Lebala
Hidden in the Southern portion of the extensive Kwando wilderness is Lebala Camp. Lebala Camp comprises 16 beds in 8 luxuriously spacious tents, on Zimbabwe teak decks. Each tent is surrounded by spectacular shade cloth walls, with a variety of curtains and shades so you can decide on how much light you let in or not. Sliding doors and a spacious bedroom area, bathroom including a Victorian claw bathtub, double basins, outside double showers, separate toilet and fans.
The teak furniture is elegant, comfortable and simple, leaving the tent looking spacious and tasteful. The clean simple lines created by the shade cloth, and variety of curtains, will complete the picture of privacy and space. The shade cloth walls allow you to view the sunrises and sunsets from the safety of your rooms whilst also viewing the elephant’s walk past your room in the light of the full moon.
You will arrive near a massive sausage tree and amble over a winding seasonal waterway, using an elevated walkway into the peaceful lounge and bar area under thatch. The path continues through the thatched dining area, onto the pathways leading to their personal hideaway and tent. En route to your rooms – there is also a swimming pool, lapa and magnificent fireplace, which is used extensively for after dinner drinks and the exchanging of your safari stories. The camp has been built and designed with two main purposes in mind: (i) privacy of the guest experience (ii) ease of management so that the staff can concentrate on their guests.
Lebala is the Tswana word for wide-open plains, and each tent has extensive views over expansive tracts of African plains and wetlands, that comprise part of the Kwando-Linyanti flood plain system. This system is an intricate labyrinth of waterways, reed beds, islands, floodplains, bush, scrub and trees. To those in the know - somewhat Okavangolike but something different too.
Excellent general game abounds on the broad plains, creating spectacular scenery, adorned with herds of plains game and the ever-attendant predators. Lebala offers regular and reliable sightings of elephant, lion, wild dog, leopard, cheetah, giraffe, zebra, tsessebe, kudu, lechwe, impala, wildebeest and waterbuck in stunning settings. Lebala is famous for elephant sightings as is the neighbouring Lagoon camp, 2 hours drive north. In fact the concession is home to more elephant than the entire country of South Africa.
http://www.golden-okavango.com/lebala.html
Selinda Camp overlooks the Selinda Spillway, a unique seasonal waterway which links the Okavango Delta with the Linyanti Swamps.
The area is characterised by its game-rich floodplains which are host to a variety of bird life (300+), antelope, zebra, cheetah, wild dog, lion and dry season elephant concentrations. Nocturnal species could include serval, porcupine, springhare and possibly leopard. Daily activities revolve around morning, afternoon and night game drives with experienced, professional guides in custom-built 4x4 vehicles. Short walks from camp accompanied by a guide are encouraged to get to know some of the Selinda's smaller creatures.
Selinda's 9 spacious, luxury tents are erected under cool thatch canopies, with all units having exceptional views across palm-studded floodplains. Each tent has en-suite facilities, a stone bath being the highlight. The bathroom is uniquely "open air" with lots of natural light, yet is screened and virtually insect-proof. The tents are spacious and beautifully appointed with furniture and features that have been collected from around Africa. Four-poster mosquito nets and overhead fans are standard.
The main area comprises a series of expansive decks that invite soaking up the spectacular views and wildlife that are a visual constant of the camp. The design of the main area is such that there is never a barrier to these views: whether guests are relaxing in the lounge, having brunch under the cool shade of the uniquely designed thatched roof, or sampling the fine cuisine of a three-course dinner on the open "star deck". Set apart from the main area is the photo/art gallery built above a temperature-controlled wine cellar and curio shop. Guests can also enjoy a small plunge pool and the traditional campfire.
http://www.golden-okavango.com/selinda.html
Lagoon
Shaded under massive African Ebony trees, situated centrally, in the extensive Kwando wilderness of 232 000 ha. (550 000 acres) is Lagoon Camp. Lagoon Camp comprises 8 spacious purpose designed tents with views over the private lagoon formed by the ever-changing Kwando River. Each tent comprises a bedroom area with a spacious bathroom en suite. The bathroom has a double basin set in an indigenous Mukwa wood stand and a flush loo. The spacious outdoor reeded showers capture the essence of Africa that is Kwando.
