Is This Botswana’s Best Safari?
By
11 hours ago
Checking into Eagle Island Lodge
The beauty of Eagle Island Lodge, a Belmond Safari, is that it’s wild in every sense of the word, says Luke Abrahams. Here, you well and truly are out in the bush and no matter where you rest your tush, Mother Nature reigns supreme indefinitely. Here’s what to expect.
Review: Eagle Island Lodge, A Belmond Safari
(© Nicolas Quiniou)
STAY
Home is a private island on the Okavango Delta, Botswana’s natural wonder and undisputed marvel of a turquoise jewel. Elephants, lions, leopards, buffalos, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, countless species of antelope and over 450 species of recorded birds frolic throughout its lands, spread over a colossal 6,000 sq km. They all get up close and personal the moment you nosedive onto the lodge’s private airstrip. And that’s part of the thrill.
While it lacks some of the finesse and attention to detail found elsewhere in southern African lodges, Eagle Island Lodge seriously delivers on peripheral design symbiosis. The bush acts as an artistic canvas in all the main spaces: the colour of wet elephants inspire the dark walls and all the long hanging lampshades are inspired by weavers’ nests. In the 12 suites, the barrier between nature is minimised visually and physically. Private decks house recliners and plunge pools (a bull elephant drank out of ours) and crocketed beams that are often home to nesting bats. Inside, the décor is ultra moody with vintage telephones, industrial-style chandeliers and a snug four-poster bed that eyes the delta-facing deck. Bathrooms? Dark and oddly sultry, crowned by a roomy marble egg tub. Showers, inside and out, along with well-lit double vanities and a closet chockers with all sorts of beauty modcons.
EAT
Saharan spirit dictates the menus at Eagle Island Lodge, with brekkie, lunch and dinner all served in the open-air restaurant. The offerings are simple but tasty, seasonally prepared with flare. Africana is absent albeit for the flavour and spice, with courses veering more on the modern European side: afternoon tea staples, eggs served any style and al-fresco Mediterranean salads. That said, the chefs will prepare traditional banquets for those who ask: Seswaa, Botswana’s national dish of slow cooked meat served over pap (a thick polenta); dikgobe, rice and peas; morogo (think spinach in a hefty sauce); and traditional style chicken, marinated in spices and cooked while buried in a pit lined with hot coals.
Airstrip dinners under the stars are especially grand, with the bar stocked with South African wines and international spirits, candle lit supper and, in our case, elephants stripping the maples in the background. Ask for the lights to be switched off the moment the moon sets. The reward? The Milky Way eclipsing the night sky in all its galactic glory. It is, without sounding too corny, pure celestial magic.
DO
Safari encounters are, in a word, exceptional here. While you won’t see the full Big Five (rhinos have been extinct in Botswana since 1985), you will have one of the most unique game drive experiences across southern Africa. As a private game reserve, you also have the perk of going off road and, in this part of the world, it pays off. Lions practically brush the side of the jeep and juvenile leopards cruise past, leaping yonders to the safety of their sky-high sanctuaries.
Visually it’s a 10, but perhaps the most rewarding part of a safari adventure at Eagle Island Lodge is that it serves up the wondrous art of perspective: here, no matter what you are, you are all equal in the food chain. It’s wildly liberating.
Adrenaline comes in the form of a heli flip that glides over the delta come sunset. Rides last twenty minutes, but you are left so in awe that time virtually feels like it stops. Giraffe, pods of hippos, a Nile crocodile, elephants and herds of antelope appeared in Lion King-esque panache, broken only by the snaking riverbeds and watering holes that make up the grand expanse of the delta.
THE FINAL WORD
There’s a certain sorcery to Eagle Island Lodge. While the digs verge on clinical chic, the surroundings make up for what’s lost in the patina. The game sightings here are irrevocably memorable and will remain deeply engrained in your mind’s eye for years to come. From a leopard eating the face off a baby impala to a quartet of hippos grazing under the glow of Venus and the moon in unison, I had some of the most visually delicious experiences on the delta, something that will set Eagle Island Lodge apart from the rest for years to come.
BOOK IT
Luke was a guest of Go2Africa, the leading tailor-made safari experts in Africa. Four nights in Botswana at Eagle Island Lodge, A Belmond Safari starts from £10,902 per person including return international flights with Virgin Atlantic. To book a bespoke experience, visit go2africa.com
Luke was travelling in Botswana when this review was conducted.
