The Okavango Delta camps that could tempt you to skip a game drive

Wildlife photographer Bella Falk has long believed that on an Okavango Delta safari, the animals are the only thing that matters. Three nights at Wilderness Tubu Tree and three at the legendary Mombo put that theory to the test. The thread counts, it turns out, matter rather a lot

As a wildlife photographer, I’ve long believed it doesn’t matter where you stay on safari. Why pay for high-thread-count sheets and elegant decor when, outside the lodge, the animals are the real highlight? As long as you have a clean room, a mosquito net and enough power to charge your batteries, nothing else matters, right?

But even an opinionated person like me can admit when they’re wrong. And as I walk into my suite at Wilderness Tubu Tree lodge in Botswana, I grudgingly accept that yes, this time, I’m mistaken.

This is so much more than just a place to sleep. Built on a raised platform shaded by jackalberry and marula trees with a private veranda overlooking a floodplain where wildebeest graze, my ‘tent’ is larger than my entire London flat. Decorated in natural tones of peach and taupe with blonde-wood panelling and sleek black fittings, this is a contemporary approach to safari chic:

Scandi simplicity meets African magic.

It’s a luxury retreat that’s soothing rather than showy, where you can watch animals from the pool on a sticky afternoon or sip a South African chardonnay by the firepit with someone on hand to top you up as soon as your glass gets low.

OUT OF THE ORDINARY

Botswana is not just about the game drives. Take a boat safari in a traditional mokoro canoe, soar over the Delta on a doors-off helicopter ride, or spend the night in Tubu Tree’s ‘Star Bed’ – an outdoor platform decked with fairy lights and mosquito nets, where you’ll be sung to sleep under the African sky by a chorus of frogs and hippos.

Comfort, recalibrated

Completely rebuilt in 2024, Tubu Tree is one of Wilderness’ 16 camps in the Okavango Delta, the world’s largest inland delta and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famed for its unspoiled landscapes and abundance of wildlife.

The camp sits on the west side of the Delta in the Jao Private Concession, a 60,000 hectare expanse of floodplains studded with lofty fan palms and sausage trees. With just 12 rooms, three belonging to Little Tubu, a separate wing for exclusive group use, it’s intensely secluded – here, you can spend hours following lionesses on the hunt and only see one other car.

“We have five to six leopards,” boasts my guide Lucas Ramoka, who efficiently delivers one, resting in an acacia tree, on my first afternoon. Later, Lucas and I are the only companions of a handsome lion with a blow-dried bouffant mane, who poses imperiously like an ’80s rockstar, calling softly to his pride while I shoot dozens of photos, each more gorgeous than the last.

Back at camp, everything is impeccable – from the fluffy bathrobes hanging in the closet, to the way my laundry is returned, pressed and scented in a handwoven basket, to the three-course meals featuring tender barbecued pork or flame-grilled teriyaki chicken with tangy lemon quinoa.

“This is an eating safari,” jokes acting manager Polly Borupile at afternoon tea, as I pile my plate with flaky jam tarts and slices of sunshine-yellow pineapple, ready for the dusk safari.

As well as offering some of the best animal-spotting opportunities in Africa, Wilderness also funds conservation and education, supporting local schools, empowering communities and helping protect some 2.2 million hectares across eight African countries. So you can relax and enjoy your stay, knowing that your holiday is helping to protect these priceless landscapes and wildlife that call them home.

Place of plenty

I’d stay longer at Tubu Tree if I could, but there are other adventures on the itinerary. After three nights I transfer to Moremi Game Reserve in the heart of the Delta to visit Mombo, Wilderness’s flagship lodge. It’s an icon that’s hosted presidents and Hollywood stars, and whose trophy cabinet bulges with awards, including being voted ‘Best Resort in the ‘Rest of Africa’ 2024 (outside East and South Africa) by Condé Nast Traveler.

Known as the ‘Place of Plenty’, Mombo has some of the most prolific game viewing in Africa – in just three days I see everything from to a pack of painted dogs to a prowling leopard and even a minutes-old baby impala being nudged to its feet by an anxious new mother.

Lucas and I are the only companions of a handsome lion with a blow-dried bouffant mane, who poses imperiously like an ‘80s rockstar.

Each of Mombo’s eight chalets is connected by a kilometre-long boardwalk that winds between giant mangosteen and fig trees, “If you meet an elephant, turn back,” says manager Edward, thrillingly. Inside, the rooms are vintage Out of Africa opulence, with dark-wood shutters and leather Chesterfield sofas, an antique brass roll-top bath and sliding French doors leading onto a veranda with a daybed and plunge pool that I’m told those same elephants may try to drink from.

But this isn’t some dated relic clinging to past glory: every mod-con has been added, from the walk-in wine cellar with 1,000 bottles to choose from to the fitness suite with top-end equipment and the high-speed wifi. Forget eating what you’re served – at Mombo there’s an à la carte brunch menu of popular favourites like eggs Benedict or beef tacos, and even a pizza oven.

“For me, the camp experience is so important,” says Nadia Jones, a fellow guest. “You don’t want to come back from an excursion and feel uncomfortable. It’s not just about the wildlife.” And she might be right. For the first time I’m tempted to skip the morning game drive in favour of a couple more hours luxuriating between the feather-soft sheets of my lodge. Maybe threadcounts do matter after all.

Hotel Notes

Rates at Wilderness Tubu Tree start from US$1,480 (about AU$2,350) per person. Rates at Wilderness Mombo start from US$2,810 (about AU$4,450) per person.

Wilderness offers three nights at Wilderness Tubu Tree and three nights at Wilderness Mombo on a fully inclusive basis, including return air transfers from Maun and international return flights from Sydney, starting from AU$22,251 per person based on twin-share.

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