The tents are furnished in the best teak furniture that Zimbabwean master craftsmen can create. The shady cool interiors are produced by a canvas flysheet under shade cloth, which are also set under massive Ebony and Marula trees with shady lawns. A small plunge pool is available to cool off during the long summer days. The resident hippos entertain our guests as they sit in the deck chairs, on the decks in front of their tents.
Guests arrive from the airstrip through open plains, into our shaded reception area and amble into the peaceful lounge, dining and bar area, under thatch. They continue through the thatched dining area onto the pathways leading to their personal hideaway and tent. Their view is of expansive Africa over the peaceful lagoon and reedbeds, that lead to the Kwando-Linyanti flood plain system. This system is an intricate labyrinth of waterways, reedbeds, islands, floodplains, bush, scrub and trees. However, the river system around Lagoon camp is a maze of ox bow lakes, fossil riverbeds, reedbeds and riverine forests.
General game graze on the wide flood plains, in spectacular scenery under the ever-watchful scrutiny of predators. Lagoon offers regular and reliable sightings of elephant, lion, wild dog, leopard, cheetah, giraffe, zebra, tsessebe, impala, wildebeest, buffalo and waterbuck in stunning settings. Sudden lines of tall lead wood trees demarcate the flood plains, many hundreds of years old. Shady grasslands give way to the striking silver cluster leaf woodlands, that are tended by the elephant, maintaining the characteristic: broken gardens effect. West of the floodplains are the endless mopane woodlands, that sustain the large herds in the wet season.
In the dry season Lagoon offers a mega fauna experience unmatched in Africa, with sightings of up to 1 000 elephant in a single game drive.
The lion prides regularly hunt elephant in this remote region. Herds of up to 2 000 buffalo also attract the attention of lion and hyena, and our trained guides scan the horizons for the dust storms, generated by thousands of buffalo hooves.
The night drives present a drama of epic proportions when the buffalo move through the parched floodplains. Packs of wild dogs also provide excitement for many months when they have pups, motivating them to undertake action packed hunts twice a day. Lagoon is peaceful and wonderful in summer, savage and wonderful in winter.
http://www.golden-okavango.com/lagoon.html
Savuti Camp is situated in an isolated part of the Linyanti Concession along the Savute Channel in northern Botswana. In the 1980s, the Savute Channel, deep, clear and harbouring hundreds of hippo and aquatic life, dried up, due to shifts in the Linyanti Fault system. What remains is an unusual and productive ribbon of grassland that serves as a corridor and feeding ground in the surrounding woodland for a wide variety of herbivores. An exciting development has been that in recent years the Channel has flowed along varying distances of its length, passing the camp for the first time in a long time in 2008.
Savuti Camp is situated about 17 kilometres 'downstream' from the Zibadianja Lagoon - the source of the Channel; in the dry season the waterhole in front of camp is the only source of water over a large area and therefore offers excellent wildlife viewing.
This intimate camp's en-suite accommodation is in seven large walk-in tents that are raised off the ground and face onto the Savute Channel's grasslands. From the camp's thatched dining area and bar, a plunge pool and large viewing area with fire pit extend outwards on raised wooden decks towards the Channel, providing a wonderful view of the waterhole.
Explore the Channel and its environs through day and night game drives, nature walks with a guide (on request), and several well-positioned hides for safe, up-close animal viewing. Savuti Camp's 'wood-pile hide' at the waterhole in front of camp is famous for spectacular elephant viewing in the drier winter months.
Game concentrations here are high, particularly in the dry season, and apart from abundant plains game, species such as roan and sable antelope, southern giraffe, lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyaena, black-backed jackal and wild dog may also be encountered. In winter, this area can also be excellent for the sought-after aardvark and aardwolf, which are big ticks on anyone's mammal lists!
http://www.golden-okavango.com/savuti.html
Safaris follow ethical guiding practices, and we can reaveal to the visitor aspects of Botswana's flora and fauna, as well as the wide-ranging and unique geology of this peaceful, economically stable and friendly country.
