How Mr & Mrs Smith spotted and then fell for Wilderness safari stays is a story that has all the excitement of your first wild big-cat sighting. As we scoured the plains of African luxury travel, we could but hope to find that rarest of species: a trusted travel specialist with the safari expertise, awe-inspiring camp locations and Smith-worthy levels of luxury to realise our dreams. Excellent tracking skills and a little of our hallmark ingenuity brought about that fateful first tête-à-tête, and now, 13 incredible safari stays — in Namibia, Rwanda and Botswana — have joined our collection.
The result is the safari stay equivalent of the Big Five, checking all the boxes for cosseting lodgings, remote access and seamless service. We’re the only digital collection with direct online bookings to Wilderness’s escapes, and when you book through us, a bespoke gift handcrafted by one of Wilderness’s local partners is your cherry-on-top Smith Extra.
Pick ’n’ mix planning is part of the beauty of this collection; all 13 camps have been chosen to work in any combination you wish (two or three nights in each is ideal). This means you can build your own itinerary directly through Mr & Mrs Smith; once you’ve booked your camps, Wilderness will be in touch directly to sort out your travel arrangements and any extras that need taking care of.
To whet your appetite, here’s an irresistible itinerary that takes in a trio of Wilderness stays. Knitted together with scheduled charter flights from Maun International Airport (between camps and then back to Maun), this trip showcases the abundance of wildlife and diversity of landscapes you can find in Botswana.
Days 1 to 4: Botswana’s north star
For this trip, geography dictates the order of play, starting with Wilderness DumaTau. This stilted camp is in Linyanti Wildlife Reserve, where Namibia’s Caprivi Strip stretches around the north Botswanan border.
Linyanti’s location bordering Chobe National Park speaks to its biodiversity: this is a landscape of open floodplains and riverine forest, where elephants wade in the shallows to munch on waterlilies and the reverberating, collective grunt of hippos is your morning alarm clock. Predators such as lions and wild dogs thrive here, meaning you can pack in sightings of more than just pachyderms — especially in Linyanti’s dry season between May and October, when animals of all kinds congregate in these unfenced reserves, drawn by the availability of water.
Wilderness DumaTau is set above 45 kilometres of riverbank and is flanked by two ancient wildlife corridors. Here, the drama unfolds from your ‘ringside’ canopied private deck, or as you’re sipping sundowners by the fire pit, stilted above the lagoon. But why leave catching the action to chance… Game drives are interspersed with boat cruises, perhaps breakfast afloat on a barge, or catch-and-release fishing from the banks of the Linyanti River.
We’d recommend three nights here — not just to enjoy your tented suite and private pool, but also to allow time to make the most of the camp’s spectacular setting, refined dining and spa treatments. Ink-skied stargazing is the awe-prompting footnote to days at DumaTau.
Days 4 to 7: year-round spectacle in Okavango
A short hop by plane from DumaTau, your next stop, the Okavango Delta, is better-known territory. Okavango’s seasonal floodplains are what put Botswana on the map for safari, and this is where Wilderness’s story began in the 1980s. In the Kwedi concession in the Delta’s north, Wilderness Vumbura Plains is a king among stays for its ability to deliver safari on land and by boat, all year round. Vumbura is one of only two camps in this private reserve, setting you up for tranquil game drives amid mopane bushveld and unhurried putt-putting along verdant waterways aboard a mokoro (dugout canoe).
Spy wide-toed African Jacanas strut from lily pad to pad; marvel at tiny reed frogs camouflaged against towering fronds; or draw back from the gaping jaws of a bathing hippo mid-yawn. On the plains, buffalo, lion and assorted antelope vie for your attention, with an expert guide on hand to take you to the heart of the action.
Around 400 species of birds and 122 different mammals make the Delta their home, but none of their dwellings are as polished as your plunge-pool toting, thatch-roofed suite at the water’s edge at Wilderness Vumbura Plains, the safari provider’s most spacious outpost in the Delta. Two family suites here are a fabulous fit if you’re on safari with little Smiths in tow.
Totally taken care of
Comfortable lodgings are not the only lure, however. There’s a beauty to the wraparound service here that’s as impressive as the vistas. Sure, with all Wilderness stays, there are very few extras to pay for — leaving you untroubled by the financials while you’re immersed in nature — but there is also smooth choreography to the manner in which days unfold. Wildlife guides with decades of experience between them know exactly where to head to deliver game-drive drama. Seasoned staff in camp make all the difference, too: the way a cool drink appears just when you’re feeling thirsty, or pre-dinner cocktails are whisked to your side; a barbecue savoured beneath a blanket of stars at the camp’s boma is a truly luxurious ‘just because’ moment.
Days 7 to 9: killer thrills at Chitabe
Still in the Okavango Delta, your third stop, Wilderness Chitabe, shows how varied this region can be: it lies south of Vumbura in its namesake 69,000-acre concession and is set on an island of trees overlooking the plains — a raised camp of stilted walkways and just eight suites for adults only. It’s the Pamela Anderson of basecamps, having been around for 30 years but now, thanks to a fresh approach (framed by considerations of sustainability), continues to be a head-turner.
Another way to think of Chitabe is as a masterpiece lookout: it sits on a peninsula amid a patchwork of habitats that serves up an ever-changing variety of wildlife. This is a camp where elephants come to shake nuts from the palms with their trunks; where wild dogs raise their pups nearby; and where there’s a resident pride of lions. Heart-pumping moments such as your safari 4×4 fording the shallows to get closer to the action, or coming across fresh leopard tracks when you’re on foot with a guide, are woven into the daily tapestry of thrills here. Exploring the reserve from the air on a helicopter safari is a memorable extra, too.
Downtime at Wilderness Chitabe is a convivial affair. Alongside opportunities to encounter the area’s wildlife, staff from the community and a calendar of cultural events introduce you to the local way of life. What airy, tented suites lack in private plunge pools is made up for with a sizeable swimming spot beside a high-ceilinged lounge-bar and terrace that are Chitabe’s sociable heart; and massages can be arranged within the comfort of your suite.
As night cloaks the landscape, step away from the crackle of logs burning in the fire pit and the contented hum of after-dinner conversation and you may even catch the distant rumble of roaring lions, out in the darkness, patrolling the plains.
READY TO BOOK YOUR SMITH SAFARI? HERE’S HOW…
1 Explore our three Wilderness destinations, Botswana, Rwanda and Namibia.
2 Browse the camps in your chosen destination and use the map to explore how they relate geographically. We also provide a taster itinerary on the ‘Location’ tab for each Wilderness stay, so you can easily see your booking options within each country.
3 With your shortlist of stays, you can choose to either book online through our website or contact our in-house experts, the Smith 24 travel team.
4 Once your lodgings are sorted, the Wilderness team will be in touch directly to arrange travel between camps and any other excursions that require booking ahead.
Discover our full collection of Wilderness luxury safari stays across Botswana, Rwanda and Namibia.
Photography by Adrianna Glaviano