Roxanne Reid's Blog, page 16

Why to visit DumaTau in the Linyanti, Botswana

By Roxanne Reid
To the west of Botswana’s Chobe National Park lies the Linyanti, where there’s a geological fault line. It makes the Kwando River that flows south from Namibia change direction as it becomes the Linyanti River, turning 90 degrees to flow north again towards the Chobe. Among this enchanting mix of waterways, marshes, riverine forest and dry woodland is DumaTau Camp. The camp
We’d read that this varied habitat draws lots of wildlife, from elephant, hippo and lion to wild dog a...

Voices of Botswana: the kind man and the crazy guests

By Roxanne Reid
For 12 years Warona (Wax) Kebabope worked as a ranger and environmental education officer at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, a community-based wildlife project near Serowe in Botswana. Then he got married and he and his wife began looking around for somewhere they could work together. Two years ago they both got jobs at Wilderness Safaris Banoka Bush Camp in the Khwai Reserve, Okavango Delta. I met him when he was filling in on the management team at Xigera Camp for a few months...

Wildlife, food and luxury in the Okavango, Botswana

By Roxanne Reid
Show-stoppingwildlifesightings, exciting drives, greatfood, a commitment to conservation and community, and a low-impact camp that doesn’t compromise onluxury– these were some of the good things we enjoyed at Duba Expedition Campin the Okavango, Botswana. When we visited Duba Expedition Camp, which is Great Plains Conservation’s newest camp in Botswana, it had only been open about six weeks. Made entirely of building materials like wooden poles, with canvas tents on slightl...

Voices of Botswana: the tree man of Ngoma

By Roxanne Reid
When you arrive at Ngoma Safari Lodge on the western border of Chobe National Park, the view from the main deck will blow your mind. It looks out over the veld, a baobab tree and a waterhole towards the Chobe River. If you’re lucky when you stay here, you might meet the tree man of Ngoma. A big, burly man, professional guide Bevan Machira can be a little intimidating at first. But show an interest in nature, especially trees, and you’ll make friends very quickly.

As a guide...

Okavango: the best game drive of our lives

By Roxanne Reid
The signs were there from the start. We flew over ribbons of water where game paths criss-crossed the flood plain between islands of trees. Dry channels snaked through the veld and we spotted herds of elephant, buffalo and giraffe. When we arrived at camp an elephant was chomping on a tree next to the main deck. Here in Botswana’s Okavango Delta we were about to have the best game drive of our lives. We were staying at Chitabe Lediba Camp in a 22000-hectare concession of Ok...

Voices of Botswana: the manager and the mamba

By Roxanne Reid
When you stay at unfenced camps in Botswana’s Okavango Delta – that special wilderness sanctuary for wildlife – chances are you’ll meet a wild animal or two on your walks around camp. At Chitabe Lediba we enjoyed a visit from an elephant, a large-spotted genet and a few tree squirrels. If you work there, you might have some hairier stories to tell.

Chitabe Lediba general manager Lentswe Moalosi certainly does. Prompt him and he can reel off stories about close encounters wi...

See elephants on a Chobe River boat cruise

By Roxanne Reid
Chobe National Park has the highest concentration of elephants in Africa. Because they love water, one of the best ways to see them is on a Chobe River boat cruise. Best of all, if you stay at Chobe Game Lodge you can experience the river and its wildlife on a whisper-quiet electric boat. When we arrived at Chobe Game Lodge at lunchtime about 50 elephant were splashing about in the water near the end of an elevated boardwalk that hugs the river for some 250 metres. I say bo...

Voices of Botswana: guide and photographer

By Roxanne Reid
If you’re really keen on wildlife photography, especially in Botswana, you may have heard of Wilderness Safaris guide and photographer Ona Basimane. His photos have appeared in publications like Peolwane, Discover Botswana and Travel Ideas, and he was a guest speaker at the Wild Shots Wildlife Photography Symposium in South Africa in 2013 and 2015. Ona grew up in Maun in the Okavango Delta, with areas like Moremi Game Reserve and the Makgadikgadi not far away. Such places k...

Okavango: where the mokoro is king

By Roxanne Reid
Flying in to Xigera Camp in a small plane is a chance to get an aerial view of the wonder that is Botswana’s Okavango Delta, its mosaic of islands, water channels, floodplains, swamps and game tracks. You might even see herds of elephant or buffalo spread out like miniatures far below. But once you land, the mokoro is king. That the Delta was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014 gives a hint of its special character. It’s one of only a fistful of inland deltas in t...

Voices of Botswana: the gentleman supervisor

By Roxanne Reid
If you visit Xigera Camp once the floodwaters have arrived in this part of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, the last section of your journey will be by small boat. Here in a pristine and remote wilderness you’ll find camp staff gathered on the bridge above the jetty to wave and sing their welcome – a delightful custom at Wilderness Safaris camps. If front of house supervisor Carlos Mathata Mbinda is in camp, he’ll be among the welcoming party, maybe even the one who grabs the rop...