Mapula

The team have given the original lodge a facelift, and the nine thatched cottages are replete with king size metal four-posters and feather-filled pillows to fall face first into after a day’s game viewing. Ensuite bathrooms have both indoor and outdoor showers, and there’s two natty Malawi chairs in the mini lounge area, ideal for siesta snoozes. Safari-chic finishing touches include rich Kilims on the floors, polished butler trays and brass lanterns.

At the main area, an aquamarine swimming pool is the perfect antidote to hot Delta afternoons – and if the cool waters don’t tempt you in, the views over the hippo-filled lagoon below might. If you’d rather stay dry, pick a perch in the lounge to keep watch over the wildlife action; there’s a variety of comfy sofas and slouchy armchairs to choose from. Then there’s our ‘chill pit’, a sunken lounge area overlooking the lagoon, which does exactly what it says on the tin.

This enormous, 220,000-acre concession is slightly to the north of the renowned Vumbura and Duba Plains concessions on the northern side of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Despite its vast size (and the abundance of game), the area is home to only a handful of camps, making it a prime destination for those looking for an exclusive experience in a blissfully uncrowded area. The camp itself occupies an enviable position on a large, treed island at the edge of seasonal floodplains along the upper reaches of the famous Selinda Spillway, the river that connects the Okavango Delta to the Linyanti.