Two elephants stand at the grassy edge of a pan in front of a green safari tent on a raised deck, bare trees behind and the sky pink at dusk, the scene reflected in the water

Botswana  ·  Chobe National Park

Nogatsaa Pans Chobe Lodge

Chobe in the old style: in the bush, at eye level, waiting by water.

Nogatsaa Pans Chobe Lodge sits in the heart of Chobe National Park, in a part of the park that has remained remote and largely untouched, and it is built around a very old idea of what a safari should be. The landscape is open grassland dotted with clay-bottom pans and waterholes, and the area has been fitted with hides overlooking them, so that the game viewing begins before the vehicle does.

The lodge itself looks out over Kwikamba Pan, the largest of the many pans that pattern the area. A pan is a patient place. Animals come to it on their own schedule, and the correct response is to sit still and wait for the schedule to reveal itself. Nogatsaa is very good at giving you somewhere to sit.

The sun low over a still pan, its orange reflection in the water; on the far bank two tents stand among bare trees and a lone elephant walks between them
Sundown over the pan, tents on the far bank
This is Chobe in the old style: in the bush, at eye level, waiting by water.

The phrase the lodge uses is a safari reminiscent of yesteryear, and for once that is not nostalgia for its own sake. This is Chobe in the old style: in the bush, at eye level, waiting by water.

Some of the best game viewing in the park is quite literally on the doorstep. The trick is to remember to open the door.

01

The lodge

The main deck at dusk under a deep blue sky: a dead tree grows up through the timber boards, hurricane lanterns glow on the deck and rails, wicker sofas face a raised viewing platform
The main deck at dusk, lanterns lit
From the lounge, a wicker sofa with orange cushions faces the rail; beyond it three elephants walk the shoreline of the pan
Elephants at the water, from the lounge
Two wicker loungers and a pair of red drinks under a large umbrella on the pool deck, the pan and open grassland stretching away under a clouded sky
The pool deck, looking out to the pan

02

The tents

A green canvas guest tent on a raised timber deck, its front open to the grass, with a tall dead tree standing in front of it
A guest tent, under a dead tree
Inside a tent: a white-linen bed with brass reading lamps and a red kilim rug, the glass doors open onto the deck and the pan beyond
From the bed, the pan
The camp seen across the grass: three tents set back among bare trees under a hazy yellow sky
The tents among the trees

03

On the doorstep

A breeding herd of elephants, calves among them, gathers in front of a green guest tent on its deck
A breeding herd, at a tent's doorstep
A lioness crouches to drink at the edge of a pan with her cubs at her side, on grey clay dotted with dry grass
A lioness and her cubs, drinking
A lioness walks across short grass in front of the lodge's open game-drive vehicle, three people watching from their seats
A lioness passes the vehicleNogatsaa Pans Chobe Lodge

Nogatsaa Pans Chobe Lodge

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