OKAVANGO DELTA LODGE

ARCHITECTURE - VISI MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 14, 2022

A recent refurb has breathed new life into Jao Camp, a luxury safari camp located on a private island in the middle of the Okavango.

An elephant drinks from the swamp as a crocodile cruises by, only its beady eyes giving away its presence. A mother and father hippo protect their calf below the surface as a mokoro is expertly steered between the swishing reeds. A lilac-breasted roller flies overhead, displaying its rainbow-like plumage. It’s scenes and moments like these in the Okavango Delta that guests get to experience at Wilderness Safaris’ Jao Camp.

Owned by David and Cathy Kays, fourth-generation Batswana, and their son Martin, Jao Camp was originally built at the turn of the millennium, and recently underwent a complete renovation. Entrusted by the Kays for its first design in 1999 were dynamic husband-and-wife architecture-and-design duo Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens – and they were called on once again for its reinterpretation.