andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge

On a private concession in the eastern Okavango Delta, adjacent to the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana, andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge occupies a site of exceptional ecological richness where the papyrus-lined channels of the delta’s inland sea meet the Mopane woodland and floodplain grassland that support the highest wildlife densities in the Okavango system. The lodge’s 12 suites were designed by the Johannesburg-based studio Michaelis Boyd with a sculptural architecture of locally harvested saplings and reclaimed timber that appears to have grown organically from the riverine forest rather than been built within it, and the visual integration of the structures with the surrounding vegetation gives Sandibe a distinctive physical character among the Okavango’s luxury camps. The papyrus channels and open floodplains visible from the camp’s public spaces and elevated walkways provide the primary landscape context.

Game activities at Sandibe span mokoro excursions in the papyrus-lined channels — the traditional dugout canoe providing an intimate perspective on the delta’s aquatic and wetland wildlife that no powered vehicle can replicate — motorised boat drives through the deeper channels, game drives on the floodplain grassland, and guided walks in the Mopane woodland. The Delta’s wildlife character — the elephant herds that swim between islands, the hippo and crocodile of the permanent channels, the red lechwe antelope of the floodplains, and the exceptional birdlife of the papyrus and riverine habitats — provides a qualitatively different wildlife experience from the drier ecosystems of the south. Night drives and specialist birding excursions complete the programme.

andBeyond Sandibe’s conservation work in the Okavango focuses on the health of the delta’s water system and the floodplain dynamics that maintain the wetland’s biodiversity, with the andBeyond Africa Foundation’s community partnerships with the communities of the eastern delta giving the conservation work a social dimension rooted in the livelihoods of the people whose daily lives are most directly affected by the state of the Okavango’s ecology.