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Leroo La Tau
A river that came back, and a cliff to watch it from.
Ten metres above the water
A cliff on the Boteti's west bank, and the lodge along its lip, with Makgadikgadi Pans National Park beginning on the far side of the river. It faces east, so the day starts with the sun coming up over the park and ends with the river below turning the colour of the sky. Between the two, the bank is the show: zebra and wildebeest in the dry months, elephant most of the year, hippo and crocodile in the water that stays, and the lions that follow all of them.
The main building is thatch and timber on the cliff's lip: a dining room with long tables, a bar, a library of the wildlife kind, and a pool on the edge with the river under it. Meals move between the tables, the deck and the bush, and the fire is lit at the boma on the cliff most evenings. Down a path at water level, a reed hide with a bench and a string of lights puts you at the river's own height for the hour before dinner.
Glass at the front, river beyond
Each chalet is a thatched room on its own raised platform, glass across the whole front and a wooden deck beyond the glass, so you can lie in bed and watch the river without lifting your head. The bathroom is tiled and roomy, with a shower and twin basins; there are fans over the beds, a safe, tea and coffee, and a torch for the walk back after dinner. The twelve are spaced along the cliff, each with its own stretch of bank in front of it. The family chalet near the main area has two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, and takes two adults with two children.
The river is the reason
Two activities run each day, and most of them turn on the river. Morning and afternoon drives cross into the national park and work the grassland and the riverbank — the zebra and wildebeest herds at the water between July and October, elephant, lion, and the smaller night shift on drives that run after dark, which the park allows here. When the Boteti carries enough water, a motorboat takes the afternoon on the river itself; guided walks near the lodge and a visit to Khumaga village across the river are on the board as well.
Two things need a three-night stay, and both are pre-booked: a full day out to Nxai Pan and its baobabs, or a night on the Makgadikgadi salt pans under the stars, from mid-June to the end of October. On a two-night stay the drives and the river are the programme, and the pans themselves stay a full day's drive away.
The lodge is a river lodge on the park's edge, not a salt-pan camp. The white flats are a full day away and reached only by the three-night extras; the daily drives keep to the Boteti and the grassland behind it, which is where the game is.
The Boteti stopped flowing in 1988 and lay dry for the best part of twenty years, until the record floods of 2009 pushed the Okavango's water this far south again and the river under the lodge filled from end to end.
The western edge of the pans
Leroo La Tau is on the west bank of the Boteti River, which forms the western boundary of Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, about 140 kilometres south-east of Maun. The flight from Maun lands at the lodge's own airstrip after around 35 minutes in the air, with half an hour's transfer from there; the road from Maun is tar for most of the way and takes about two hours.
What it costs.
Rates are per person per night, based on two guests travelling together (sharing).
Dry country, with water in it
Leroo La Tau shows a face of Botswana the Delta cannot: open dry grassland, salt pans on the horizon, and one river running through it that every animal for miles depends on. In the dry months that dependence is the safari: the herds come to the water under the lodge, and the lions come to the herds. Add the hide down at the water, drives after dark, and the two long-stay extras out to the baobabs and the pans, and the lodge belongs on a route that otherwise runs on water.
Is this for you
- ✓You want the dry country and the salt pans set against the Delta on one journey
- ✓The idea of the herds at the river below your room appeals more than boats and channels
- ✓You can give it three nights and take the day at Nxai Pan or the night on the pans
Tell us your dates and how many nights you can give the Boteti, and we'll pair Leroo La Tau with the Delta camp that suits you and place the flights between them.
The fine print.
- —All meals, refreshments, local spirits and wines
- —Two scheduled safari activities daily
- —National park fees
- —Laundry and the return airstrip transfers
- —Flights to and from the lodge's airstrip
- —Premium-brand drinks
- —Travel and medical insurance
- —Gratuities and items of a personal nature
The lodge takes children from six, always sharing a chalet with an adult; the family chalet sleeps two adults with two children. Under-twelves go out on private activities, booked ahead at an extra charge per vehicle, and a few activities are for older children only.
The flight from Maun to Leroo La Tau Airstrip takes about 35 minutes, and the transfer from the strip to the lodge about thirty minutes more. From Maun by road it is about two hours, tar for most of the way.
Satellite WiFi reaches the main area and is not guaranteed. A generator supplies power by day and evening; overnight the lighting runs on low voltage.
The lodge closes for about a month in the rains, in February. The Nxai Pan day and the salt-pan sleep-out need a stay of three nights or more, are pre-booked, and depend on the weather and the season.