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Accommodation, Experiences

The Little Black Book of solar run Luxury Lodges in Botswana

Ker & Downey Africa > Journal > The Little Black Book about of solar run Luxury Lodges in Botswana

Welcome to the heart of Africa’s awe-inspiring wilderness, where luxury and sustainability harmoniously coexist. Our exclusive collection of solar-powered lodges for your next safari in Botswana, offers discerning travelers a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the pristine beauty of this captivating land while treading lightly on the environment. These lodges exemplify the perfect blend of opulence and eco-consciousness, where every indulgence is guilt-free and every moment is a testament to a commitment to responsible luxury travel. Join us on a remarkable journey to discover the serenity and enchantment of these solar-run lodges, all while embracing the power of sustainable living.

Below, we share the reasons, and our top picks of why choosing a solar-run lodge for your safari in Botswana is the ideal choice for your next safari. Many of the lodges are in remote locations, so solar-run is not only a wise, environmental choice but also a sound one to enable guests to enjoy the beauty, grandeur, and luxury of a safari, in comfort.

Environment

Environmental Sustainability

Solar-run camps are designed to minimize their ecological impact. They rely on clean, renewable energy from the sun, reducing the need for fossil fuels, decreasing carbon emissions, and, critically, not polluting the wildlife-rich areas where they are situated.
Gas lamp

Off-Grid Adventure

These camps are often located far from conventional power sources in remote areas. Staying in a solar-run camp allows you to experience the beauty of the wilderness while still enjoying modern amenities.
Noise

Reduced Noise and Pollution

Solar-run camps typically use battery storage systems to provide power during the night, ensuring a quiet and pollution-free environment, for both animals and guests, which is ideal for wildlife viewing and stargazing.
Responsible

Responsible Tourism


By choosing a solar-run camp, you support responsible and sustainable tourism. These camps prioritize conservation efforts, work with local communities, experts, and conservation groups, and employ a range of local staff, contributing to the local economy.
Tent

Unique Accommodation

Many solar-run camps offer unique and eco-friendly accommodation options, such as luxury tents or eco-lodges. These structures often blend seamlessly with the natural surroundings, providing an immersive experience.
Elephant

Wildlife Conservation

Africa is home to diverse and endangered wildlife species, all of which require protection and conservation. Staying in solar-run camps contributes to the conservation efforts of these animals and their habitats, as these camps typically adhere to strict conservation guidelines.
Stars

Night Sky Observation

Namibia is renowned for its dark skies, making it an excellent destination for stargazing and astrophotography. Solar-run camps minimize light pollution, enhancing your nighttime celestial viewing experience.
Community

Community Engagement


Many solar-run camps have meaningful partnerships with local communities, providing opportunities for cultural exchanges and interactions with indigenous people. This can add depth to your travel experience.
sustainability

Sustainability Education

These camps often offer educational programs about solar energy, conservation, and sustainable living. Guests can learn about the importance of protecting fragile ecosystems.
Lion Paw

Exclusive Experiences

Solar-run camps are often located in private concessions ( and you know how much the Ker & Downey Africa team love private concessions) or conservation areas, allowing for exclusive wildlife encounters and activities like guided nature walks, canoe trips, day and night game drives, and birdwatching.

Jack’s Camp | Makgadikgadi Salt Pans

One of the most famous camps for a safari in Botswana – Jack’s Camp, underwent renovations and reopened in 2021, revitalized and with all of its old-world glitz and style still intact. The camp is one of just three in a one million-acre private wildlife reserve, so you can enjoy the utmost in space and seclusion. Like all Natural Selection camps, it has been built in complete harmony with nature to leave a minimal footprint and is of course, solar-run.

Jack’s Camp, underwent renovations and reopened in 2021, revitalized and with all of its old-world glitz and style still intact.

Suite Interior at Jack’s Camp

Safari glamour at Jack’s Camp

Quad biking, bushman hikes, traditional desert game drives, meerkat encounters, and horseback riding are just a few of the remarkable activities available. The camp has one of the most comprehensive collections of ancient artifacts in Botswana, collected and curated by the Bousfield family over decades. Keep your eyes peeled for the year-round desert wildlife: brown hyena, oryx, Kalahari lion, and, after dark, aardvark, porcupine, honey badger, and bat-eared fox.

