Botswana – Sandibe and Nxabega
My second photo safari kicked off with a bush plane flight from Maun to Sandibe (San-de-be) lodge, one of the many &Beyond camps in the area. Sandibe was brand new from the ground up with a full opening only 4 months ago. Designed around the endangered Pangloin, the designs are unique and fresh. The rooms include huge outdoor seating areas, a personal plunge pool, indoor and outdoor showers, and a huge living area. It seems to me that nothing had been overlooked. The main lodge area was modern archichure with open beam concept, again based around the Pangloin. With our guide GEE and tracker Gates, five of us piled into the Land Cruiser every morning shortly after 5am. Although the hours were long, we were rewarded with lots of leopards and wonderful landscapes of the Okavango Delta.
Private plunge pool on the deck of my room at Sandibe with a classic sunset over the water. Nikon D4, Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 at 24mm, ISO 5000, 1/30 sec at f/6.3
After 6 days at Sandibe, it was time to move to our final camp, Nxabega. The tented rooms at Nxabega are on raised permanent floors with showers and facilities inside the tent. They are huge tents and looking at them from the inside, you would never know you were inside a tent. I’ll post some photos of both camps in the near future. A private helicopter charter rounded out our trip and provided a great overview of the Okavango Delta from the air.
Ill be back to Sandibe in some 10 days and Sandra, the manager, is pulling in some special items for me so look out for another round of Martini Madness from the Delta, as I step behind the bar again to teach some mixology to the staff. Look out for dreamy drinks such as fresh pear, peach, and apple martinis followed by my signature basil-cucumber martini. It should be a great time behind the bar after a day on safari.
Cheers and happy photo’ing.