Mashatu Lodge

Mashatu Lodge sits in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve in the far east of Botswana, where the Limpopo and Shashe rivers meet. Tuli is the country’s forgotten corner: sandstone, riverine forest and enormous elephant herds, reachable by road from South Africa in a way that the Delta and Chobe are not.

Suites at Mashatu Lodge

Fourteen air-conditioned luxury suites along the camp perimeter, each with a double bed, an extra-large single and a seating area with a day bed, and an en-suite bathroom with both bath and shower. The layout is designed to take families.

Facilities at Mashatu Lodge

A waterhole in front of the camp, dining and lounge areas, and the reserve’s guiding operation.

Who it suits

Families, photographers working the Tuli hides, and travellers who want serious Botswana game viewing without a light-aircraft budget.

Location and access

Reachable by road via the Pont Drift border with South Africa, or by air. This is the most road-accessible big-game reserve in Botswana.

Tuli offers serious game viewing without national-park fees

Northern Tuli is private land, so it carries no national-park fees and no fly-in requirement. That changes the arithmetic completely: a Tuli trip costs a fraction of a Delta one and delivers elephant, leopard and eland in landscape most people have never seen photographed. It is the answer for anyone told Botswana is out of reach.

The Land of Giants is about more than elephant

The name refers to the elephants, the baobabs and the sandstone. In practice Tuli is also one of the better places in southern Africa for eland, for leopard on rock, and for raptors. Come expecting a different palette from the Delta rather than a cheaper version of it.

Plan the rest of your trip

Read our guide to the Northern Tuli Game Reserve, or to Francistown.