Botswana: Where to Stay: Luxury: Abu Camp

Abu Camp

One of the legendary bush camps of Africa, Abu Camp provides the kind of monumental experience we seek when we travel to exotic places. Here you can sit atop the world’s largest mammal, behind an expert mahout who steers it in style, urging it on with “Move it up, Cathy, move it up.” From this oh-so-peaceful perch (no chug, chug of an engine), your mount’s trunk swinging in front of you, ears flapping back against your ankles, baby elephants frolicking through the waters beside you, you may encounter lions, cheetahs, wild dogs and all the other glorious fauna of the Okavango Delta. The whole thing has a ploddingly majestic 18th-century feel to it, and as you look about at the vast, glimmering horizon, you know you are in a pure, untainted Africa—no vehicles, no other people. At the end of the day there are campfires, sophisticated suppers and informal talks about the elephants and their conservation—Abu’s was founded by Randall Moore, who rescued orphaned elephants from America and transported them home to pioneer elephant-back safaris in Botswana. Finally, you retire to tents outfitted in old-fashioned luxury with mahogany beds, copper baths and platforms for viewing the lagoon. Awesome.