I stay at incredible places, from wild campsites in the remote Kalahari Desert, to five-star properties in the Sabi Sands Private Nature Reserve, to goat farm in Holten, the Netherlands. Here, I share a few pictures and highlights – the happy byproduct of a roaming life.
Note that I don’t travel to these places to review them and I am not paid for these reviews or affiliated with the properties in any way. Sometimes, properties host me for free. Sometimes, I pay to stay. Often, they’re a base for another story. Regardless of the circumstances of my stay, what I write here comes from my genuine experience.
I was hosted by Kwando Safaris on a familiarisation trip in April 2024 organized by Africa’s Eden.
I was flown into camp by Moremi Air.
Location:
The Camp is inside the Nxai Pan National Park next to the ancient salt lake that fills with water when it rains. I visited on the cusp of the stark beauty of the dry season. The park adjoins the northern border of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, and animals move freely between it and other areas in Botswana.
First impressions:
A camp that beautifully embodies the spirit of its surroundings with its airy, minimalist palette and style. And what a welcome! Elephants making their way to the small waterhole in front of the camp.
Room Quality:
Spacious suites with uninterrupted views of the pan and waterhole, well spaced for absolute privacy. I found the beds exceptionally comfortable but didn’t stay long enough to spend much other time in the room.
Dining Experience:
Communal dining set around a long dinner table, with a plated starter and self-service. Simple, good quality, homely cooking that worked great for me.
Best Moment:
Sundowners at the waterhole with a large herd of elephants joined by buffalo, springbok and zebra. There was an epic quality to the whole experience.
On our final morning, tracks from a porcupine, a caracal and a leopard were on our path back to the vehicle. We stopped where a grasshopper had laid her eggs and watched a gabar goshawk hunting grey-backed sparrow larks. Still, for just a few minutes longer, out of time.
Quirkiest Feature:
The area transforms from dry and dusty to covered in short, sweet grasses with the rains. This attracts massive herds of zebra, which travel to the area in the longest documented land mammal migration—a round trip of 500 kilometres. They are joined by blue wildebeest, springbok, gemsbok, eland, and red hartebeest and follow predators.
Unique Experience:
The San cultural walk with Six Onthusitsejube. He had a lovely, engaging manner and pride in his heritage without romanticizing his community’s past or current lifestyle. “We teach people about it, we’re no longer living it,” he said. In a relatively short space of time, he added an incredible amount of depth to the rest of our stay in Botswana by sharing info about how some of the most common plants – wild sage, brandy bush, mother-in-law’s tongue, sickle bush, corkwood – were used traditionally for crafting, medicine, and cultural purposes.
Insider info:
Roar – Lions of the Kalahari, a National Geographic movie, was filmed at Nxai Pan in 2003.
Unexpected Delight:
For me, it was the delicious apple cake at high tea! For others, though, it could be a trip to Baines Baobabs, about 30 kilometres south of Nxai Pan. These seven massive baobab trees were painted in 1862 by artist Thomas Baines. You can see them on a full-day excursion from the camp, but I didn’t have time for this.
My Five Senses Experience:
- 'White' elephants covered in the chalky dust of the dry season
- Jackals calling at sunset
- Wild sage
- Apple cake and roast lamb
- Crisp white sheets
Ideal For:
Wilderness seekers who aren’t chasing the next wildlife sighting and can vibe with big skies, silence and wide open spaces.
Atmosphere:
Remote, wild, authentic to place.
Cost:
Exclusive camps in Botswana are expensive and cater to high-end travellers.
