contextual background of what we thought to be pretty dull, cookie-cutter, and stagnant 1970s-style lodge design in Botswana,” said Joss Kent, the CEO of andBeyond, noting that all concrete and bricks were removed—250 trucks worth—to make way for more eco-friendly timber. Sandibe now gets 70 percent of its energy from a hybrid solar power station, a first in the region.
Sandibe’s architectural credentials are not immediately evident: a set of steps leads to a demure entrance shaped as an upside-down “U”. Once you’ve passed through the entrance, you will feel the grandeur of the place: massive beams made from South African pine are inserted like ribs into the deck. On the upper level, a chic cocktail bar leads up to a pangolin-tail elevated walkway.We dined in the Southern Hemisphere under the stars.
Mark Lakin is the founder of Legacy Untold. He’s also an Africa expert on the Travel + Leisure Advisory Board. Lakin, the person who organized our trip, suggested that we take a helicopter ride with doors off to get a better perspective and for some incredible pictures. He was correct: the lush landscape from above looked like an uneven moss punctuated by purple-black circles, lines and dots.
Botswana has the largest population of elephants in Africa, with 132,000. The optimist within me believed that I could view all 132,000 of them from the place where we sat around the campfire. Herds were everywhere. Dux would point out an lone bull tackling the vast expanse of land without anyone to speak to. The sitatunga was his favorite. It was a rare water antelope that stood in the lagoon with its head half submerged.
Everything is affected by water. Two lodges could be separated by a mere 30 miles, as the crow flies–yet entirely inaccessible to even the sturdiest SUV. We were on our way to the Wilderness Camp Mombo (from $4.895 per person all-inclusive) as soon as we touched down.
Mombo opened its doors in 1991. It quickly became known as one of the most popular restaurants. ne plus ultra The prime location of Chief’s Island makes it the ideal place for a Botswana Lodge: Game Central. As darkness engulfed the floodplain in front of us, we were able to trace the outline of several elephants as they walked by. Mombo’s famous animals were immortalized in black and white photos, including Mmamoriri the maned Lioness. These pictures hung on the walls of the communal living room, complete with a wine cellar, and a pizza oven.
Mombo and Little Mombo (a neighboring Wilderness camp) were rebuilt in 2018 by South Africa’s Nicholas Plewman architects, the same company that was also responsible for Sandibe. They worked with U.K. firm Artichoke Interior Design. Each tent measures 2,700 square-feet and comes with a swimming pool outside, as well as a spacious dressing room. It is not uncommon for the decor to be vintage-inspired (note the deep, copper bathtub), but with the modern touches you would expect from a luxury hotel. Another nod to times? At the end of the year, a new 8,826-square-foot “Sanctuary” will debut, with two treatment rooms, a sauna and gym, as well as a meditation room, an ice tub, a spa, and a remedy counter featuring medicinal herbs.
Wellness is descending upon the Botswanan bush–not long after world-class art. Our final stop, Xigera was designed by Philip Fourie and Anton de Kock as a living art museum for African creators both established and new. The camp is a living museum, with a collection of priceless art, alongside Pel’s fishing birds, perched in the trees and an occasional leopard strolling around.
Xigera reopened 2021 as part of Wilderness Safaris under the Tollman family. They are the owners of Red Carnation Hotels. The Tollman family, working with Cape Town art gallery Southern Guild to bring color to the barren wilderness in collaboration with 80 African artisans, tapped the Cape Town gallery to help them. Toni Tollman’s family hails from South Africa. She told me about the private collection and her wish to create a space where “African designs would be celebrated and used as an expressions of identity, location, and purpose.” The Tollmans have other ambitions that are not as obvious to guests, but they are still important: Xigera, a village near the Tollmans, is almost entirely solar-powered, and it helps Habu set up its composting program.
I was constantly scanning our surroundings–for the wildlife, but for artistic treasures that invited questions. Bobby gravitated towards painted seats grouped around a table of chess. The chairs were carved from wood by Andile Dyalvane an Eastern Cape Artist, and the board was made out of a beautiful metal set designed by Philippe Bouquet. Cecil Skotnes was an advocate of diversity during apartheid South Africa. I found wood-panel paintings in the vicinity. My eye was drawn to the firepit art in the boma where we ate Ziyaad’s grilled Namibian Lobster. It consisted of a series eight-foot-long sculptural spears created by blacksmith Conrad Hicks. I was a maximalist, so the fantastical Ardmore lamps were perfect for me. In our suite we had a geometric black ceramic side table made by Chuma Mweni, which became a perch for our morning cup of coffee.
The Xigera staff surprised us one evening with biltong and popcorn at the Baobab treehouse suite. It was only a short distance from the camp. The incredible structure is based on a painting by landscape artist Jacobus Pierneef. Bronze-colored branches reach up to the skies, surrounding an open-air rooftop bed. As I scanned the delta with a wine glass, I couldn’t resist wondering if this was all an architectural folly.
Next day we came across a pride lions, all snugly tucked in around the treehouse base. Did they know of these little comforts that were right at their fingertips? It’s unlikely. The suite was so beautiful that they chose to spend the day here, extending the design.
