Built in 1989, two kilometres from Etosha’s eastern entrance, the luxury lodge quickly became a favourite with celebrities, including US Vice-President Dan Quayle and the film star John Travolta, who was behind the controls of his own private jet when it landed on the lodge’s airstrip.

Namibian president Sam Nujoma adopted a black mamba in Mokuti’s reptile park and donated N$ 15.000-N$20.000 each time he visited the lodge.

By 1997 Mokuti was thriving, having just been awarded its fourth star. Then, on the first of April, fire destroyed Mokuti’s main restaurant, its office wing and conference centre. It was caused by an electrical fault, and all the damaged rooms had to be rebuilt.

In 2006 the lodge needed another update as a squirrel colony had caused massive damage to the property’s thatched roofs. Today Mokuti has 106 thatch-roofed rooms, three swimming pools, two floodlit tennis courts and even its own petrol station.