Travelers joining the nine-day Atzaró African Ultimate Experience can now visit Elephant Havens, Botswana’s only elephant orphanage, as part of their stay in the Okavango Delta.
The new conservation-focused excursion combines a scenic helicopter flight from Atzaró Okavango Camp with a guided visit to the sanctuary, where orphaned and abandoned elephants receive specialized care before ultimately being returned to the wild.
The experience expands Atzaró’s existing journey through South Africa and Botswana, which combines a Cape Town city stay with game drives, mokoro excursions, guided walks, and wildlife encounters in the Okavango Delta.
Meeting Botswana’s Rescued Elephants
The excursion begins with a short helicopter flight over the Okavango Delta’s waterways, floodplains, and palm-dotted islands. Guests land near Elephant Havens, a nonprofit conservation organization located along the Gomoti River at the edge of the Delta.
During the visit, experienced handlers introduce guests to some of the sanctuary’s young elephants and explain the circumstances that brought them into its care. Visitors also learn about elephant behavior, rehabilitation, human-wildlife conflict, and the conservation challenges facing Botswana’s wild elephant population.
Depending on the type of visit selected, the experience may include walking alongside the elephants while they forage and observing them swimming or cooling themselves in the mud. Any direct interaction, including offering approved treats, takes place under the supervision of the sanctuary’s handlers and according to the elephants’ daily routines.
Standard, extended, and private visits are available. A portion of the excursion’s cost is directed to Elephant Havens’ rescue, rehabilitation, conservation, and community programs.
Inside the Work of Elephant Havens
Elephant Havens has been working in Botswana since 2018. Its 140-acre orphanage provides a protected environment where young elephants receive food, veterinary attention, companionship, and round-the-clock care.
Many of the elephants arrive after being orphaned or abandoned at an age when they would be unable to survive independently. Handlers remain closely involved during the early stages of rehabilitation, providing specialized milk formula, health monitoring, and emotional support.
As the elephants grow, the organization works toward gradually reducing their dependence on people. Older elephants move through a soft-release program before they are considered ready to return to the wild. In 2024, 12 elephants cared for by the organization were reintroduced into a protected wilderness area.
Elephant Havens also works beyond the orphanage. Its initiatives include conservation education, community outreach, habitat protection, job creation, water projects, and programs designed to reduce conflict between elephants and neighboring communities.
“Elephant Havens does remarkable work rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned elephants, and we wanted our guests to see that work firsthand, not just hear about it,” said Vicente Guasch, Chief Global Officer of Atzaró Collection. “It felt like the right addition to this itinerary, and a natural extension of how we already think about conservation across Atzaró Okavango.”
A Nine-Day Journey Through Cape Town and Botswana
The Atzaró African Ultimate Experience begins with three nights at Atzaró Cape Town, a small boutique hotel positioned at the foot of Table Mountain.
During the Cape Town portion of the itinerary, guests take a full-day tour of the Cape Peninsula. The route includes Chapman’s Peak Drive, Cape Point Nature Reserve, and the African penguin colony at Boulders Beach.
Travelers then continue to Botswana for four nights at Atzaró Okavango Camp. The newly added Elephant Havens excursion takes place during this portion of the trip. After leaving the Delta, guests return to Cape Town for a final night before departure.
Beginning the Adventure at Atzaró Cape Town
Atzaró Cape Town is a six-suite design hotel overlooking Cape Town, Table Mountain, and the surrounding gardens.
Direct access to Table Mountain’s trails makes the property particularly appealing to active travelers. Guided hikes, Cape Peninsula drives, helicopter flights, and customized tours of the Cape Winelands can also be arranged.
Its elevated location provides a peaceful alternative to staying in the busiest parts of the city while still allowing guests to explore Cape Town’s restaurants, beaches, museums, and waterfront.
Safari Life at Atzaró Okavango Camp
Located on the private NG/32 concession between Moremi Game Reserve and the Gomoti Plains, Atzaró Okavango Camp combines safari activities with design-led accommodations and wellness facilities.
The camp’s suites and private villas overlook a lagoon and include private plunge pools, terraces, and outdoor bathing areas. Interiors bring together parquet flooring, mid-century furnishings, antiques, handcrafted objects, and African textiles.
Game drives are led by local guides and trackers, with seasonal opportunities to see elephants, hippos, lions, leopards, African wild dogs, antelope, and abundant birdlife. Water-based activities include mokoro canoe excursions through the Delta’s smaller channels, while guided walks introduce travelers to animal tracks, plants, insects, and other details that can be missed from a safari vehicle.
Guests can also take part in helicopter safaris, bush dining, cultural visits, and stargazing. Back at camp, facilities include a lagoon-facing swimming pool, spa, yoga shala, open-air gym, wine cellar, observation deck, gallery, and traditional boma.
DRIFT previously explored the property in its feature on Atzaró Okavango as a new African safari destination.
Conservation Beyond the Elephant Visit
Atzaró Okavango operates primarily on solar power and uses a reverse-osmosis system to treat its water. The camp also works with African Bush Camps and its foundation on conservation and community initiatives.
The Elephant Havens visit gives travelers another way to understand the relationship between tourism, wildlife protection, and neighboring communities. Rather than encountering elephants only during game drives, visitors can learn about the long rehabilitation process required when a calf loses its herd.
That perspective is particularly important in Botswana, which supports the world’s largest national elephant population. Protecting that population requires more than preserving wilderness. It also depends on reducing human-wildlife conflict and ensuring that communities living alongside elephants benefit from conservation.
Choosing When to Visit Botswana
Wildlife experiences in the Okavango Delta change throughout the year. The dry season generally brings wildlife toward permanent water sources, while the wetter green season transforms the landscape with fresh vegetation, dramatic skies, migratory birds, and newborn animals.
Travelers considering a quieter, greener safari can read DRIFT’s guide to visiting Botswana during green season.
Regardless of the season, the addition of Elephant Havens gives the Atzaró African Ultimate Experience a more meaningful conservation dimension. It connects a luxury safari with the people working every day to rehabilitate orphaned elephants and protect the habitats they will eventually return to
