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Xugana Island Lodge

Tlogoeankwes, Botswana (general), Botswana

Xugana Island Lodge

Xugana Island Lodge is a water-based luxury safari lodge operated by Desert & Delta. It is a fairly small lodge, only accommodating 16 guests. The accommodations are quite nice, the food is quite good, and the staff is excellent.

As the name implies, Xugana Island Lodge is on an island. There are no cars on the island, so all the activities take place either on boats, or by walking. The scenery at Xugana is beautiful, and the water activities are a nice change from game drives.

We spent two nights at Xugana, and I felt that was just about right. I was sorry to leave, and would have enjoyed another morning walking safari, but otherwise two nights felt about the right length of time. I didn't feel like we bonded very well with our guide at Xugana, but all the rest of the staff was incredibly cheerful, helpful, and made us feel like we were at home.

Accommodations

Inside the room at Xuguana

The rooms at Xugana Island Lodge were quite nice. There were only 8 lodges on the island, which gave it a very intimate and family feel. The rooms were all quite nice, with three thatched walls, a bathroom with a shower (with gas-heated hot water), and two sinks. The fourth wall was mostly mesh with a sliding glass door. It was positioned directly opposite the bed, giving us beautiful views of the lagoon out the wall. During our visit to Botswana, we also stayed at Camp Moremi. The rooms at Xugana were significantly nicer and had fewer bugs.

Electricity provided by a generator was available during the day, but the generator was switched off at night during the winter (to keep it quiet). During the summer, the generator may stay on to power fans to help keep cool. The rooms do not have any heating/air conditioning.

Daily Itinerary

One of the lodges

When we visited during the winter (July), someone woke us up at 6am and left a thermos of hot water. Breakfast started at 6:30am, and we left for our morning activity, usually a walking safari, around 7am. We were often back just in time for brunch at 11:30am.

We had the early afternoons off, and got back together for tea at 3pm. Depending on the afternoon activity, we left between 3:10pm - 3:30pm. We were back by 6pm, at which point we could optionally return to our rooms or sit by the camp fire. Dinner was served at 7:30pm, followed by more optional time around the camp fire.

Food

Indoor and Outdoor Dinning rooms at Xugana

The food at Xugana Island Lodge was all quite good. Breakfast consisted of toast, bread, cheeses, yogurt, cereal, hot porridge, tea, and coffee. There was an egg/omelette bar with brunch, along with salads and two hot dishes (usually one meat, one vegetarian). Tea time had one small snack and a small dessert (along with tea). Dinner had a served appetizer, usually a soup, then a buffet of salads, hot meat items, a hot vegetarian item, and followed by a served dessert. The lodge was fully inclusive, so all wine/spirits/beers/juices were included.

Activities

Many varieties of birds at the hippo pond

Makoro boats

For the morning activity, we went on a walking safari. Our guide said there were three islands they took guests to. We visited Palm Island on our first morning, and Sausage Island on the next day. We had an up-close-and-personal encounter with a large male elephant on Sausage Island, but didn't see very much on Palm Island. Of course, encounters are random, so every day is different. Even without animal encounters, our guides provided interesting hands on information about the environment and plant life. Each walking safari was lead by two guides - one who stood at the front of the line, and one at the back. We felt safe in the knowledgeable hands of our guides. The walking safaris last about 3 hours.

The first afternoon, we took the motor boat to Hippo Pond, approximately 50 minutes away. The reeds were very pretty to drive through on the boat. There were a few hippos hiding in the water at Hippo Pond, but we didn't see too many.

The other afternoon activity was a Makoro boat ride. The boat is a shallow dug-out canoe, currently made of fiberglass (since cutting down the trees is illegal). It was a little bit tricky to get our balance at first. I felt it was slightly more unstable than a canoe or kayak, but it still felt pretty stable. We were comfortable bringing our large cameras on board and taking pictures, although we had to be careful when adjusting anything. Your guide stands in the back of the makoro and uses a long pool to push you along. There is no motor, so the trip is very quiet and relaxing. Since it's silent, it is easier to sneak up on birds. The ride is in a shallow part of the water so there are no hippos or large crocodiles.

During the afternoon activity, our guide brought along an optional alcoholic beverage to enjoy as the sun was setting. That seemed pretty common at all the safari lodges we stayed at.