Take a front row seat for “Lion King” in real life with an all-star cast at the luxurious sanctuary Chief’s Camp in Botswana

With the highly anticipated new live action Lion King film due to premiere on 19th July, fans of this Disney classic will be thrilled to see their familiar favourite animal characters come to life on the screen again.  With stars including Donald Glover as Simba, Beyonce as Nala, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Chiwetel Ejiofor as the evil Scar, the film will no doubt enthrall audiences as much as the original animated version.

But these loved and well known characters can be found across the savannahs and plains of Africa and for those looking for their own Lion King adventure, head to one of safari specialist Sanctuary Retreats’ (www.sanctuaryretreats.com) camps such as Chief’s Camp in Botswana where guests can witness these and many other fantastic creatures in their natural habitat.  The camp is consistently rated as one of the top safari camps in Africa and is located on Chief’s Island in the famous Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta. Recognised as the ‘predator capital of Africa’, the Reserve is known for its outstanding game viewing, making it the ultimate safari destination.

Sanctuary Chief’s Camp is home to a whole host of characters including a pride of 9 lions, rhinos, elephants, baboons and monkey.  As well as morning and evening game drives offering opportunities to see the likes of Simba, Nala and Mufasa, Sanctuary Chief’s Camp also has a permanent watering hole in front of the main lodge & swimming pool, where you can sit for hours and observe animal behaviour at its most intimate and often humourous. Warthogs reminiscent of Pumbaa come to the watering hole, and wildebeest can be spotted on the plains beyond, as well as the sinister hyenas made famous by Scar’s henchmen – Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi.

Whilst guests may be familiar with the concept of the ‘Big Five, the camp has even created its very own ‘Ugly Five Committee’ from the Marabou Stork – known as ‘the Chairman’, the Wildebeest coming in second as ‘Vice-Chairman’, followed closely behind by the Warthog known as ‘The Treasurer’.  The position of Secretary is taken by the Vulture, whilst hyenas mop up as ‘cleaners’ coming in at fifth place.

To book visit www.sanctuaryretreats.com or call 01242 546609. For a full list of  Sanctuary Retreates press and awards visit here.