Botswana Time: a journey along the Okavango Delta

A shooting star races across the inky sky, briefly breaking the darkness. The constellations surround me, buzzing like fireflies, and the soundless salt flats stretch like a vast and endless dreamscape in all directions.

A thick layer of salt carpets the ground, meaning no animals, no plants, no insects, and no other people, making it perfectly safe, and blissfully remote from reality. A crackling campfire is the only other light, by which our group tells lively stories, only pausing to enjoy a shot of the popular local liquor, Amarula. 

Our stomachs are full thanks to a small team of chefs and staff who have managed to rustle up a hearty feast out here in the nothingness, and several coolboxes provide enough drinks to keep us going until morning. We have only the most essential items with us, but we are having the time of our lives.

I’m on the Makgadikgadi Flats in Botswana, many hundreds of kilometres from the nearest outpost of civilisation. Our group will be experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime treat: camping outside for the night under the stars.  As the sun rises, we’ll leave the same way we came, by private helicopter transfer, gradually watching the barren desert shift back into lush grassland through the chopper’s glass dome.

It’s the final night of a 10-day whistle stop tour of some of the country’s best safari lodges and game reserves, hosted by Desert & Delta, the go-to specialists for safari and all safari-adjacent activities in Botswana. Unlike many other African destinations, Botswana prides itself on its own  version of the scarcity principle: less tourism, but higher quality.

Desert & Delta embodies this ethos, with its selection of luxurious and intimate-yet eco-friendly- lodges scattered across the country. Each lodge has its own distinct personality and charm, with most travellers visiting three over the course of their safari experience. 

Those travellers wishing to start as they mean to go on, can opt for Business Class seats on Qatar Airways for a luxurious beginning and end to the trip. As this is a long journey, with numerous internal transfers between camps, a good night’s sleep on a fully flat bed is not to be sniffed at. 

Try the Karak Chai for a warming bedtime drink, and the airline’s famous ‘green juice’ for a refreshing morning pick me up. Upgrading also gives access to the Sky Lounge, where you can socialise with other flyers while enjoying a tipple as well as gourmet bar snacks and light bites in anticipation of your trip.

Chobe Game Lodge

Our first stop is the five-star flagship property of the Desert & Delta brand,  Chobe, the only lodge situated in the heart of the action within the national park itself. Its claim to fame is hosting Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton on their honeymoon, with a photo of the happy couple holding pride of place in the bar area.

Dedicated to carbon-emission free safari, the lodge has four electric-powered game drive vehicles and a fleet of solar-powered safari boats, which move silently so as not to startle the animals. The lodge has full eco-grading from the Botswana Tourism Board, thanks to its extensive recycling system, from water filtration, to organic waste composting.

Its biggest draw for all things sustainability-related however, is Africa’s first all-female guide team, crowned the Chobe Angels, blazing a trail for female economic empowerment in the region.

Up at the crack of dawn, with frozen breath, safari begins early to catch the wildlife before it hides for sleep. Giraffes, zebras, and impala are plentiful, but never not a novelty. On many occasions we are within touching distance, and I worry that my racing heartbeat will alert them to our presence. Elephants are in abundance; unsurprising, as the region is home to the largest concentration of these magnificent beasts in Africa. 

Later, as the sun dips lazily below the horizon, we cruise along the Chobe River, watching the elephants eartheat on the banks, before ambling down to bathe and frolic in the water just mere metres from us. We also spot crocodiles up close, while hippos are best observed from a distance through binoculars.

Namaxseri Lodge

I’m completely unprepared for just how unique our next stop is. Camp Namaxseri lies on the Okavango Delta, and can only be reached by boat, which snakes with alacrity through the shallow waters. 

Built overhanging the river, the individual rooms are positioned on stilts, with wooden walkways acting as connecting arteries to the heart of the camp. A firepit is the epicentre of the lodge, around which intimate gatherings and post-dinner chats all take place. As with the other lodges, there are no TVs in the rooms and minimal WiFi coverage, with guests asked instead to connect meaningfully with their surroundings and each other. 

By day, we cruise the waterways, spotting exotically-plumed birds and admiring the picture-perfect refraction of light off the water. By night, the staff perform traditional songs and dances, the alternatingly raucous and moving tempos echoing across the impenetrable night of the lagoon. 

Tsodilo Hills, a nearby UNESCO World Heritage site, is ideal for a daytrip to see the ancient rock paintings and series of caves and depressions. It has deep religious and spiritual significance to local peoples, as well as a unique record of human settlement over many millennia, told in over 4,500 paintings. A brisk scramble up boulders and hillside paths, takes you to one of several viewing points, with an awe-inspiring vista of the various peaks- Child Hill, Female Hill, and Male Hill.

Camp Xakanaxa

A cluster of Meru-style luxury safari tents is set back from the Khwai River, surrounded by ancient forest, serpentine channels and the burnt ochres of open savannah. This region offers year-round water and land game viewing, with sightings of many of the big five- elephant, buffalo, leopards and lions-all prolific. 

The communal areas are constructed from local timber, reeds and thatch, emanating a homely feel. So much so that resident hippo Oscar likes to wander into the encampment periodically. He is friendly enough from a safe distance and higher ground. 

Nearby Moremi Game Reserve’s varied landscape showcases rich biodiversity of flora and fauna, where wild dogs roam in packs, giraffes gambol across the plains, and a majestic kudu dips its head to drink from a lake, framed by the moody evening shadows. 

We stop at a series of pools as the sun goes down, where the bleached skeletons of trees, branches like gnarled fingers, provide a haunting backdrop. Pool and sky become indistinguishable as darkness falls, and the waters’ surface transforms into an oily slick of reflection. It’s eerily beautiful, and we stop to take photos of our silhouettes against the backdrop. 

Leroo La Tau

Meaning ‘lion’s paw’, Leroo La Tau overlooks the eastern bank of the Boteti River, the boundary of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. As the main outflow of the Okavango Delta, the camp is the natural culmination of our journey. From the balcony of my lodge, I spot hippos, herds of zebra and wildebeest and crocodiles, unmoving and barely visible in the mud.

Here is where we finally spot a couple of elusive big cats, after days of fruitless searching. Two wide-eyed Cheetahs lie in the long grasses, alert to any sound or movement. Their slender forms compared to our huge 4×4 are a stark reminder of the fragility of nature and diminishing wildlife numbers. 

We watch until darkness falls, and it’s time to vacate the park for the night. As we trundle slowly away, I promise myself that I will never take this fleeting moment for granted. And many months later, I still dream of those two sets of gleaming eyes, peering shyly through the long grasses.

Book it: Africa Collection offers two nights at Chobe Game Lodge, two nights at Nxamaseri Island Lodge, three nights at either Camp Xakanaxa or Camp Moremi and three nights at Leroo La Tau, which includes one night at the Salt Pan Sleep Out, inclusive of all meals, drinks, park fees and laundry at the camps and lodges as well as return flights (economy class) from London Heathrow to Johannesburg on Qatar Airways as well as required regional flights to/from Kasane/Maun and all Safari Air Light Aircraft flight transfers, during July to October.

www.africacollection.com