Hotel T+L’S Xugana Island Lodge study in Botswana

I stood under a stable hot water stream as I saw a bird that pushed my jaw to drop a cartoon’s dramatic fashion. It is an African fish eagle, its dark wings spread majestic before landing on a nearby tree. I am on the outer teak of my Safari tent at Xugana Island Lodge, Surrounded by amazing birds -the stunning birds, the Mangosteen black wood and African trees, with a happy hippos sound, just the feet of the Botswana’s Okavango Delta cliff.

Visitors often gather to the country in northern South Africa for the famous Chobe National Park game among elephants, giraffes, and lions. But the same as the Okavango Delta, a large interior wetland, was formed where fans of the Okavango river came out across the Kelahari desert. This UNESCO World Heritage Site offers unmatched wildlife views-from large games to rare antelope and more than 400 species of bird-generating water and papyrus-filled islands. Because most delta is only accessible by small aircraft or boat, tourism remains low.

Located north of Botswana in Lagoon Xugana Delta, Xugana Island Lodge (“COO-Gana”) was built in 1974 as the second tourist home in the region. Part of Desert Portfolio & Delta SafarisRecently underwent a complete redevelopment, reopened in April with 12 luxury accommodation, pool overlooking the lagoon, straw roof bar, and perfect overwater firepit for borrowers and stars.

The Xugana central hub is a stylish air and dining room where my friends and I gather to eat or to go out with a book in a relaxing chair overlooking the lagoon. The Small Library offers a selection of books on the delta ecosystem, while the Curio Shop offers field guides, local made jewelry, hand baskets, and other souvenirs. I regret leaving a carved wood hippo, but could not hold back the silver butter dish crowned with a small and colorful elephant bracelet for my children.

Outside of the beautiful atmosphere and fresh facilities, Xugana’s original hospitality is its own draw. During a cold morning boat visit, hot water bottles appeared in our seats. Evening trips include freshly roasted or biltong herbs or scones, Spiced Southern African Beef Jerky. Each dinner begins with the performances of traditional songs that are happy by the staff, and every return to the property is filled with cold towels and warm smiles.

I spent two nights at the Xugana Island Lodge shortly after the reopening -here.

Room

To call a stay at the Xugana Island Lodge “tent” it feels like a fake advertising. Technically, each 915 -square -foot structure has a canvas wall and a window screen open and covered with a zip. But as I entered through a heavy wooden door, walking to the hardwood floor covered in the woven area rugs, and turning on the lights, the cave space felt like more. Contemporary design is an inspiration from the blue-hued lagoon, and there are also framed photography and other artwork hanging on the canvas wall.

Standard accommodation includes a King Canopy -sized bed (which can be transformed into two twins in demand), a closed view deck with a seat seat for delta views, desks, and wardrobe. Separate bathroom areas are equipped with multiple pride and indoor and outdoor teak shower, filled with eco -friendly bath products, sunscreen, and pests.

Food and drink

Food is usually served with a buffet style in the main hut, with a daily rotating menu. One morning, I filled my plate with egg wrap, pork sausage, warm blueberry muffin, and freshly cut mango, paired with cappuccino made. Lunch includes a wide selection of dishes, such as beef kusta, grilled chicken, chickpea salad, and rice. At 3pm every day, evening tea is served with sweet and savory bites (I like lemon cake with marmalade filling), and a choice of tea and coffee.

Dinner is also a prescribed menu, with the same choice of meat and fish, side dishes, salads, and cheese plates, coupled with red and white wine pairs featuring South African vineyards. Guests can book a private dinner at the “Restaurant” floating in the lagoon every night, except when the hippos is too active nearby.

The seafront bar is open all day. Although it is filled with almost any spirit, I exclusively choose gin and tonic every night made with Sentinel Okavango gin. Botswana’s distillation supplies a mixture with seeds from the indigenous mopane tree, which tastes like juniper. Another South African spirit, Amarula, is a cream liquor made of Marula tree, and I poured a little into my night coffee to take local with Irish Baileys coffee.

