Best Baths In Botswana
Safari Baths With A View: Okavango Delta, Moremi And Linyanti
A hot bath at the end of a game drive, with the floodplain still in view and a cold drink within reach, is one of the great small pleasures of a Botswana safari. Not every camp has a tub, and many offer indoor and outdoor showers only, so we have gathered the Okavango Delta lodges and camps where the bath is part of the reason to stay.
The baths come in three styles:
- Out on the deck: the lantern-lit star baths at Baines' Camp, and the outdoor tubs in the honeymoon tents at Jacana Camp, Little Vumbura and Sable Alley.
- Copper and brass: copper tubs at Duba Plains Camp, claw-foot copper at Zarafa Camp and a brass bath at Selinda Camp.
- A view from indoors: floor-to-ceiling glass at Chief's Camp, and bathtubs in every suite at Jao Camp, Xigera Safari Lodge, Tawana and North Island Okavango.
Most of these camps are spread across the Okavango Delta, several of them inside Moremi Game Reserve. Sable Alley is in the Khwai Private Reserve, and Selinda and Zarafa are in the private Selinda Reserve, which links the Delta with the Linyanti. Where the bath comes with one room only, ask for that room by name when you book.
Looking for plunge pools, sleep-out decks or private dinners instead? See our Botswana honeymoon lodges.
Our Pick Of Botswana’s Safari Baths
Baines Camp
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
Choose Baines' Camp if you want the bath outside: every suite has a lantern-lit star bath on its private deck, raised above the Boro River on a private concession bordering Moremi. Book a night drive, then come back to a soak under the stars.
Duba Plains Camp
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
A copper bathtub is the centrepiece of every tented suite's open-plan bathroom at Duba Plains Camp, looking out over the floodplains of a private reserve in the northern Okavango Delta. Choose it for lion and buffalo country with a long soak between drives.
Jacana Camp
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
Book the honeymoon tent at Jacana Camp for its claw-foot tub out on the deck, a bubble bath with the Delta all around. The camp sits on a small island in the private Jao Concession and is usually surrounded by water.
Jao Camp
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
Jao Camp's bathrooms are generous: a bathtub, double vanity and indoor and outdoor showers, with a private plunge pool on the deck. Pick it for a Delta stay that mixes land and water activities as the flood rises and falls, on the private Jao Concession.
Little Vumbura Camp
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
Ask for the honeymoon tent at Little Vumbura: it has a private outdoor Victorian-style bathtub facing the floodplains, while the other tents have indoor and outdoor showers. The camp sits on a wooded island in a private concession in the northern Okavango Delta.
North Island Okavango
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
Lie back in the bathtub at North Island Okavango and the view is the lagoon, where hippo are often seen, with an outdoor shower alongside. The camp has its own private island in the Sekwana Concession, northern Okavango Delta.
Sable Alley
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
Sable Alley's honeymoon tent has an outdoor bathtub on its deck overlooking the lagoon; the other tents have indoor and outdoor showers. The camp sits in the Khwai Private Reserve, bordering Moremi, and elephant and buffalo come down to drink at the lagoon.
Sanctuary Chiefs Camp
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
Chief's Camp sets a large bathtub behind floor-to-ceiling windows and folding glass doors, with an outdoor shower too, so the floodplain view comes with the bubbles. The camp lies on Chief's Island, inside Moremi Game Reserve.
Selinda Camp
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
For a brass bathtub under thatch, go to Selinda Camp, where each suite also has a private plunge pool and a broad veranda. It stands on the Selinda Spillway as it enters the Linyanti River, in the private Selinda Reserve.
Tawana Camp
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
Opened in 2024 on the Gomoti River in south-eastern Moremi Game Reserve, Tawana gives every suite a bathtub with indoor and outdoor showers, plus a private plunge pool and an outdoor sala.
Xigera Safari Lodge
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
No two suites look alike at Xigera Safari Lodge, but each has a freestanding bathtub with views over the Delta, plus indoor and outdoor showers. The lodge stands on Paradise Island, in a private concession within Moremi Game Reserve.
Zarafa Camp
Rates form part of a safari itinerary
Zarafa Camp brings Great Plains' signature claw-foot copper bathtub to every suite, with a private plunge pool on the deck. Choose it for the view over Zibadianja Lagoon, source of the Savuti Channel, in the private Selinda Reserve.
Best Baths In Botswana: Your Questions Answered
Which Botswana safari camps have a bath with a view?
Our pick spans the Okavango Delta and the Linyanti. Baines' Camp, Duba Plains, Jacana, Jao, Little Vumbura and North Island Okavango are in the wider Delta. Chief's Camp, Tawana and Xigera are inside Moremi Game Reserve, Sable Alley is in Khwai, and Selinda Camp and Zarafa Camp are in the Selinda Reserve.
Which camps have an outdoor bath?
Baines' Camp puts a star bath on the private deck of every suite. At Jacana Camp, Little Vumbura and Sable Alley, the outdoor tub comes with the honeymoon tent only, and the other tents have indoor and outdoor showers. Ask for the honeymoon tent by name when you book.
What is a star bath?
A star bath is the freestanding tub set out on each suite's private deck at Baines' Camp, ringed with lanterns for an evening soak under the night sky. The decks stand above the Boro River on a private concession bordering Moremi. Ask the camp team to draw it for you after the afternoon activity.
Which camps have copper or brass baths?
Duba Plains Camp and Zarafa Camp, both run by Great Plains Conservation, have copper bathtubs, with a claw-foot design at Zarafa. Selinda Camp, in the same Selinda Reserve as Zarafa, has a brass bath, and its suites add a private plunge pool on the veranda.
Which camps have a bath with a view from indoors?
At Chief's Camp, a large bathtub sits behind floor-to-ceiling windows and folding glass doors that open towards the Delta. Duba Plains Camp makes its copper tub the centrepiece of an open-plan bathroom facing the floodplains, and the bathtubs at North Island Okavango look out over the camp's lagoon.
Can you see wildlife from the bath?
Sometimes, though nothing is guaranteed. Elephant and hippo are often seen from the decks at Baines' Camp, elephant and buffalo come down to drink at the lagoon in front of Sable Alley, and hippo are regularly seen in North Island Okavango's lagoon. Keep your binoculars beside the tub.
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