A new direction for the Okavango Delta: Okavango Horse Safaris launches artist-led retreats | News
Okavango Horse Safaris introduces something new to the Delta. For 2027, the family-run safari company is launching a series of artist-led retreats, offering a different way to experience the landscape than the traditional safari format.
Located in a huge private concession in the western Okavango Delta, the retreats are designed to open up the safari experience to a wider audience. Artists, designers and creatively curious travelers are invited to engage with the Delta, not only through wildlife viewing, but also through observation, interpretation and making.
The program starts with two separate five-night retreats, each led by an artist with a different approach.
The first, developed in collaboration with Art of Africa, is led by South African artist Joni-Leigh Doran. This retreat is rooted in plein air painting, with an emphasis on working directly in the landscape. Guests spend time outdoors sketching and painting, responding to the changing light, nature and environment around them. Doran’s connection with both riding and the bush creates a natural, unstructured rhythm, with time spent looking and understanding the landscape central to the experience.
The second, the Kujwana Art and Design Retreat led by British textile designer Freya Roze, will take place in April 2027. Freya’s work is more design-oriented and draws on previous residencies in Kenya and Iceland, among others. Her approach encourages guests to translate what they see into color, texture and pattern, rather than focusing on representation. The retreat is relaxed and social, combining creative sessions with time spent on the water, in the bush and around camp.
Both retreats fit within the wider Okavango Horse Safaris experience. Because the safari takes place within a private concession, guests can explore the Delta in a variety of ways during their stay. This includes mokoro canoe trips through the waterways, guided bush walks, overnight treks, and for those who ride, time on horseback across the floodplains. The format works equally well for passengers and non-passengers traveling together.
What makes these retreats different is where they take place. Although art and design retreats are well established elsewhere, they rarely take place in a working safari environment, and almost never in the Okavango Delta itself. Here the landscape is constantly changing, shaped by water, wildlife and light, creating an environment that naturally lends itself to creative work.
For Okavango Horse Safaris this marks a natural evolution. It builds on the same philosophy that underpins the safari, which is that you travel through the Delta at your own pace and find ways to connect more closely with the environment.
Open to riders and non-riders
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