Location:
Located on a vast private concession of 260,000 acres of land which borders the Moremi Game Reserve, Stanley’s Camp is located on the southern tip of Chief’s Island. This private community concession is by definition in a seasonal delta and the floodwaters usually arrive around June.
The Camp:
Stanley’s is a classic tented camp with just eight tents built around an imposing sausage tree on a private concession overlooking the Okavango floodplains. The area around the camp changes with the seasons – from lush green when the rain flows down from the Angolan highlands to dry savannah when the Kalahari Desert tightens its grip.
This intimate camp is gathered around a large sitting and dining area which affords magnificent views over the floodplains of the Okavango Delta. From the swimming pool, watch giraffe and other plains game march across the savannah. You might even catch a glimpse of rare wild dogs stalking the plains. This is one of the best places in the world for seeing buffalo in large numbers, with herds often exceeding 2,000.
Each canvas tent at Sanctuary Stanley’s boasts a traditional ceiling fan and is individually designed, but all have a classic and understated elegance that harks back to the explorers and colonialists of the 19th century. Large wooden decks provide private areas for guests to relax in hammocks or enjoy cocktails before dinner in the spectacular dining mess.
Activities & Wildlife:
Guests have the opportunity to venture out at night on exciting game drives to see the many nocturnal animals that live here. The evening drive starts after sundown cocktails, using a spotlight to winkle out elusive nocturnal creatures including the ones that are easier to catch a glimpse of in the dark, like hyena and leopard. Tiny fireball eyes that seem to levitate through the air and reappear again in different trees are bush babies, just one of several different creatures to be found. Game drives are not typical here, as water crossings are part of the adventure, and watching zebra standing belly-deep in water, grazing, is a sight to see! Even giraffe will cross water up to their hocks. During higher water levels, game drives will be combined with motorised boating excursions. (Night drives are seasonal, depending on water levels)
The Okavango Delta is of course flooded for much of the year and when it is, guests can experience serene silence at the gentle pace of a poled mokoro excursion along the narrow Delta channels. Guests can sit back and relax as they glide through lily ponds on local dugout canoes while they get eye to eye with a buffalo as it laps water from the river, watch crocodiles sunbathe on the banks or cruise past a pod of hippos as they lie in a pool. Fish eagles, frogs and fabulous lilies form much of this experience, but more frequently it is the quietness and gentle pace that makes its impression on guests after a mokoro morning.
Professional guides accompany guests as they learn about the bush from a different perspective, up close and personal with the environment. Walking safaris is the perfect way to awaken ones senses where guests can touch, feel and smell the African bush while listening to the various interesting stories the guides have to tell. Lion, leopard, elephants, genets and even millipedes are all part of the signs, each with their story to tell. Walking safaris is about seeing the small five and the various flora in the area.