Is there such a thing? Last year, our good friends and traveling companions agree that we did reach that dream – a month long trip thru Namibia and Botswana, all in Wilderness Safaris camps, seven in all. By way of background, the four of us met on a Lindblad Expeditions trip to Baja California nine years ago. As sometimes happens, we “hit it off” and have traveled every year since, to destinations as different as Antarctica, Malawi, Chile from Patagonia to the Atacama, Tanzania off the beaten track, and Rajasthan and Bhutan.
A happy coincidence among the four of us is that three are not especially interested in planning trips while I revel in the opportunity. Thanks to the skills, know-how, and attention to detail of Sue Rovegno at Travel Beyond, we’ve worked through, modified and finalized some fabulous trips – including our Ultimate Safari. Africa “grabs you”, no question about it.
This trip was special in many ways – Namibia is a fascinating country, the second least densely populated country on earth (after Mongolia). The open spaces, the unique ecosystem and wildlife and the fact that you can be off in incredibly remote areas and have a first-class operation, as are all the Wilderness Safaris camps we encountered, is a real plus. The fact that our entire trip was built around their camps made coordination and transportation virtually seamless. We can’t say enough about all of the Wilderness Safaris operations, their staff and their whole approach to stewardship of the land, the inhabitants and all of the natural resources. First class in every way!
We are conscious of how lucky we were to be able to make as extensive a trip as we did, spending nearly a month visiting seven different camps. For anyone considering a shorter safari, any one of the camps or any combination would be well worthwhile. All are unique and more than comfortable.
Our journey began with flights from the States to Frankfurt, with an overnight there – a buffer we like to include in case of weather issues. From Frankfurt, a non-stop overnight flight to Windhoek, Namibia made for a very clean and simple start to our trip. A day in Windhoek prepared us for our flight to our first safari camp, Little Kulala, close to the famous red dunes of Sossusvlei. The desert environment was a fascinating introduction to Namibia, and climbing among the sand dunes observing the flora and fauna with our knowledgeable guide Moses was a treat. To reach our next destination, in the far northwestern part of the country, we first flew to Swakopmund. The flight was directly over the Sossusvlei dune area and is a must-see to really appreciate the size, scope and beauty of this very unique area.
Skeleton Coast Camp, our next destination, is one of the most remote camps in all of Namibia, close to the coast and the border with Angola. Skeleton Coast Park is a very special reserve, a huge area set aside for low impact tourism. It is roughly the size of our home state of Vermont plus adjacent New Hampshire. Believe it or not, we along with the camp staff were virtually the only ones there for the four days we spent at Skeleton Coast. Daily drives, in a specially equipped (for sand) Land Rover were simply unreal, and the feeling of open spaces and emptiness were overwhelming. We drove on endless sand dunes, had the thrill of floating down a 50 degree slope in our Land Rover and drove along the ocean beach for more than 20 miles with only bleached whale bones, birds and scurrying crabs to be seen. Jonathan, our guide was as skillful as he was knowledgeable.
A visit outside the reserve to a native Himba village was a unique experience. These people, one of the last truly nomadic tribes on earth, have a simple and unique life. We felt as though we had stepped into the pages of a National Geographic magazine, privileged to have had a glimpse of their way of life. Animal life in the area is sparse, but adapted to that harsh environment. Desert-adapted elephants, oryx, giraffe and lions were seen. Also, we were able to deliver supplies we had brought to a small local school. The nearest other school was some 150 miles away.
Little Ongava camp was next – a beautiful, elegant setting on top of a hill within a private reserve adjacent to the famous Etosha National Park. This area was much less arid, and game was plentiful, including sightings of both white and black rhinos. Birds were plentiful and varied. We had the very unique experience of getting stuck, really stuck in a muddy area made worse by recent rain. It takes a lot to stop a Land Rover, and we spent a couple of hours before being extracted by two rescue Rovers, a lot of helpful and not-so-helpful suggestions from staff who came to the “rescue”. Lots of laughs as well! Guide Gabriel made our time at Little Ongava really special.
