At the Okavango Wilderness Stakeholder Engagement, Wilderness Chairman Kabelo Binns delivered a candid year-end reflection on a season shaped by extreme weather, booming tourism and hard-earned victories
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
At the Okavango Wilderness Stakeholder Engagement held at Botswana Craft in Gaborone recently, Wilderness Chairman Kabelo Binns opened the event with a year-end account that felt equal parts confession and celebration.
“This year has not been any different for us,” he began, describing a season where nature threw “all kinds of challenges” at their operations. December scorched the Delta with relentless heat, and by early January, the skies reversed course, unleashing some of the heaviest rainfall. Camps soaked, airstrips closed, schedules shifted.
WHEN WEATHER DISRUPTS
Beyond the climate whiplash, Binns noted ongoing concerns around human–wildlife conflict—an issue increasingly affecting communities and operators in shared landscapes. Finding solutions, he stressed, remains one of their most pressing commitments. Yet, against this turbulent backdrop, the year brought Wilderness its busiest season post-COVID, signalling a global appetite for Botswana’s wild spaces.
And with guests came recognition: Wilderness Mombo camp was voted the best safari lodge in Africa, while Wilderness DumaTau claimed the same accolade and added a new one as one of the world’s top honeymoon destination.
THE SECRET INGREDIENT
Binns credited these milestones not to luck, but to the teams on the ground. “Our secret ingredient is our powerful staff, partners and guests,” he said, emphasizing suppliers who delivered under impossible conditions.
He closed with a reminder of Wilderness’s long-term ethos: “Botswana is a wonderful destination to operate in… and we commit to leave the planet in a better state than we found it and this is evident in the impact initiatives that we have undertook.”