African Monarch Journeys is owner run, rooted in conservation, community partnership, and deep custodianship of place. Its story unfolds entirely within Bwabwata National Park, in Namibia’s Zambezi Region, at the heart of the KAZA Transfrontier Conservation Area, the world’s largest wildlife conservation landscape.
At its core are Nambwa Tented Lodge and Kazile Island Lodge, wilderness lodges operating entirely within the park. Positioned on ancient elephant migratory routes, both lodges allow wildlife to move freely through and beneath them without fences or barriers. Here, the landscape leads and the rhythms of the wild shape each day.
Nambwa Tented Lodge is gently elevated among Jackalberry, Sausage, and Knobthorn trees along the Kwando River floodplains. Ten spacious treetop tented suites are linked by a raised timber walkway, offering privacy, stillness, and expansive views over a water rich landscape where elephants and plains game roam freely below.
Kazile Island Lodge lies on a secluded island, reached only by boat. Thirteen elevated Meru tents are set within a mangosteen forest, overlooking the winding Kwando River and open wetlands. Life here unfolds at a slower pace, shaped by water, light, and movement, as buffalo and elephant traverse the floodplains.
At its heart is The Sijwa Project, a regenerative community initiative. Sijwa transforms waste into handcrafted art, builds skills through training, and supports livelihoods for the people who call this land home. It shapes how guests are hosted and how value is returned to the community with care.
Experiences here echo an Okavango style water safari. Guests drift quietly along the unspoilt Kwando River, encounter elusive sitatunga in the marshes, explore on foot or by game drive, and gather for sundowners at the iconic Horseshoe Lagoon.
Complementing safari travel, Retreats in the Wild offers intimate facilitator led journeys held in nature, where guests are invited to slow down, reconnect, and experience the wilderness as a space for presence, restoration, and meaningful transformation.
"This vision is bigger than us – we occupy a tiny space on this planet – but we know the Sijwa Project will make a real difference and demonstrate how people and wildlife can live together sustainably.”
Tinolla Rodgers, owner of African Monarch Journeys
The Sijwa Project, a regenerative community initiative. Sijwa transforms waste into handcrafted art, builds skills through training, and supports livelihoods for the people who call this land home. It shapes how guests are hosted and how value is returned to the community with care.