Next, it was on to Botswana by way of Maun, which is the pivotal town for the entire area. Another smooth transfer and we were off to Duba Plains, which is perhaps the most remote camp in all of the Okavango Delta, accessible only by air. This camp was the setting for the National Geographic film “Relentless Enemies” which documents the relationship between lion predators and buffalo prey. The lions of Duba, some of the largest and strongest in all of Africa did not disappoint – we saw eating, sleeping, mating, stalking and socializing lions. A leopard family was spotted, an exciting event as they seem to be re-colonizing the area after a long absence. Of course, many plains animals, elephants, giraffes and again, birds galore. At Duba, we saw what snorkel-equipped Land Rovers can do in a watery environment as we had to cross a marshy area on each drive. Our guide James “007” is a thirteen year veteran of Duba Plains, an unusually long tenure. He explained to us that he had many opportunities to move to other camps as many do. He clearly knows Duba like the palm of his hand and remains because he loves it deeply.
Next, we headed to Little Vumbura Camp, a unique camp located on a small island reached by a short boat ride. The camp is elegant, beautifully situated with waterways (“Hippo Highways”) all around so we were able to have some special experiences on the water. On land one day, we drove through a grassy area where there were many carmine bee-eaters. They found that is was profitable to follow us closely as the wheels scared insects into flight as we drove. They followed us on all sides alongside the vehicle like precision jet fighters, sometimes at arm’s length. What an exhibition! Our guide “K” was a bird caller supreme and one evening imitated a black cuckoo to the point where they had an extended running dialog. Again, at Little Vumbura Camp, there was no shortage of animals, and we never tired of seeing them all in different settings. Sable antelopes, an uncommon sighting, were spotted on several occasions.
Our next-to-last camp was Little Mombo Camp. It has to rank at or near the top of the list of outstanding safari locations anywhere. The camp itself is unique in that the lodges and the walkways between them are all built on stilts so that animals can circulate freely “in, under, around and through” the camp. On several mornings we had a bull elephant eating leaves just feet away from where we ate breakfast. There was an abundance of wildlife of all kinds everywhere. Our guide “Tsili”, a big man with a most hearty laugh was yet another knowledgeable and friendly credit to the Wilderness Safaris organization.
The very special highlight of our Mombo visit was the surprise appearance of Sue Rovegno and her husband Marco, who were on a familiarization tour of a number of camps. I had worked with Sue over the phone for something like seven years, in my role as trip planner. Sue and I shaped the itinerary and she very capably handled the details. Our friends Ursula and Walter had met Sue at an airport stopover in Minneapolis several years before. My wife and I never had although I had gotten to know her “smiling voice” pretty well over the years. We were in on the surprise, our friends were not. We knew that some new guests were going to appear, and we played up the idea of checking the new folks out to see if we would allow them to join us at Mombo. When Sue and Marco showed up, just seeing Ursula’s face as it slowly dawned on her that she recognized Sue, but there she was, completely out of context.
We had more fun, and more laughs over the following days…..as the kids would say, “a blast”.
We “met” the leopard that was featured in the “Eye of the Leopard” National Geographic film – with an impala kill up in a tree and two youngsters nearby. This was a close-up encounter with them and with a number of hyenas eager to snatch scraps and clean up leftovers.
The finale at Mombo was seeing a buffalo kill by a pride of nine lions; a little gory, but an amazing thing to watch. We witnessed the scene over two days, with the buffalo providing meals for all the lions, many hyenas, jackals, vultures, and smaller birds. We learned later that by the end of the third day, there was nothing left of this huge animal but the skull and horns.
Outdoor evening meals and a surprise lunch set up by a hippo pool are among many special memories of Mombo.
Our final camp was King’s Pool, named after a visit some years ago by the king of Sweden. It is located on the river which forms the border between Botswana and Namibia. Another beautiful camp in a very special setting. We had a very good leopard sighting with a chance for some close-up pictures. The grandest of grand finales of our unforgettable trip occurred on the very last evening. We were riding along on a trail at river edge just at sunset when our guide looked off in the distance and pointed out some elephants headed from the Namibian side to swim the river into Botswana. He found a spot at river edge, and we watched well over 100 elephants, young and old, cross over close in front of us in a procession that lasted the better part of an hour……all as the light faded in a spectacular sunset. Truly an unforgettable ending to our Ultimate Safari!!!
The Ultimate Safari
Residents joke that the highest point in this part of Africa is a termite mound. But it’s here the Zambezi River, seemingly impossibly, plummets more than 350 feet from a plateau into a gorge. The visitor’s only sign from a distance that he or she is approaching this natural wonder is the spray, which rises more than 1,300 feet above the falls. By some considerations, Victoria Falls is the largest in the world, passing some 2 million cubic feet of water per minute over its edge by the end of the rainy season.
