Moremi Game Reserve
Botswana


The Experience

If it's predators you're after, this classical yet modish bush camp -- one of only two lodges on remote Chief's Island in the Moremi concession of Botswana's Okavango Delta -- is for you. It consists of a dozen luxe thatched pavilions set on raised wooden platforms under canopies of jackalberry trees, and the surrounding bush is home to scores of wild dog, lion, cheetah and leopard. Yet unlike some remote bush lodges, you don't have to make many concessions luxury-wise to stay here. Striking rooms, a communal restaurant and a bar area fronted by a pool deck lined with sexy daybeds offer a taste of South Beach chic in the African wild.

The Rooms

Each pavilion is a double-layered canvas tent topped with a traditional thatched roof that helps camouflage it -- you can literally hide from the animals. They're not cramped at all: Cool in summer, warm in winter, you get a king or twin beds, en suite bathrooms with twin basins and outdoor-indoor showers, and separate living areas furnished with African lounge chairs and ebony coffee tables. It's hard to choose between rooms -- polished wood floors and Afro-modern decor is standard -- but Pavilion 12 to the far right is the most secluded. If the wild bush setting worries you, fear not: Rooms have mod cons such as hair-dryers and minibars, and even an intercom system so you can call in the unlikely event an elephant gets too close for comfort.

The Service

You might be on a remote island in the middle of an African wetland, but with 60 staff tending to a maximum of 30 guests, you'll be treated like a member of an exclusive club. Housekeeping plug in an electric blanket in winter, have the ceiling fan on in summer and do turndown with a tucked-in mosquito net for you to come back to every night, but they're so unobtrusive as to be invisible.

The Highlights

Twice-daily game drives are in open-top jeeps with a ranger and tracker, and since you're so remote, you'll never -- ever -- be competing with other vehicles to see creatures. (The same goes for dugout wooden canoe excursions in the delta channels.) Game rangers know the bush and the delta like their backyard and work together to track down rare birds and those elusive leopard, lion and cheetah that make the riverine forest and grassy island plains their home. Come back to relax in your hammock or on the pool deck lined with cream daybeds under white umbrellas, with a treatment sala where a resident therapist does massages under open skies. Food is fine, if a bit bland; you'll be more impressed with the wine cellar featuring hundreds of great South African vintages. Request a bottle of Pinotage for your evening game drive.

-- Douglas Rogers

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