Jao Camp | Okavango Delta

Wilderness Jao Camp, located in the center of the Okavango Delta on an isolated island and only reachable by helicopter, offers a private and secluded experience in an authentic African setting. Jao Camp is a multi-leveled structure that is decorated with local carvings and artwork. It additionally features one of Botswana’s top spas and breathtaking views.

Young guests are looked after as part of the Bush Buddy program, which is tailored to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers with a range of age-appropriate safari activities.

Jao Camp

Natural architecture is inspired by the surrounding views
Jao Camp is a multi-leveled structure that is decorated with local carvings and artwork.

DumaTau Camp | Savute Channel – Linyanti

Home to Africa’s highest density of elephants, the Wilderness DumaTau Camp offers exceptional encounters with herds of these majestic animals. Its name means ‘roar of the lion’ in Setswana, but it’s also home to the elephants. While lions and other predators like wild dogs thrive here, the elephants steal the show at this solar run lodge for your next luxury safari in Botswana. Watch great herds crisscross ancient wildlife corridors, spraying one another playfully in the Linyanti’s waters and munching on water lilies.

The eight large tented rooms at DumaTau, each with its private plunge pool, are elevated on wooden walkways just a few feet from the tranquil wildlife wandering around the camp.

Private pool decks at Wilderness Dumatau

Enjoy wildlife sightings from your private pool at DumaTau

The eight large tented rooms at DumaTau, each with its private plunge pool, are elevated on wooden walkways just a few feet from the tranquil wildlife wandering around the camp. One of Botswana’s most cherished wildlife areas of refuge, the Linyanti, is reflected in the interiors through hand-crafted mosaic tile, acacia wood, and regional fabrics. The elephants that pass by DumaTau are part of the biggest population on the continent. Paying no attention to borders and customs, these elephants are part of Africa’s last great mega-herd. Just by being here, you help to conserve this crucial piece of land in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, these precious pachyderms, and the keystone species that call the Linyanti home.

Great Plains Selinda Camp | Selinda Spillway

Sunset views at Camp Selinda

Sunsets over the Linyati marshes at Camp Selinda

A seasonal canal connecting the famed Okavango Delta and the floodplains of the Linyanti marshes, the beautiful Selinda Spillway is visible from the world-class, solar-run Selinda Camp. Three one-bedroom tented suites with canvas ceilings, cool thatch roofs, and private bathrooms are available for visitors to rest in. Enjoy a four-poster bed that is opulently soft and romantically covered with mosquito netting. Guests can enjoy delicious breakfasts under the cool shade of the camp’s distinctively built thatched roof or tantalizing three-course dinners on the open “star deck” of the camp. To further entertain guests, there is a wine cellar, media library, plunge pool, and boutique shop. The complimentary Canon professional camera equipment will help you polish your photographic abilities, or take a moment to indulge and revitalize and enjoy one of the holistic Spa treatments on offer at this solar-run lodge. The perfect safari in Botswana luxury lodge.

Belmond Eagle Island Lodge | Okavango Delta

The Botswana wetlands are graced by the classic grandeur of Eagle Island Lodge. Each of the 12 light-filled, high-ceilinged tented suites features a plunge pool and an expansive bed with views of the Delta, or enjoy the views from your private plunge pool. Get up close and personal with the animals of this UNESCO World Heritage Site as you quietly paddle past hippos and watch fish eagles soar above for a safari in Botswana.

Guests on a mokoro sunset cruise

Mokoro game viewing at Eagle Island Lodge
Get up close and personal with the animals of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In order to reduce the deadly confrontation in Northern Botswana between predators and humans, the lodge has teamed up with Wild Entrust Africa. Six strategically placed video traps enhance the project’s groundbreaking scent-mark study, which keeps predators away from livestock, and rather safely inside protected wildlife areas, with the aid of the camp’s contributions. Guests are able to stop by the Wild Dog Research camp and listen to a researcher from the Botswana Predator Conservation Programme discuss their intriguing and important work.