Up before sunrise each morning, our group of six was in a Land Rover after breakfast, cameras and binoculars in hand. Our guide for the trip was Botswana native Francis Kudumo, who seemed to know everything about the flora and fauna of the region. Deer-like impalas crossed our path at practically every turn, and Kudumo always had something new to tell us about their coloring, horns, group dynamics or mating habits. And he knew this information for every animal we saw.
We spent hours drifting from island to island through the delta’s reeds, careful not to squish the spiders and tiny frogs that wandered into the mokoros. And when hiking, we were more cautious of elephants and Cape buffalo without the protection of a vehicle.
Botswana’s oldest and second largest national park is home to some of the finest year-round game viewing in Africa. The park is famous for: massive elephant herds along the Chobe River in the Dry Season (May – October); exceptional predator viewing; the wide Chobe River teeming with hippos, crocs and fish; and the game rich Savute Channel and Savute Marsh home to Africa’s second largest zebra migration and the predators that eagerly follow them (November – March). During the Green Season (December – March) the 
animals move from the rivers in the north to the lush grasses and full waterholes in the southeast of the park; from April – November the animals migrate back to the rivers of the north as the interior dries out. The Chobe River supports the largest concentration of elephants in all of Africa; some estimates have their population in Chobe at 120,000 individuals. These elephants are physically the largest in the world, although their tusks are relatively small; they are migratory, moving over 120 miles from the Chobe River, where they concentrate in the Dry 
Season, to the pans in the southeast of the park which fill with water in the Green Season. Self-driving is allowed in the park, but the deep sand, clay, and uncertain nature of the roads makes a four-wheel drive vehicle essential.
private concessions surrounding Chobe is the number of people and vehicles you will encounter. In the private concessions you will pay a price for privacy, in Chobe you will pay a lower price but share the bush with more people and vehicles. The entire area is unfenced and game viewing is spectacular throughout the region.
Bordered to the west by the Selinda Wildlife Reserve, to the east by Chobe National Park, and to the north by the Linyanti River, Linyanti Swamp system and Namibia, is the remote and inaccessible private safari concession NG15, aka, the Linyanti Wildlife Reserve.
Game viewing in the reserve is focused along the banks of the Linyanti River, the Savuti Channel, and the forests and grasslands of the interior. The Linyanti River is characterized by hippo and croc filled pools and lagoons, marshes with aquatic sitatunga and red lechwe antelope and abundant birdlife, and massive herds of elephant, buffalo and zebra during the dry season with predators constantly keeping watch. Birdlife along the river is tremendous especially during the Green Season when the summer migrants are in the area. Open floodplains along the river attract antelopes, predators and large baboon troops. Beyond the floodplains 
there is a band of riverine forest home to kudu and leopard, and inland are huge dry mopane forests and grasslands with abundant giraffe and antelope populations. Running through the middle of the reserve is the famous Savuti Channel (spelled ‘Savuti’ outside the Chobe National Park, and ‘Savute’ inside the national park).
has been dry; but now the channel is once again flowing with water and elephants are happily frolicking, cats are swimming, wild dogs are chasing kudu through the channel, and lion and hyena are battling over kills in the shallow water. Game viewing is spectacular and this is one of the best places in Africa to see the African wild dog and cheetah.
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The Selinda Wildlife Reserve is 320,000 acres of private and pristine wilderness where guests are treated to one of Africa’s finest wildlife safari experiences. The reserve is a private concession ‘owned’ by a few passionate conservationists who are all about wildlife, the environment, conservation, small luxurious safari camps, and offering their guests intensely personal and impassioned safari experiences. There are only three camps in the entire reserve, between them they host a grand total of 32 guests per day, meaning that this reserve is one of the most private and intimate places to view wildlife in Africa. When on a game drive you will not see anyone else other than those people from your small camp. This privacy cannot be overstated – the![Copy of 0CDB1432(2)_1600x1200[1]](http://travelbeyondblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Copy-of-0CDB14322_1600x120012-150x150.jpg "Copy of 0CDB1432(2)_1600x1200[1]")
difference between viewing wildlife undisturbed, by yourself, and on your own time, with the ability to off-road to get close to the sightings, and the option to linger all day at a sighting if desired; and viewing wildlife in a queue of Land Rovers, minibuses and personal vehicles with hordes of people trying to see the same animal that happens to be next to the road, is a dramatic difference in the overall safari experience. At Selinda, you will see no fences, no power lines, no roads and no crowds of people or vehicles, just untouched ecosystems and loads of animals.![Copy of Zib203_1600x1200[1]](http://travelbeyondblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Copy-of-Zib203_1600x12001-150x150.jpg "Copy of Zib203_1600x1200[1]")
relaxed, located in fantastic settings, and home to incredible staffs, chefs and safari guides. Guests receive the highest standard of service in postcard picturesque surroundings with dense game viewing in total privacy on a flexible schedule where the animals dictate activities – when there is game to be seen you can go see it and stay with it for as long as you want!
