Opening December 2026

Singita Elela

Name: Singita Elela
Address: Okavango Delta, Botswana

Singita's first in Botswana

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Get notified when it opens

The day it opens + our first honest verdict. No paid placements. Joins the Fat Voyage list — leave any time.

First look

Singita has spent three decades building conservation-led safari lodges across South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zimbabwe. Elela is its first step into Botswana — and into the Okavango Delta, the seasonal floodplain that draws more wildlife per acre than almost anywhere on the continent. CEO Jo Bailes has said the group waited years for the right concession; NG26, the 175,000-hectare Abu concession, is what it held out for.

The build itself is the headline. Eight circular camps — five one-bedroom, two two-bedroom and one four-bedroom — sit raised on stilts above the floodplain, so the Delta's water can pass beneath them as the seasons shift. Elela means "to flow" in Setswana, and the design leans into that: structures that open in every direction, with private vehicles and guides attached to each camp.

On paper it reads like Singita doing what it does best, in a place built for it. We haven't stayed — doors open 11 December 2026 — so we'll find out then whether the stilted architecture lives up to the renderings, and whether eight camps on a concession this size deliver the low-traffic, high-density game viewing the Delta promises.

Not yet scored. We publish a Fat Score only once a hotel is open and real guests have stayed and written about it — this is a first look, not a verdict.

What we'll be watching

We haven't stayed yet — here's what will decide whether it lands when we do.

Whether the dispersed camp model holds up operationally. Eight fully self-contained camps spread across a 175,000-hectare concession is a larger footprint than any other Singita property — the brand's reputation runs on private guides and consistent service, and we'll be watching whether that standard scales across eight separate teams all opening at once in December.
Whether the Abu concession delivers on its game-viewing reputation under new management. The area sat dormant as a luxury address since Abu Camp's elephant-back safari era ended in 2016; it hasn't run a high-end lodge in nearly a decade. The wildlife is there — the NG26 concession is genuinely productive — but a ten-year gap between camps means guides and on-the-ground logistics are being built from scratch. We'll be watching whether the first season lives up to the Delta's promise or needs a year to bed in.
Whether the Okavango's seasonality catches first-time guests off guard. Elela opens in December — dry season in the Delta, before the floods arrive in May or June. The camps sit on stilts specifically because the water passes beneath them in flood season, and mokoro rides and boating are listed as activities. Guests booking December arrival should know they're getting the dry-season Delta, not the flooded one; the property at peak flood (June through September) will be a materially different experience. We'll be watching how clearly Singita communicates that trade-off.
Whether the price holds relative to the competition. At USD 3,100 per night on the low end for a one-bedroom camp — a higher floor than comparable Okavango operators — Singita is pricing Elela as a top-tier Delta address on day one, before it has any track record here. That's a bet on brand name translating directly. We'll be watching whether the first-season reviews justify the premium over established camps.

Sofie, who runs the Fat Voyage booking desk with Nicolas

Want us to get you in when it opens?

Nothing to book yet — rates usually load a few months out. We're Sofie and Nicolas; tell us roughly what you're after and we'll come back the moment Singita Elela is bookable, with rates, what the rooms are actually like, and whether we'd go in the first season.

You'll be dealing with the two of us the whole way through, which is why we only take on a handful of trips at a time — if we're full, we'll say so. We reply by email, usually within one working day. The hotel pays us, not you: your rate is the same as booking direct, and the perks come on top.

Before it opens

When does Singita Elela open?

Singita Elela is slated to open on 11 December 2026, per Singita's official site and confirmed trade press. It will be the brand's first property in Botswana, so treat the date as expected rather than fixed — though it has held steady across multiple announcements.

Where is Singita Elela located?

It sits within the NG26 concession, also known as the Abu concession, in Botswana's Okavango Delta. The concession covers approximately 175,000 hectares in the southwest of the Delta, characterised by winding channels, palm-fringed islands, and seasonal floodplains.

Is this Singita's first hotel in Botswana?

Yes. Singita has operated lodges across South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Rwanda for three decades, but Elela is the brand's first property in Botswana and its first foray into the Okavango Delta specifically. CEO Jo Bailes has said the brand waited years for the right concession.

How many rooms or camps will Singita Elela have?

It comprises eight stilted, circular camps — five one-bedroom, two two-bedroom, and one four-bedroom — each raised above the floodplain so the Delta's seasonal water can pass beneath. Every camp is self-contained with a private pool, kitchenette, dining and lounge areas, outdoor decks, and a dedicated guide, tracker, host, and vehicle.

What dining and facilities will Singita Elela offer?

A central hub includes indoor and outdoor dining spaces, a conservation lounge, and a Singita Community Culinary School campus. Wellness treatments are offered privately within each camp rather than in a standalone spa building. The four-bedroom camp adds a dedicated chef and private fitness and wellness spaces. Activities include game drives, mokoro rides (seasonal), boating, fishing, and bush walks.

Will Fat Voyage score Singita Elela?

We publish a Fat Score only once a hotel is open and real guests have stayed and written about it — drawn from luxury travel communities, editorial publications, and verified guests, never paid placements. This is a first look, not a verdict; we'll score it once there's enough independent signal to be fair.

Open now

What you can book today

Singita Elela is still under wraps. Here's what's already open and scored in our collection — more from Singita, and nearby in Botswana.

