Okavango Delta, Botswana

Recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, the marshlands and flooded plains of northern Botswana’s Okavango Delta are a must visit even for the most experienced African-safari goer. This year the area adds two eco-friendly, solar-powered safari lodges from which to explore its natural bounty. There’s the intimate Khwai Leadwood, an upscale, low-impact tented camp on a community-run concession along the Khwai River banks, where guests can take helicopter tours for aerial views of the lush ecosystem and spot bathing elephant herds and prowling lions. On the fringes of the Moremi Game Reserve, art and animal sightings define the 12-suite Xigera Safari Lodge—an experiential “living gallery” adorned with the works of nearly 80 sub-Saharan-based designers and artisans—perched on stilts above a languid water channel. —Travis Levius

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