Part One
A few of us travel consultants recently ventured off to Botswana to explore the country’s incredible Linyanti Wildlife Reserve and Okavango Delta, staying at and visiting several great lodges from Wilderness Safaris and andBeyond Private Game Reserves. This is part one of our story.
Sam’s Highlights
- The Mokoro ride at Vumbura Plains Camp
- Sighting a leopard cub at Mombo Camp
- The Vumbura Plains Suite is one of Wilderness Safaris’ Best
Niki’s Hightlights
- Cessna flights – although they’re not that comfortable, they offer something so different and exciting; an experience you don’t get to have every day. Plus flying in Botswana you get great views over the Delta
- The attentive and knowledgeable Ranger Emang at Vumbura
- Excellent game viewing all round!
We started our journey flying from Cape Town to Johannesburg and then into Maun in Botswana (although it is probably better to fly into Kasane). It’s worthwhile noting that there is a baggage limit of 20 kg per traveller on light aircraft flights and bags should be soft-sided as they have to fit into a tiny hole on the plane.
Duma Tau Camp
We started at Duma Tau Camp, a Classic Wilderness Safaris Camp. Duma Tau, meaning ‘roar of the lion’, is a ten-roomed luxury tented camp in the private 125 000-hectare Linyanti Wildlife Reserve, bordering the western boundary of Chobe National Park in northern Botswana.
It is situated in a lovely location on the river with beautiful views over the lagoon. There are raised and dipped walkways between the rooms for animals to move through, so you have to be alert and careful not to run into the odd elephant. Like all of the camps we experienced, the game viewing was excellent. You can expect to see impala, wildebeest, red lechwe, Burchell’s zebra, giraffe, Cape buffalo, chacma baboon, vervet monkey, warthog, lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog and spotted hyena, to name a few…
Savuti Camp
Next stop was Savuti Camp. It’s a small lodge and one step up from Duma Tau, with almost exclusive access to the enormous Linyanti Wildlife Reserve. Situated on the Savuti channel, it has tented rooms that overlook a waterhole and offers boating and canoeing activities that allow you to see predators and other animals on land while you travel through the water. There are also some great hides from which to view animals.
Kings Pool Camp
Kings Pool Camp was the next stop. It’s a beautiful Premier Wilderness Camp far away from Duma Tau and Savuti – about 45 minutes from the airstrip. It has stunning views of marshy plains and the Linyati River. The rooms are huge and made of canvas and thatch with modern minimalist decor and private plunge pools and a communal pool. There are great private salas to relax in and two hides – one underground and one on the edge of the camp. There are boating activities, sundown cruises and fishing on offer.
We loved watching lone elephants ambling past and the resident warthog grab a little shut eye under the wooden deck. With the exception of black rhino, we saw all of the Big 5 as well as smaller critters like the honey badger and some amazing bird life. We even saw red lechwe, which are only found here, in Zambia and in the Congo.
Vumbura Plains Camp
We then flew in a Cessna Grand Caravan to Vumbura Airstrip from Chobe Airstrip, which is a 25 minute flight, and proceeded to drive 40 minutes to Vumbura Plains Camp, a Premier Wilderness Camp in the Kwedi Private Concession in the extreme north of Botswana‘s Okavango Delta. The concession, leased from the local community, includes a wide variety of habitats, diverse wildlife and an enormous traversing area of 60,000 hectares. There are two camps here – a north and south one. We stayed at the South Camp, which has beautiful and enormous luxury tented suites and is very modern and minimalist in decor, with light wood finishing. The rooms overlook the marshy plains of the delta where you can spot wildlife in its natural habitat.
We loved Vumbura – particularly impressive was the passionate choir (about 25 people – all staff) that came to sing and dance for us during a boma dinner. It was one of the most enthusiastic choirs we’ve ever experienced. The food at the boma dinners is great and they cater for vegetarians. We enjoyed a delicious lentil soup starter, followed by fish paella and a chicken and meat dish, finished off with a yummy sticky toffee pudding. Yip – lamb parcels, tapas, cakes, pastries, tea – they had the whole shebang!
We also loved the mokoro trip we experienced here. The mokoros are safe enough for you to take your cameras and other equipment with. Our guide made us necklaces out of waterlillies from the delta and told us about the different kinds of lilies and frogs in the region. It had that little something extra that can make a trip so much more memorable… The ride was so peaceful and relaxing – especially since mokoros have no engines so there’s no noise, just nature. The beautiful sunset was a plus!
Vumbura North has similar rooms to the south lodge but is more colourful in decor and eclectic with darker wood and sliding doors with great views. Probably a better bet for the winter months.
Little Vumbura
We took a four minute boat ride from Vumbura Plains to Little Vumbura, a Classic Plus Wilderness lodge in the Kwedi Reserve in the Okavango Delta. It’s on its own little island and has a warm and intimate feel to it with its linked walkways. It has a sort of Robinson Crusoe feel. There are stunning views from the decks overlooking a swamp. You can go on boat and mokoro rides around the lagoon and game drives. It’s a very popular camp and is always busy. We recommend you combine it with Savuti Camp and Chitabe to get the best out of this region.
Mombo Camp
We drove for about half an hour to the airstrip and saw leopard en route! We flew from there in a small Cessna to Mombo Camp – about a 10 minute flight from Vumbura and a 10 minute drive from the airstrip to the camp. Mombo Camp is in the privately-run Mombo Concession on Chief’s Island in the middle of the Okavango Delta in Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve. The camp is traditional in style with enormous luxury tented suites, leather chairs and bronze finishings. It has great views over the flood plain and you’re sure to spot the odd elephant frequenting the camp.
There aren’t unfortunately water activities or bush walks, and game drives are only for a limited time – you have to return before sundown as the island is a government park and very regulated. The island is, however, prolific in game as the animals congregate here on Chief’s Island in high water season. On our game drive we saw: lion, elephant, giraffe, zebra, fish eagle, red lechwe, tsesebe, buffalo, spotted hyena, and more. Spotting a baby leopard with its mother was definitely a highlight, as well as seeing charging elephants from our coffee spot.
The landscape is varied with several different eco-systems on one island – for example, you’ll find dry, arid desolate woodlands; greener island-style vegetation with palm trees; flood plains; baobabs; sausage trees and acacias. It’s quite spectacular! Little Mombo Camp is small and intimate and good for families. We enjoyed a private dinner on the deck.
Contact us and we’ll get you going down the Delta in a mokoro with the hippos in no time! There are several great accommodation options in Botswana – most of which we have featured here – that allow you to fully savour the variety on offer in this country. Part 2 coming next.