Qorokwe Camp
Okavango Delta, Botswana

A celebration of Africa’s raw wilderness, Qorokwe’s style is a contemporary revisioning of the romantic colonial era. Through the interior design we wanted to transport guests back to the luxury and romance of a bygone time whilst simultaneously creating the feeling of an earthy tented bush camp – mixing animal print, bold graphics and tribal patterns, oversized sepia photography and specially selected local objet d’arts.

The language of the infrastructure is seen as an elemental and contemporary response to an insertion in this landscape – the interiors are a response to the colours and activities of Africa, with the emotive use of materials, colour and form.

The selection of interior architecture finishes, various timbers, ceiling details, lighting, shopfitting and fixtures was a collaborative effort and we tried to involve the Qorokwe team in every decision to give them something that reflected their vision for the camp and also their passion for the bush. The palette of colours and materials was motivated by the Botswana landscape, resulting in a rich mix of bleached timbers, darker stains and accents of rust and burnt orange. By introducing a combination of organic shapes and textural diversity, from live-edged timber to steel and canvas, we have created a warm, enveloping space providing comfort and luxury in an understated way.

This private concession is a highly-productive game-viewing area and home to a mix of fertile Okovango habitats but it was unutilised for four years prior to the camp opening. The design of the camp and the positioning of the structures, to sit lightly on, and inconspicuously in, this unique landscape creates many opportunities for guests to explore by both land and water creating exceptional wildlife experiences.

In line with Wilderness Safaris’ commitment to operating with as light an eco-footprint as possible, Qorokwe is 100% solar-powered and all water is heated by means of thermodynamic solar geysers, further helping to mitigate the camp’s carbon emissions.

The concept for Qorokwe grew out of a response to the landscape – the site lies next to a lagoon in the Okovango Delta and the tented suites are raised off the ground, floating over the vegetation and providing spectacular views of the lagoon and surrounding bushveld whilst allowing the vegetation to thrive underneath the suites – a unique environmental advantage.