Each room also has a coffee station and tea filled with all the accents for a hot cup -even a short bread jar.

Activity and experience

The four main activities are included in accommodation at the Xugana Island Lodge: boating, mokoro rides, natural walks, and fishing. Guests can also choose to take a helicopter visit for additional fees. With more than 400 species in Delta, world-class damping is also an option.

The boat occurred on a motor vessel, average flowing around the drainage to find crocodiles, hippos, birds, and occasional elephants who came to drink by the water. On one visit, we saw a massive crocodile that absorbs the sun on the cliff, and bloating hippos (in fact, if not painful, the term for a group of aquatic mammals) on the night swimming.

On another morning, we drove ourselves on a ship to the nearby Palm Island in Delta for Safari to walk. To my very untrained eyes, it is a broad green field, part of the tropical Savanna Biome, but a very trained guide, Gee and metal, stop every foot to show hidden treasure: hidden families, Hulking White Buffalo Skull. We also saw the Red Lechwe herd, a Babun team playing on the tree, and the island’s single zebra, standing on a bid to scan the landscape.

Mokoro is a traditional, human power with a pillar that reminds a venetian gondolier. It was very peaceful in the evening, when the lilies were still full.

On the last night I stayed, we had riders around Firepit on the new seawater deck that came out to the lagoon. We saw the crocodile in the water and absorbed by the hippos grunting before the sunset and the sky lit with a star. As a person living in a city, it is a rare treatment to see the abundant Milky and Constellations, especially the Southern Cross, which can only be seen in the southern hemisphere.

A family -friendly performance

Xugana Island Lodge welcomes families with children over six years old. A family accommodation is designed with two double-duni tents connected. There is also a living room with a comfortable seating seat that turns to the bed for two additional guests, which can be transferred from the main bedroom for privacy. All activities including Xugana are children friendly.

Desert & Delta Safari also offers the ultimate family safari (UFS), and the families who book a private vehicle and guidance at each camp with customized activities and wise touches. These include children-friendly welcome packs, more flexible meals, and excellent guides to engage in the youngest safari-goers for interactive activities on things like animal tracking, bush skills, and cookie.

Accessibility and sustainability

The camp is accessible with a wooden ramp that can be managed through a wheelchair, and a tent is accessible, with a wheelchair -friendly ramp. All tents have a shower.

Desert & Delta Safaris is an eco -certified resort, Botswana’s highest status for a sustainable tourism initiative. The Xugana Camp is fully operational in solar power, and bottle water is replaced by water purified through the reverse osmosis system (RO). The redevelopment of the hut is done by reducing the environmental impact. The main guest area is built with environmentally friendly materials such as sustainable forests in South Africa, accommodation designed with high roofs to cool naturally and avoiding the use of air conditioners, while the layouts are priced to protect existing plants.

I arrived shortly after the property was reopened to guests, and surrounded by growing growth and many wildlife, difficult to tell that the new construction was for a reason.

Location

Located north of Botswana In OkavangoLodge is located in the Xugana Lagoon in the middle of the delta. Guests arrive through Cessna Air Safari, often moving from another Safari Desert & Delta camp located nationwide. It is also accessible from Kasane’s Regional Airport and Maun Botswana.

After landing on a rural airway, we walked a few meters to a motorcycle boat waiting for about seven minutes to cruise to a stopped house. The boat’s journey is the highlight, weaving through the papyrus waterways before entering the lagoon, with a beautiful beach lodge in the distance.

How to get the most value from your stay

Desert & Delta Safari is not part of the loyalty program.

The night rate at the Xugana Island Lodge starts from $ 1,290 per person every night, on the basis of double occupancy, during the peak season from May to October. All foods are included.

The T+L hotel study was written by an editor or journalist who had been staying on the property, and each hotel was selected in line with us Core value.