Leroo La Tau

Leroo La Tau is perfectly located on the western bank of the Boteti River. This glorious river forms the boundary of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. The Boteti River provides a lifeline for the wildlife which inhabit the arid national park and is a critical link in the annual zebra migration. If you want to experience the uniqueness of the Botswana region, Leroo La Tau is the perfect base to do so.

The camp features twelve luxurious thatched and glass-fronted suites including a luxury family room. Each room boasts an en-suite bathroom as well as a raised wooden platform overlooking the Boteti River Valley. Set on the Boteti River guests can enjoy the zebra migration and abundant wildlife that access the river from the main area or from the comfort of your private suite.

The heart of the lodge is the main lounge and dining area, with an inviting wooden and thatch finish, these areas allow guests to relax at the bar while listening to the wide variety of night sounds of the African bush. The perfect spot to relax, is the swimming pool. There is also a game-viewing hide built into the bank of the river which is perfect for enjoying the panoramic views.

Leroo La Tau offers guided game drives in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park focusing on the exceptional wildlife sightings along the Boteti River. Experience the region in a motorised boat depending on the water level. Optional cultural excursions can be arranged to Khumaga Village as well as day trips to Nxai pan and Baines Baobabs. For those looking for a truly unique experience, enjoy a sleep out under the stars on the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans.

Leroo La Tau translates as ‘lion’s paw’ but, although the surrounding area features abundant Lion, Zebra and Wildebeest, it also boasts Chobe Bushbuck, Leopard, Cheetah, Brown and Spotted Hyena, Impala, Kudu, Jackal, Porcupine, Genet and Caracal, to name but a few.

The Unique History of the Boteti River

The Boteti River is the main outflow of the Okavango Delta, collecting the water that flows past Maun and stretching about 250 kilometres southeast to Lake Xau on the extreme south-western edge of the great Makgadikgadi salt pans.

Around the mid-1980s the water levels of the Okavango Delta started to decline as the region entered a cycle of low rainfall, and consequently, the Boteti River began to recede. The river stopped short of Leroo La Tau in 1988, and by the mid-1990s had dried up completely.

There are a few waterholes in the riverbed that has been left behind which continued to offer refuge to a small pod of landlocked Hippo, together with Crocodiles which became completely terrestrial, making dens in riverbank ‘caves’ downriver from the lodge. Large numbers of Zebra and Wildebeest continued to graze the rich grass plains, migrating to the Boteti River at the end of winter to access the remaining waterholes.

In 2009, two decades after the Boteti River stopped flowing, record rainfall resulted in the highest Okavango flood levels for 25 years, and the river once again flows past Leroo La Tau. The camp is built on cliffs over 10 metres above this changing riparian environment, offering a vantage point that ensures unsurpassed views of the river and the Makgadikgadi Pans to the east.

About the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans

If you were to go on a game drive around the Makgadikgadi Pans and look for a picture-perfect picnic spot, then it would be Meno’s exact location, perched above the river bend, gazing down at the wildlife. But when you’re staying at Meno a Kwena, game viewing isn’t just a snatched hour over lunch; it’s all day, every day. Just sit back on the veranda and watch the zebra and antelope from your cliff-top position.

If you can drag your eyes away from the view, hop on a game drive to find desert-adapted animals that can’t be found elsewhere in Botswana. There’s antelope with comically twisted horns and a remarkable desert elephant. The rumble of hooves heralds the arrival of Africa’s second-largest migration. A stonking spectacle of 30,000 zebra and wildebeest migrate across the Makgadikgadi Pans, alongside a scattering of other hooved beasties. As the pans dry from April onwards, the zebra complete their journey at the river in an explosion of black and white stripes, followed closely by the predators: lion with their impressive black manes, leopard and cheetah using the surrounding bushes as cover, packs of wild dog, and mischievous jackal.