I’m in the Okavango Delta. It’s 6 a.m., the winter allows an extra half hour of sleep, its August and the morning is cold, about 48F as I sip my coffee next to the crackling fire. Rain is never in the forecast this time of year; the cool crisp morning will give way to an 80F cloudless sunny day. There are ten people in camp plus the staff and all around me the shimmering expanse of a 4,000 square mile network of papyrus lined waterways, lagoons, grasslands, and palm trees on sand islands. I hear elephants sloshing through the shallow water en route to feed. I leave the warmth of the fire and board the open Land Rover and put on the wool
lined poncho provided for me. The cool air hits my face as we leave camp and moon gives way to warming sun. Red lechwe, zebra, wildebeest, hippo, elephant, lion, leopard and sable antelope await my gaze. The two areas for visitors within the Delta are the Moremi Game Reserve and the large private reserves called ‘concessions’ that surround Moremi; these concessions are leased by safari companies and offer visitors the most remote, game rich and private safari experience in all of Africa. Botswana’s high quality/low volume safari philosophy means that while expensive, this is the best place in the world for a safari where you will see loads of animals and no people except those in your small camp. There are no permanent structures in the Delta; and while luxurious, all the camps can be dismantled without a footprint in short order.
The afternoon is warm. I climb into a mokoro and the poler pushes his pronged branch into the Kalahari sand under the clear shallow water and we silently slip through the tall grass penetrating the water. A tiny painted frog clings to a blade of grass and we silently pull up next to him and observe at eye level; an African Skimmer nest with eggs inside is right on the side of our mokoro waterway; an African Fish Eagle is perched on a branch overlooking a lagoon and calls to his mate for life across the channel; in the distance elephants are on the move.
palm islands teeming with wildlife. The water from Angola doesn’t reach Botswana until the dry season, the result is that the Delta is in full flood when the sky is blue and there is no rain. Moremi Game Reserve covers about 20% of the Okavango Delta and is surrounded unfenced by private safari concessions; the whole area is a pristine wildlife wonderland. The difference between the camps within Moremi and the private concessions is that in Moremi walking safaris and off-road game drives are not allowed. Palm trees, sandy islands, grassy plains, wooded islands, slow meandering papyrus lined watercourses and quiet lagoons provide the visitor a very unique and diverse ecosystem which in itself is worth the trip. The 
safari camps are small and intimate with some of Africa’s best safari guides and bush chefs; and you will see very few other people while there. Activities are numerous, both water and land based are on offer. Mokoro (low dugout canoe) trips through the Delta are surreal; power boating through the passageways and lagoons is a thrill and the fishing is relaxed and peaceful in secluded lagoons. Game viewing is excellent year-round and birding is spectacular in the summer months. Game drives are done in open safari vehicles day and night and walking safaris are allowed on the private concessions. It is peaceful and
divine and I believe, provides one of the world’s best, if not the best, safari experiences in Africa. Rhinos are being re-introduced into the area, and sightings are slim. In the Delta there are both water and land based camps, at the land based camps the activities revolve around game drives in open safari vehicles and walking safaris, while at the water based camps the activities focus on mokoro trips, power boating, walking and fishing; game drives are usually on offer with a boat bringing guests to the safari vehicles waiting on dry
land. It is a good idea to combine water and land based camps on an Okavango itinerary to take advantage of the different experiences and different species found at both. Camps are relatively expensive in the Delta because of the remoteness which means you must fly into camp; the camps are small, intimate, wonderfully staffed and provide true bush luxury.
hippo, crocodile, lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, hyena, jackal, genet, serval, monkey, baboon
I came across this article from the Botswana Tourism Authority. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.
