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The high canvas walls are set upon a
wooden floor scattered with coir
mats, which leads out onto your
own private deck. The most
recent addition to Motsentsela Tree
Lodge are the two new thatched
honeymoon safari suites set
discreetly the trees, offering a bit
more luxury and privacy.
Best
Safari Camp Design
The
rooms at Motsentsela Tree Lodge
are certainly some of the most
attractive I have seen in a
tented safari camp and the reasons
why became apparent when I spoke to
the owner Brent Dacomb. It appears
Brent has designed and built many
safari camps in the Okavango Delta
and elsewhere, and when it came to
building his own safari camp, he
just selected all the best design
features and incorporated them
into Motsentsela Tree Lodge. For
once, here was someone able to tap
into hindsight to get the best
possible result.
The main lodge area of
Motsentsela Tree Lodge is an open
plan thatch affair with doors
opening onto a large teak deck
shaded by a Leadwood and Birdplum
tree, under which meals and drinks
are often served. Wooden tables and
chairs scatter the deck, while a
large brown leather sofa and easy
chairs with African fabric cushions
invite you inside to flop into them,
while your drinks are being poured
at the bar. Dining is also an
open affair, where you are
likely to chat over fresh and tasty
food with the other guests at one
big table.
Walk
Amongst Zebra
 A
great expanse of African bush is
right on the doorstep of Maun, and
Motsentsela Tree Lodge has its own
patch, which is roamed by zebra,
springbok, kudu, and I am sure I
saw a few cattle and horses too.
There are also some rarely-seen
nocturnal aardwolf and aardvark,
which if you see them, will put you
amongst the lucky few. Brent has
created walking trails through the
200 hectare game farm, which you can
explore on your own. You could of
course just relax by the very cute
pool. Whatever you do,
Motsentsela Tree Lodge should in my
opinion, be your preferred
accommodation when landing in Maun
at the start of your Botswana
safari.
©
Carrie Hampton 2004. This article is
written by travel writer and safari
specialist Carrie Hampton, who is
under no obligation to state
anything other than her personal
opinion. This article may not be
reproduced in any form without
permission.
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All
aspects of our stay were wonderful
and exceeded expectation. Many
thanks for making our visit relaxing
and memorable - Gael and John |
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Amazing
experience on its own, definitely
worth the value and I love its cameo
like ambiance -Lesley |
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We
found the lodge a welcoming and
beautiful introduction to
Botswana.Your staff were always
there when you needed them and I
cannot imagine a better way to
start a visit. -Heidman
|
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The most
wonderful place we have ever stayed,
thank you for a very friendly
and warm atmosphere - Elsie
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Simply a
wonderful place with wonderful
people, tents unbelievable
comfortable, great food and great
service - Callagan
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carry on
as you are and there will be very
little room for improvement, a very
enjoyable stay -Sandra
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I
would like to return with my family,
Andre and Anita were the perfect
hosts, made all of us feel at home -
Robert |
The Tourist
Magazine
It’s
an hour or so after dawn, and high in a
leadwood tree, a family of grey hornbills
stretch their wings to the morning sun and
sing their
 shrill, melodious song. There’s a
rustle deep in a nearby thicket and my guide
points to a flickering ear, all but
concealed in the shade. Slowly I take in the
outline of a great dun coloured shape, a
liquid eye and a set of white stripes
glowing dimly in the gloom. With an abrupt
cracking of twigs, the creature bounds out
of hiding and away, long spiralled horns
laid delicately over its back. “Greater
Kudu” we whisper admiringly.
So where is this magical wildlife encounter
taking place? Surely deep in the Delta or
some other wilderness area, miles from
transport and civilisation? In fact, the
pristine bush I’m standing in is just 15km
from Maun airport. Since its opening nearly
three years ago, Motsentsela Tree Lodge and
game reserve has added a new dimension to
any trip to Botswana’s celebrated northwest.
An overnight stop in Maun, always useful as
a precaution against the vagaries of the
international airline system, is no longer a
night wasted but a positive asset to any
holiday. Visitors who embark on adventurous
overland trips or camping safaris fall into
the embrace of the Motsentsela’s crisp linen
sheets, enormous baths and soft pillows with
a sigh of pleasure when they return.
