Khwai Leadwood is open and we are so proud to share the Khwai Leadwood story with you, not to mention feedback from our representative in the USA, Wazha Dube. He was in Cape Town recently and I had a chance to interview him about his trip.
Khwai is the culmination of a dream Beks had when he was a young guide, leading mobile tented safaris through Botswana. When he started his first camp, Somalisa, Zimbabwe was going through an economic downturn, which led him to expand to Linyanti, in Botswana. This is what led to the idea of expanding and venturing into new grounds. Flash forward to now, Khwai Leadwood marks our 16th camp and we are beyond excited for you to experience it. What is amazing, is that Beks actually stood at this site many years ago, by the anthill that we've built the lodge around. Finally, we are here and have a chance to share the magic with all of you.
When Moremi became a national park, Basarwa people were displaced and moved into the Khwai area. Beks has a longstanding relationship with them and Khwai is a community-run concession that benefits the locals and that is part of the reason we felt it a perfect fit for our African Bush Camps journey. We sourced labour from the community and during the building process. Our process of establishing a camp & adopting people into the camp starts here - we identify enthusiastic people and start upskilling them to be involved with the camp. In line with all our ABC camps, Khwai Leadwood?is fully sustainable with a solar farm and a bio-rock system as to not impact the ecosystem in the area.
The interior also celebrates the community and it's history with various basket works incorporated into the design. We also drew inspiration from local mud huts called 'Kgotla'. People in the area also use ingenious, eco-friendly designs such as utilizing wine bottles into these huts, which we have also implemented into the build of Khwai Leadwood.
The wildlife in Khwai is simply spectacular - you are almost guaranteed to see the big 5 on your safari and if not, you will surely be entertained by the magnitude of the area, landscape and activities. The Okavango Delta is a unique natural phenomenon where the water that flows from the Angolan Highlands floods the desert area in Botswana in its dry season. This means that you get the benefits of the dry season visibility and also beautiful unique water experiences. Water is life, and with the mixture of good water source and the rich Kalahari soils, this creates incredible vegetation to the area, for antelope, buffalo and other grazers, which in turn means that the predator life is remarkable, leopards, lions, wild dog and hyena are all prevalent in this area.
We were fortunate enough to secure a spot for a semi-permanent camp in a very secluded area of the Khwai concession which sits on a permanent river that stems from the Okavango Delta. This incredible spot also allows us to offer unique activities such as night drives, boating and scenic helicopter rides. It is truly an authentic yet luxurious safari experience and we hope you can come to experience it.
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