Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge takes the shape of a pangolin at rest, curled beside the Santantadibe Channel. Its ribs are timber, its scales cedar shingles. Twelve suites are raised on posts above the papyrus like golden weavers’ nests. Beyond them runs a private concession bordering Moremi Game Reserve, where elephants and buffalo share the ground with lions, leopards and cheetahs.
The afternoon drive carries on into the evening.
Outside the reserve, the concession allows what Moremi does not. The afternoon drive carries on into the evening. Vehicles carry six guests at most and may leave the track, with care, to follow a sighting. Walks leave from camp, with a higher minimum age that we confirm at booking, to read tracks and scents and listen to birdsong.
Delta concessions are leased on fixed terms. When this one came up for renewal, the original camp was cleared and the lodge rebuilt from the ground up in the mid-2010s, almost entirely in wood. The ribs are laminated pine and the scales cedar shingles, while eucalyptus runs underfoot. Fabric screens take the place of glass, and the timber is weathering to a pale grey.
The odd elephant still wades over to drink from a plunge pool.
Inside, the fabrics keep to taupe and cream with bronze accents. Each suite hides behind a stand of reeds, with a channel of water between its deck and the elephant herds that wander past. The odd elephant still wades over to drink from a plunge pool. The rebuild was planned around the Delta’s first solar power plant, and guests can ask for a look behind the scenes.
Light aircraft bring guests from Maun to the shared Chitabe airstrip, and a game drive covers the rest of the way. The lodge also keeps a resident helicopter, used for transfers and for scenic flights over the Delta. The final approach is made on foot, beneath wild palms and gnarled fig trees, and the pangolin roof shows itself only at the last moment. Behind the lodge, golden grass runs out across the floodplain to palm islands and giant termite mounds, and the drives reach them however high the floodwater rises.
Open at the sides and low to the ground, the main lodge gives the dining room straight onto the floodplain, its deck running out past the roofline. The day is marked by what arrives on the viewing platform upstairs, cappuccino at sunrise and gin and tonic at sunset. Dinner moves between the dining room and a log boma under the stars. In the interactive kitchen, guests are handed the dough for their own pizzas, baked in a traditional oven, or the makings of a gourmet burger, and Botswana beef and artisan breads fill out the menu.
Monkeys scramble over the shingled roofs, and crocodiles lie almost submerged in the channel.
Children of every age can stay. The Family Suite links two suites by a covered walkway for two adults and two children, or three on request, and one standard suite takes a third bed for a child of 16 or under. A children’s programme keeps three- to twelve-year-olds busy with activities of their own, and childminders can be booked on arrival. Game drives are open from age six, at the camp manager’s discretion. Younger children head out in a private vehicle, at their family’s own pace.
Giraffes and wildebeest come close to camp, and so do buffalo and hyenas. Monkeys scramble over the shingled roofs, and crocodiles lie almost submerged in the channel. Each suite keeps a pair of binoculars for watching all this from the deck, along with a Guides’ Journal to take home. Once night falls, the main lodge comes into its own, lit by pendant lamps shaped like woven baskets. Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge was built to be seen this way, glowing low among the trees as the night drive returns.
accommodation
Twelve suites sleep up to 24 guests, each raised on posts. Outside, a multi-level deck holds a daybed, an outdoor shower and a rim-flow plunge pool. Inside, a fireplace warms the open-plan lounge on cool nights, with a walk-in wardrobe, a personal bar, air conditioning and an en-suite bathroom with indoor shower.
activities
Morning drives and afternoon drives that run on after dark cover the private concession outside Moremi Game Reserve, with off-road driving allowed, and guided walks leave the lodge, with a higher minimum age. Photographic safaris and helicopter flights over the Delta are offered. Back at camp, guests can make pizzas or book a massage, and there is a gym.
conservation
Through Wild Impact, guests leaving the lodge can stop at the school in Sexaxa village. The signature shop sells crafts from local makers, and work by Botswana artisans fills the interiors. Zambian hardwood columns from the old camp were remade as vanities, and a biological plant treats water and solid waste on site.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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By light aircraft from Maun to the Chitabe airstrip, then a game drive to the lodge, which is part of the stay. Mack Air flies the Delta's camp routes from Maun on shared seat-in-plane flights in its Cessna Grand Caravan EX, and Maun has daily scheduled flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town. Kasane, near Victoria Falls, works as a starting point too, as does another camp in the Delta.
For your own timings we can arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan, landing at the same Chitabe airstrip. Sandibe also keeps a helicopter from Helicopter Horizons of Maun on site, so the transfer can be made by helicopter instead, flying straight in to the lodge over the channels and islands. Luggage on both is one soft bag a person, 20 kilograms at most, hand luggage included.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, places the northern half of Botswana, the Okavango Delta included, at high risk of malaria from October to May, when it recommends antimalarial tablets, and at low risk for the rest of the year, when it advises awareness and bite avoidance. The CDC lists the Okavango and Ngamiland districts among the areas where it recommends preventive medicine.
We are travel planners, not medical professionals, so the choice of tablets is one for you and your doctor or a travel clinic. Low risk is not no risk, and the lodge stands on the bank of a permanent channel, so long sleeves after dark and repellent are sensible in every month. The suites have mosquito nets.
No. Sandibe stands just outside Moremi Game Reserve, on a private concession that borders it in the south-east of the Okavango Delta, and the lodge's vehicles have the traversing rights over 22,500 hectares of it to themselves. The wildlife moves freely across the open boundary, so the animals are the same; what changes is how you see them.
On the concession the afternoon drive carries on after dark, guided walks go out from the lodge, and each vehicle takes six guests at most. The Chitabe camps share the wider concession and its airstrip, but each lodge keeps to its own ground.
No. Sandibe is a land lodge, and its days are built around game drives, guided walks and, at extra cost, scenic helicopter flights over the Delta for two to four guests. The channel in front of the suites is for looking at, from the plunge pool or the viewing platform off the upstairs bar.
Mokoro and motorboat trips run at camps on the deeper water further west, where they run from about May to September, when the flood is in. If the water matters to you, we pair two or three nights here with a water camp, so you see the delta both from a vehicle and from the reeds.
Yes, children of every age are welcome. The family suite is two suites joined by an enclosed walkway, for two adults and two children, or three on request, and one other suite takes a third bed for a child under 16. A children's programme for ages three to twelve covers track reading, bug hunts and baking with the chefs, and childminding can be arranged at extra cost.
Shared game drives take children from six, at the manager's discretion, with shorter drives for younger ones on request. For a family we usually book a private vehicle, at extra cost, so children of any age can join and the drive runs at their pace. Walks have a higher minimum age, confirmed at booking. The lodge is not fenced, so children stay with an adult at all times.
June to October. As the Kalahari around it dries out, game gathers on the Delta's permanent water, and July to September is the strongest stretch, with clear, mild days and the flood from Angola standing high. October is the most dramatic month of all, but the heat often passes 40C.
The lodge is open all year, and the green season has its own case. From December to March the herds scatter and the bush is thick, but young antelope are on the ground, migrant birds arrive, and storm skies make for striking photographs. It is the quietest and best-value time to come. April, May and November sit in between.
rated five stars by our clients
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
