Often, when you go on safari, you face a plane ride followed by a long car journey to reach your camp. But that’s not the case here. Island Safari Lodge is just 10km from Maun, the second largest town in Botswana, and home to an airport that’s most commonly used for accessing the Okavango Delta.
The lodge is on a beautiful 120-hectare private island reserve on the banks of the Thamalakane River. While the journey from the airport is short, you can enjoy long, lazy days in a camp that’s sheltered by tall trees and offers impressive views of the river and floodplains.
This is a big site compared to most, with plenty of choice when it comes to accommodation types. A dozen thatched roof chalets and another dozen rooms are dotted around the well kept gardens. Half of the rooms are designated for families, evidence that this is a child-friendly camp. All rooms and chalets are air conditioned with ensuite showers and TVs.
It’s fair to say that the furnishings are more no-frills than all-out luxury, but it’s all comfortable and pleasing to the eye. Plus, apart from sleeping, you’ll likely be spending most of your time outdoors anyway.
For those of you who like to bring your own accommodation, there are no less than ten different places to camp here, all sharing communal wash facilities.
Wherever you stay, you’ll likely wake each morning to the unmistakable call of the African Fish Eagle, and then have a big range of options of things to do to fill your day.
Splashing times are assured here thanks to the presence of 2 outdoor pools and a children’s pool. When you’ve dried off, perhaps on one of the sunloungers, you could head to the restaurant where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served daily, with the food combining a local and internationally-inspired flavour. The views of the floodplains and river from the restaurant are verging on the spectacular, and guests report seeing all kinds of birdlife and even hippo every now and then from their table.
After you’ve eaten, there’s a lounge with bar in which you can relax, or you could head out into the garden. A barbecue grill and picnic area give you other options in terms of places to eat.
Explore in vehicles or boats, and on foot, bike or horseback. Yes, the camp is close to the airport, but you’ll still get to venture deep into the wilds from here. The lodge teams lay on safari day trips into the Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve, on dry land in a 4x4, and on the water in a boat or canoe-like mokoro. Some trips offer overnight accommodation options and the chance to take to the air for a bird’s eye view of the Delta. Previous guests report seeing plenty of wildlife on their expeditions, including lion, and on the specialised Bird Walk, during which you’ll see all kinds of feathered species – even more if you bring your binoculars.
You can also rent bicycles and explore a variety of hiking and biking trails under your own pedal power. Or you can saddle up and get an elevated view of your surroundings on horseback as you venture out into the wild. Fishing is another option that’s popular with camp guests.
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We had the most amazing family holiday, everything worked so perfectly, the arrangements and accommodation was spectacular!
"Unforgettable trip to Namibia – Thank you Namibia Tours & Safaris!"
We are a group of four from Romania and spent 3 unforgettable weeks in Namibia. We can't recommend them enough, and for any future travels in Namibia or other parts of Africa, we will definitely use their services again.
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From the time we put the key in the ignition till we boarded the plane in Windhoek nothing went wrong.
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It was a fantastic experience, everything was very well organised, went smooth and according to expectations. It was our first self drive in Africa and it was a great, unforgettable time.