 The emphasis at Tree Lodge, as it is
affectionately known, is on comfort and
pampering as well as nature. Tea and scones
are served in the afternoons, and on hot
days, the turquoise glimmer of a small
plunge pool beckons temptingly. Likewise,
those arriving frazzled from a series of
long international flights can relax in the
tranquil surroundings of the lodge and enjoy
a lie-in before setting off for a week or
two of 5am wake up calls and early morning
game drives. The network of bush walking
trails through the reserve means a chance to
stretch the legs for guests who’ve spent the
preceding days cooped up in a Land Rover.
The lack of predators here makes it
perfectly safe to walk alone and savour the
sights, sounds and smells of the forest in
perfect peace and quiet. For experienced
equestrians, bush horse rides are also
available.
Walking in the early morning through the 200
hectare game reserve that surrounds the Tree
Lodge, with sunlight gleaming on spiderwebs
and tawny butterflies dancing in the forest
clearings, I saw an impressive variety of
game in a short space of time. With a snort
from the bushes, a black springbok broke
cover and strutted away in a peculiar
high-legged trot, its dark pelt gleaming in
the watery light. Black springbok are
actually native to South Africa’s Karoo, and
only seen in Botswana in private reserves. A
few minutes later, we came across a herd of
zebra milling around on a patch of grass,
regarding the two-legged intruders with
their bemused striped faces before bounding
away.
Birds are everywhere at Motsentsela - the
forest that surrounds the buildings resounds
with birdsong and rustles with life, while
hornbills, rollers, forest kingfishers,
hoopoes and starlings flutter in the bird
baths set around the main lodge.
 Nearly 200
species have been recorded in the reserve,
and guided birding walks are available for
keen ornithologists. Frolicking around the
lodge area alongside the birds are
‘Botswana’s fattest squirrels’ as Carl and
Suzette, the lodge managers, laughingly call
the frisky little mammals that whisk up and
down the wooden balconies and compete with
the birds for the food scraps that are laid
out daily. It’s hard to believe that this
wildlife haven was a goat farm before owner
Brent Dacomb bought it and spent two years
lovingly restoring the ecosystem and
translocation in species such as giraffe,
eland, impala and oryx.
The main feature of the lounge/dining area
is the handsome teak deck, built in the
shade of a 1000-year-old leadwood tree –
there are several of these on the estate –
and the Motsentsela, or ‘bird plum’, that
gives the lodge its name. The décor inside
is rich and elegant, utilising creams,
browns and terracotta to create and earthy
and very African feel. Polished wood
artefacts and creamy ostrich eggs complete
the look. The tents, set well apart from
each other along sandy forest paths, are
truly magnificent, with stunning siligna
wood floors, polished to a golden glow, that
reflect the sunlight streaming in through
the many windows. Cushions trimmed with
animal designs set off the creamy cotton bed
linen, and arriving on a blustery
rainy-season night, I spent a blissful hour
or so soaking in the enormous claw-footed
tub that dominates the bathroom. For hotter
days, a shower is set outside on a deck
among the whisperings and rustlings of the
forest.
The Tree Lodge’s two new ‘honeymoon suites’
are elegantly romantic, with a sunken bath
looking onto the bush from behind a plate
glass window, decadent ostrich feather
decorations, an outdoor shower and a private
patio with sliding doors out into the bush.
The suites can also be turned into triple
rooms with the addition of an extra bed.
As one might expect, the food that
accompanies such high-class accommodation is
excellent and plentiful, with substantial
cooked breakfasts to send guests on their
way in the mornings. It’s no surprise that
many returning visitors now demand two
nights, rather than one, in this unique
haven before their reluctant departure for
the airport and the real world.
© The
Travel Magazine ~ Gemma Pitcher 2005
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Motsentsela
Tree Lodge has seven tented
safari rooms and two honeymoon
suites, that are so far from
camping it's not funny. They are so
stylish and comfortable, that
you