Sanctuary Baine’s Camp | Okavango Delta

Guests on a boat on the Boro River

The solar run camp is elevated over the Boro River on raised platforms

Sanctuary Baines’ Camp is located in a private concession that borders the Moremi Game Reserve and is set in a tree-lined setting with papyrus beds all around it. The solar run camp is elevated over the Boro River on raised platforms. The camp promoted can collection in Maun, with fees given for each, can collected. These recycled cans served as the framework for the camp’s buildings, bringing sustainability into the very backbone of this solar run camp. This is one of the most romantic camps in Africa with sky beds as well as sky baths on your private deck of the suite.

Linyanti Ebony Camp | Linyanti marshes

This solar run Linyanti Ebony Camp is situated along the banks of the Linyanti Marsh, the only year-round supply of water for the vast array of animals in the area. This beautiful safari in Botswana camp is ideally situated to provide visitors with a real, game-filled safari experience in the distinctive Linyanti ecosystem. Only four luxurious tents (including a family tent) with breathtaking views of the surrounding forest are available here at this solar-run haven. It is part of African Bush Camps.

This beautiful safari camp is ideally situated to provide visitors with a real, game-filled safari experience in the distinctive Linyanti ecosystem.

Fireside chats at Linyanti Ebony

Luxurious safari moments at Linyanti Ebony Camp

Linyanti Ebony Camp’s main guest area is made up of a lovely lounge, a dining room where exquisite Pan-African meals are served, and an idyllic splash pool. There are twice-daily game drives, walking safaris, birding cruises, mokoro excursions, fishing, and other adventures. The blend of water and land-based safari activities ensures all guests will find elements to fall in love with.

Wilderness Mombo Camp | Okavango Delta

Enjoy the stylish sustainability of solar-run Mombo Camp. This luxurious solar run safari lodge is located in a fantastic location, where the main Okavango River splits into its primary channels, in the Okavango Delta, which offers some of the best wildlife watching on Earth. Discover what many consider to be the greatest Botswana place for year-round game watching, with exhilarating big cat predator-prey interactions.

Guests on picnic at Mombo

Picnics at Mombo
Discover what many consider to be the greatest Botswana place for year-round game-watching.

Mombo, which has a rich history, continues the customs of the storied original safari camp. The expansive wood and canvas rooms in a forest of enormous mangosteen and fig trees tempt guests with panoramic views of the Okavango Delta floodplain, rich with animals. At Mombo, meals are prepared using nutritious, delicious recipes that are kind to the environment and focus on local ingredients like the iconic baobab, whose natural superfood powder provides an array of health benefits.

Wilderness King’s Pool Camp | Linyanti Wildlife Reserve

Guests on the Queen Silvia

Enjoy high tea and sundowners on the Queen Silvia boat in the lagoon

This is the real Africa. In the underground hide, go so near to an elephant’s trunk that you could count their toes as they splash in the water. King’s Pool is surrounded by a wealth of wildlife, so guests can anticipate the royal treatment as the wildlife comes to you in this opulent safari camp. Solar run King’s Pool’s menu elevates regional products from farmers who coexist alongside Botswana’s wildlife. Enjoy high tea and sundowners on the Queen Silvia boat in the lagoon, or enjoy your lunch in the hide overlooking the water, where other animals could join you for an afternoon drink. In the 126 000-ha Linyanti Wildlife Reserve in Botswana, King’s Pool is located close to a crucial wildlife corridor. Elephant populations across Africa depend on the health of these wildlife corridors, which span Angola, Namibia, Zambia, and Botswana. You’ll get a chance to interact with them up close, knowing your stay is contributing to their protection.

 

When planning a safari, allow our travel experts to curate an itinerary with specific options that will suit you, and align with your preferences and values. This way, you will be able to enjoy a sustainable and memorable adventure while supporting eco-friendly tourism with these solar run lodges.

 

See you out there for your next safari in Botswana!

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safari in Botswana

safari in Botswana

safari in Botswana

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safari in Botswana

safari in Botswana

safari in Botswana

safari in Botswana