It was on his second visit to Orient-Express’s Eagle Island Camp last year that the celebrated author, Alexander McCall Smith, knew that he would include this place he loves so much in his next book about Precious Ramotswe, the owner and proprietor of Botswana’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.
 
“Eagle Island Camp is one of the most peaceful and beautiful places in Botswana. It features in my novel, The Double Comfort Safari Club, in which Mma Ramotswe herself makes a visit. I am happy to say that she liked it” says Alexander McCall Smith. And no wonder, as this pristine camp lies in the middle of the Okavango Delta, shaded by Ilala palms and surrounded by the tranquil waterways of the Delta.
 
Mma Ramotswe is literature’s most famous “traditionally built” woman, charming everyone with her homespun Botswanan philosophy, her unique way of looking at life and her desire to see the goodness inside of everybody she meets.
 
 The story about Mma Ramotswe handling the case of an American woman who wants to leave a bequest to a kind-hearted safari guide takes place at Eagle Island Camp and features Mighty, the guide that Alexander McCall Smith always requests to be his personal guide. Mma Ramotswe and her assistant Mma Makutsi visit the strikingly beautiful Okavango Delta.

The journey makes them appreciate once again the beauty of their homeland - a paradise of majestic grasslands, sparkling water and teeming wildlife, which, it must be said, can sometimes be a bit too close for comfort. Especially when the two "traditionally built" ladies are travelling by canoe along the waterways of the Delta and happen to notice that the rim of the canoe is perilously close to the level of the water, the poler, all the while, regaling them with stories of fearsome crocodiles and disgruntled hippopotamuses.
 
At Eagle Island Camp, we are honoured to be included in this heart-warming and gentle book which highlights the values that make life worthwhile. 
 
The Double Comfort Safari Club is published by Little, Brown.