African Bush Camps is marking nearly two decades of operating in the country, highlighting its commitment to conservation, community development and local leadership.
Founded in 2006 by Zimbabwean guide Beks Ndlovu, the luxury safari company operates across the Okavango Delta, Khwai Community Concession and Linyanti Reserve. Its Botswana portfolio includes Atzaró Okavango Camp, Khwai Leadwood, Khwai Lediba, Linyanti Bush Camp, Linyanti Ebony and Linyanti Expeditions.
African Bush Camps says its entire Botswana workforce is Batswana, with most employees coming from communities surrounding its safari operations. The company also runs an annual guide-training programme, closing its Experiences for ten days to refresh guides’ skills in tracking, first aid, safety, ecology and hospitality.
Its Female Guides Programme, launched in November 2021, has trained seven women in Botswana alongside counterparts in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Two have graduated as professional guides.
Through the African Bush Camps Foundation, the company supports community-led initiatives. In Ditshiping Village, near Atzaró Okavango Camp, projects include a community garden developed with SAVE Wildlife Conservation Botswana, a restored clinic and a community borehole.
African Bush Camps says its entire Botswana workforce is Batswana, with most employees coming from communities surrounding its safari operations. The company also runs an annual guide-training programme, closing its Experiences for ten days to refresh guides’ skills in tracking, first aid, safety, ecology and hospitality.
In Khwai, the Foundation supports local schools and the Junior Ranger Programme, which has taken children from Khwai Primary School into the bush twice a week since 2024.
“The Junior Ranger Programme is already changing how young people in Khwai see their environment,” says Selly Kegakamang, Botswana Country Lead for the Foundation. “They’re more confident, more curious and more hopeful, and that’s exactly the kind of impact we want to create.”
The company has also secured a 15-year lease renewal in the Linyanti Reserve, extending a partnership with the local community.
“A tender becomes a pledge,” says Ndlovu. “And from there, you are expected to deliver. We’re honoured that this community believes we have.” As part of its 20th-anniversary celebrations, African Bush Camps has unveiled TALA Gin, its first signature spirit. Handcrafted with Cape Craft Lab, it is distilled from wild sage, wild basil and jackalberry foraged near Atzaró Okavango Camp. The company says it will soon be available exclusively at its safari Experiences. “For 20 years, we have measured success by what truly matters: flourishing landscapes, empowered communities and experiences that resonate long after the safari ends,” says Ndlovu. Through its safari operations and foundation, African Bush Camps says it aims to strengthen the connection between tourism, conservation and the communities that sustain Botswana’s wildlife economy.
