Southern Africa’s long summer days begin in November, and for two properties in the Kaelo Destinations portfolio that sunshine does real work. At Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, solar power runs most of the camps, while Pambele Beach House in Mozambique operates completely off the grid. As the new season opens, Kaelo Destinations is sharing what goes on behind the scenes at these properties and how each guest stay gives back to the surrounding land and communities.
The Kaelo Destinations collection is made up of places chosen for their natural beauty, authenticity and sense of purpose, and it continues to grow. Its first two destinations are Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana and Pambele Beach House in Mozambique. Kaelo is a Setswana word that translates as “to guide”, “guardian” or “to nurture”, a meaning that captures the group’s goal of guiding travellers and partners on a journey built on care and respect for the land and its people. Maggie and Stephen Lansdown CBE founded the collection on a vision centred on conservation-first tourism, authentic experiences and community upliftment.
Solar-powered camps in eastern Botswana
In the Northern Tuli Game Reserve of eastern Botswana, Mashatu Game Reserve spans 42,000 hectares of private land. Kaelo Destinations reports that five out of six camps on the reserve draw on solar power and are classed as green camps, something made practical by the many days of sunshine Botswana enjoys every year. The sun dries the laundry, the gardens feature indigenous plants, and every guest is given a refillable flask to cut down on single-use plastic and water consumption.
Local spending is central to how the reserve operates. Some 95% of Mashatu’s supplies come from inside Botswana, covering everything from food and drinks to building materials and vehicle parts. At Merryhill, the reserve’s headquarters, a central recycling plant processes glass and tins and manages waste reuse for the whole reserve. Guests staying at a Botswana safari lodge here may never notice these systems, but they quietly govern the daily running of every camp.
Open land for free-roaming wildlife
Eight rivers cross Mashatu, creating corridors along which animals roam freely, and the reserve does not permit hunting or culling. Every stay carries a conservation levy, and according to the collection, the projects it funds have saved roughly a million litres of water a month and protected over 86 of Mashatu’s iconic trees. Work continues on erosion rehabilitation, alien plant control and elephant-safe fencing to shield those trees.
The same levies pay for anti-poaching units, the management of human-wildlife conflict, and restoration projects run through the Tuli Conservation Trust and NOTUGRE. Tracking systems generate spatial data that feeds research on elephants, big cats and migratory birds. Choosing a Botswana safari at Mashatu means contributing to long-running work in one of the region’s most varied wilderness areas, an area celebrated for its big elephant herds and reliable big cat sightings.
Living off-grid on the Mozambican coast
Pambele Beach House carries this philosophy to the shoreline of Mozambique’s San Sebastian Peninsula. Set within the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary with views over the Bazaruto Archipelago, the exclusive-use house relies wholly on solar energy and has no link to city power. Desalination supplies all of the lodge’s water, and drinking water is drawn straight from the air, with humidity converted into fresh water for both guests and staff.
Instead of single-use plastic bottles, every guest is handed a refillable bottle made from biodegradable wheat straw. Pambele buys from nearby island suppliers and small local producers wherever it can, which sustains livelihoods and keeps its environmental impact light. Current projects include building a new community clinic. Few Mozambique beach resorts can say their guests’ stay is powered, watered and supplied in quite this way.
What this means for guests this season
Summer arrives in southern Africa in November. Across the Tuli, the heat builds, migratory birds fly back and newborn antelope begin to dot the plains. Along the Mozambican coastline, the dry season winds down with warm weather and cloudless skies. Sunshine is abundant in both places at this time of year, and both reveal how the collection’s properties are built to work alongside their climate instead of fighting it.
The advantage for travellers is straightforward. Because the conservation levy is already part of every Kaelo stay, each booking automatically backs the conservation, community and culture initiatives outlined here, with nothing extra for guests to arrange. Stays are also shaped by low guest numbers, private access and interiors that sit comfortably within the surrounding landscape.
Lodges, camps and private homes
Kaelo’s options at Mashatu include Euphorbia Mashatu, a five-star lodge with eight private villas; Kolokolo Safari Home, which sleeps up to eight on an exclusive-use basis; Mashatu Lodge; Tuli Safari Lodge Mashatu, offering eight luxury tented suites beside the Limpopo River; and Mashatu Tent Camp. For groups of eight, Shalimpo Safari Home and Fika Futi Safari Camp provide exclusive-use, self-catering stays. WalkMashatu is an immersive walking safari, with nights spent under the stars in custom-designed tents.
Over in Mozambique, Pambele hosts up to 10 guests, offering direct access to the beach and a wide choice of activities on land and water, including snorkelling, kayaking through the mangroves and bush drives within the sanctuary.
A popular choice is to combine both, spending time in the Botswana bush before heading to the Indian Ocean shoreline. The result is a trip across two destinations that follow the same approach to conservation, community and design.
What comes next
Kaelo Destinations plans to introduce new journeys, new destinations and fresh ways to experience meaningful travel, and is building a portfolio of places that share its sense of purpose. In the meantime, its two founding properties demonstrate that purpose in action, whether through solar panels and sun-dried laundry in Botswana or drinking water pulled from the sea air in Mozambique.
To learn more about the collection, see current offers and read about the group’s conservation work, visit https://kaelodestinations.com/.
About Kaelo Destinations
Kaelo Destinations is a collection of luxury safari lodges and beach retreats across southern Africa, founded under the vision of Maggie and Stephen Lansdown CBE. The collection began with two destinations: Mashatu Game Reserve, a 42,000-hectare private reserve in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve of Botswana, and Pambele Beach House, an exclusive-use, off-grid beach house in Mozambique’s Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary. A conservation levy is included in every stay to support conservation and community initiatives.
Media Contact
Kaelo Destinations
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +27 31 761 3440
Website: https://kaelodestinations.com/
