A life-changing experience awaits GCC travellers this Festive Season, offering complete disconnect from bustling city life and a chance to connect with the humbling wilderness and enter the New Year revived with a new sense of adventure and spirit. Wilderness Collection’s Abu Camp delivers one of Africa’s most impressive wildlife experiences and captures the senses, minds and hearts of all who visit, offering an incomparable opportunity to intimately engage and physically interact with the Abu elephant herd through varied activities. Perfect for couples, friends or families, Abu Camp is a refuge of peace and tranquility and offers the perfect adventure for welcoming in the New Year.
As a guest of Abu Camp, guests are invited to immerse themselves with the resident elephant herd, with the activities that follow over the remainder of the stay offering an all-encompassing and unforgettable experience. Abu Camp is unique in that it allows guests to interact with the elephants, meeting each individual and initiating a journey into the complex behaviour of the largest land mammal on Earth: watching the evening feeding, sharing the simple joy of a frolicking youngster, and accompanying them on foot as they move through the bush. Guests can also engage in elephant-back safaris, allowing for a closer approach to other wildlife than can be achieved when simply walking as an obvious human figure.
Pioneered in the early 1990s, Abu Camp has been running for 20 years, and as such is the original elephant safari experience in Africa. While never forgetting its environmental footprint, this one-of-a-kind experience aims to provide the very best in privacy, location, accommodation and service. While the surroundings are that of pristine pocket of riverine forest, the accommodation at this magnificent camp is nothing short of five-star luxury comforts. Six sumptuous en-suite accommodation units exhibit their own distinctive elegance: high ceilings and wide and airy spaces. Blending in seamlessly with the natural surroundings, each tent is graced with generous decks, an indoor and outdoor shower and panoramic views of the Okavango Delta, while a secluded plunge pool enables guests to cool off and relax. A well-stocked library of African literature and field guides is the perfect setting for reading and quiet reflection, while a communication area serves those guests wishing to stay in contact with the outside world.
Exploring further afield to absorb the surrounding habitats and its wildlife is essential to round off the Abu experience. Floating down quiet watery channels on traditional mekoro (dugout canoes), viewing big game from an open vehicle, and taking in the entire ecosystem from above by light aircraft or helicopter are just some of the diverse ways to revel in this magnificent landscape. Following a long safari day, guests can unwind around a campfire with a sun-downer recounting the day’s adventures, while internationally trained chefs provide creative cuisine of the highest standard for delicious meals which can be enjoyed al fresco on the deck.
By the time guests leave this magnificent hideaway, they will feel a special, emotional connection to the herd that is both humbling and rewarding. There is no better way to welcome in a New Year.