Fat Legend

Singita

Singita Kwitonda Lodge

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

This is a lodge built around one hike a day and it treats the other twenty-three hours like the main event. The suites (and the four-bedroom Kataza House, if you're travelling as a group) come with their own plunge pool, indoor and outdoor fireplaces, and a hot tub set to a specific 101 degrees after a trek. The staff-to-detail ratio is the thing people can't stop describing: gear fitted the night before, muddy boots returned looking new, a camomile tea and hot water bottle waiting at turndown without anyone asking. At $2,000+ a night before the mandatory driver-guide (itself a few hundred dollars a day extra), the trekking itself is identical no matter where you sleep, since Rwanda's park runs the gorilla permits regardless of lodge. One guest pointed out that if you draw a hard trek, you're back, showered, and at dinner with barely any lodge time left to justify the room. And the transport can go wrong: one couple got the same uncomfortable, non-air-conditioned vehicle three days running and had to escalate through Singita directly to get it resolved. The food and wine program is genuinely excellent but the nightly menu is short, by design, given how remote this is. Book it if the point of the trip is the volcanoes and the gorillas and you want the days around the hike handled at the highest level anyone in this document has stayed at. Skip the multi-night stay if you're doing one strenuous trek and flying out the next morning; two or three nights lets the lodge itself do its job.

Fat Legend

Singita

Singita Boulders Lodge

Sabi Sand, South Africa

The case for Boulders starts with land, not architecture: private traversing rights mean your vehicle isn't sharing a leopard sighting with three others from different lodges, and guests who've done multiple Sabi Sand properties name it first, ahead of the design. The suites do hang glass-fronted over the Sand River with heated plunge pools, and the animals come to you: elephants and buffalo drinking from the watering hole below the deck, a troop of monkeys once helping themselves to a guest's pool. That part isn't exaggerated. The service specifics are concrete rather than generic: a champagne bath drawn without being asked, a vehicle stripped of its doors for a photographer, a sommelier who remembered a couple's wine preferences a full year later. Guides get thanked by name, Matt and Collen among them. That's the norm, not the exception, though it isn't universal: one recent guest found the food weak and the guiding unremarkable, and another describes a manager pushing hard on a billing dispute that wasn't the guest's to settle. WiFi is genuinely unreliable, which matters if you're trying to work between drives. The wine cellar and boma dinners hold up as real highlights rather than filler. Book this with a guide request sorted in advance rather than leaving it to chance, and go in expecting the very rare off night rather than perfection start to finish. The traversing rights and the guiding are the reason to choose Boulders over its neighbors, and on a good week, nothing else in Sabi Sand touches it.

Fat Legend

Singita

Singita Grumeti

Serengeti, Tanzania

Singita Grumeti isn't one lodge, it's a private concession the size of a small country, and what you're paying for is the emptiness as much as the animals. At Faru Faru, the drive in from the airstrip runs forty-five minutes through open plains without passing another vehicle, and the lodge's nine rooms sit on a hill above a watering hole that draws elephant and antelope through the day. One traveler at Milele had a hot sauce request noted at breakfast and it showed up unasked at every meal after, kids' hair braided by staff who'd learned their names on day one. The trade-off is the same one every ultra-private reserve makes: you're paying for exclusivity, not a five-star restaurant scene. Food gets described as fresh and well-executed rather than destination dining in its own right, and the "wellness" offering leans on the equestrian center and the landscape itself rather than a treatment menu. Transfers matter more here than at a city hotel — one guest was booked on a different air operator than Singita's own partner and spent the trip anxious about small-plane safety, which is worth sorting with your advisor before you fly. This is not the budget safari option: expect numbers in the $2,000-4,000 per person per night range depending on camp and season, and the Grumeti corridor works best paired with a few nights further north during peak migration months. Book it for the privacy — no congestion, no shared sightlines, guides who actually deliver what they promise — and go in knowing you're paying for space and silence over a tasting menu.

Fat Legend

Singita

Singita Sabora

Serengeti, Tanzania

Ten tents on open ground in the Grumeti Reserve, with the fencing between you and the Serengeti National Park removed rather than added: that's what you're booking at Sabora, and it's why people describe zebras and buffalo passing right by their tent rather than something spotted from a vehicle. The build here is lighter than its sister property Sasakwa up on the escarpment, which sounds like a compromise until you realize it's the point: you're closer to the ground and closer to the animals, not stuck behind a bigger, heavier structure. The service holds up its end. A guide who joins you for three nights can end up rebooked for your next camp because you asked; a waiter has offered to follow guests to their next lodge rather than say goodbye. Laundry comes back nightly, folded and tied into small leather parcels, which sounds like a small thing until you're three weeks into a light pack and it's the reason you never ran out of clean clothes. The keto requests, the specific wine sent ahead to another country with a note, the gin and tonic already poured in the room on arrival — this is a place that remembers what you told it once. The one thing to know going in: Sabora sits on the same reserve as Sasakwa, so if you're chasing the wildebeest migration itself rather than resident game, this isn't the camp for that; Mara River, further north in the Lamai Wedge, is the one people mention when the crossings are the whole point of the trip. Pair it with Sasakwa for contrast, or don't and just stay put. Either way this is the tent for people who want the plains to come to them.

Get notified

Be first when Singita Elela opens

We'll email you the day it opens — and our first honest verdict once guests have actually stayed. No paid placements, ever.

Joins the Fat Voyage list — leave any time.

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