Begin with a Decision

Wild Heart, Open Flame brings two forms of mastery together in the wild heart of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Francis Mallmann has devoted his life to understanding fire: flame, smoke, iron, wood, salt, char, patience and time. Deborah Calmeyer has spent hers understanding Africa: its silences, its rhythms, its wild places and the precise decisions that turn access into meaning. Conceived and designed by ROAR AFRICA, this rare five-night journey at Xigera Safari Lodge invites guests to experience Francis cooking with fire in Africa, where the ancient instinct to gather first began. Surrounded by water, wildlife and the vast intelligence of the Delta, days unfold with game drives, mokoro excursions, long lunches and evenings around the flame, where smoke, salt, heat and time transform every meal.