Botswana Trip Report June 2007
 

I was hoping to finish my trip report, but keep getting busy with work, so I've decided to post the part I have which is our first two camps. I hope to get to the rest in a few weeks. It may be a little long or too detailed for some, but I wanted to have a good record for my own benefit, and don't really know what to cut out for posting. So anyway, I hope I can copy from Word and post in parts.

Part One: Joberg and Chitabe Trails

Along with many others, our once in a lifetime trip to Africa two years ago wasn’t enough, so we booked another trip to southern Africa about a year ago. After debating on several itineraries, we settled on spending all of our time (two weeks max) this trip in Botswana in order to maximize game viewing and eliminate nights in airports, cities, etc. There are so many wonderful camps to choose from, but we wanted to try a few different areas and mix land and water camps in order to vary the landscapes and see a variety of animals. Besides cats of course, I really wanted a chance to see wild dogs (therefore Chitabe and Selinda), and I prefer “water” camps with game drives always available.

Itinerary

1 night D’oreale Grande Hotel (Johannesburg Airport)
3 nights Chitabe Trails
3 nights Seba
3 nights Little Vumbura
3 nights Selinda


We flew from Atlanta to JFK on Delta, then SAA into Johannesburg, arriving about 5:00 p.m. After getting through the airport, we immediately went outside to try to get to the shuttle bus for our hotel which is part of Emperor’s Palace, a casino complex just a few minutes drive from the airport. Some guy offered to carry our luggage, and he immediately spotted the Emperor’s Palace shuttle on the way out just across the street, so he flagged it down and we jumped on, couldn’t have worked out easier. Our room was fine; we ate at the hotel restaurant called Aurelia’s (good food and nice atmosphere). We then wandered through the casino complex for about an hour, stretching our legs and getting a little exercise before heading back to our room for the night. We went down to the hotel buffet breakfast (included with room price) about 7:30 the next morning, then took the 8:00 a.m. shuttle back to the airport for our 10:00 departure to Maun. This hotel choice for one night at the airport worked out great for us, and I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing again. We booked the hotel at www.South-African-Hotels.com and received a better rate than available at D’oreale’s own website.

So…..off to twelve nights in Botswana!

Chitabe Trails

Only a short plane ride from Maun, and we were at our first camp by early afternoon. We went through the usual preliminaries, meeting with the camp manager, and right away she mentioned our requested sleep-out night (set for our second night in camp) so that arrangements could be made. We were led to tent #5, which is the last tent and quite private. This is a family tent with two separate almost equally sized bedrooms with big queen or king beds and the en-suite bathroom between. We used the first bedroom, but both were very nice and either could be used as the main bedroom. There is a small indoor shower and also an outdoor shower down a short path. Tent #5 is a little bit past the best view of the water hole area, but we liked being at the end of the line.

My favorite game drive here was probably the first morning. We drove for a while looking for one of the large buffalo herds, which we came across around 8:00 or so in the morning. There were literally hundreds of buffalo stretched across a pretty meadow with the soft morning light. A fish-eagle glided in and landed in a tree just above our vehicle. Then two Wattled Cranes flew in and made themselves at home with the buffalo. After enjoying this scene for some time, we went on in search of lions that were supposedly in an area not too far away. Tracks were on the road, and our guide spotted the lions (with the aid of binoculars) quite a distance away. Arriving at the approximate area, everyone in our vehicle had their eyes peeled looking through the tall grass, a guest in the back of the vehicle spotted the head of a large male. By the time we got there, the two brothers were lying down, looking very relaxed and ready to do what lions do best in the daytime. We watched for a while, snapping some pictures, then started back to camp. Little did I know that this would be our only real sighting of predators while at Chitabe.

Our game drive the second night was rather uneventful, except for a brief night sighting of a very shy leopard. He had a recent kill up a tree, but was unaccustomed to the vehicles, and kept himself well hidden in the thick underbrush (so both vehicles soon left). Also, a good sighting of a large spotted genet with his spotted body and ringed tail perfectly visible.

Chitabe Continued:


This was our sleep out night, so after dropping off our vehicle companions back at camp, we were off to our camp for the night. When we arrived at the hide (just the two of us with our guide and the camp helper), the camp was completely set up with a fire going, our dinner (brought out from the main camp) staying hot in pots over the fire, a small table set up holding drinks and tableware, the tent for the guide and camp helper set up on the ground a little bit away from the hide, and our mattress and bedding with mosquito netting set up in the hide - it was really lovely and wonderful arriving at our own little bush camp for the night. There are lanterns set all around and up on the sleeping level, giving a soft glow to the camp area. Although Chitabe Trails is a small camp, the hide is even more intimate than the main camp. We sat around the fire with drinks a little while, then ate dinner on plates on our laps. This gave us an opportunity to talk to our guide (and the camp helper) about his life, his family, his guiding history, etc. and life there compared to our lives here.

The hide itself is in very good shape, it is actually two levels, with stairs up to the levels. The bedroll is set up on the first level, so there is a roof over your heads, which means you unfortunately cannot see the stars when lying under the mosquito netting. I think it would have been more fun to sleep up on the top most level with no cover (but perhaps that level isn't as safe??).

The bathroom area is off to the side of the hide on a little trail, with a big sink made of wood (towels and soap provided), which they pour warm water into, a bucket shower (too cold for us to use in June), and a long drop toilet off to the side completely open to a big meadow beyond.

We slept very well here, it was not a noisy night as far as animals go, and the temperature was cool, but not too cold. The next morning, up at the usual time to get dressed, freshen up in the bathroom area, then a quick breakfast of toast and hot tea, pack up our small overnight bag, and back in the vehicle about 7:00 for our morning game drive.
This was a very nice experience and probably the highlight of our stay at Chitabe, and we would definitely do this again!

The second morning game drive was quite a long drive all the way up to the Moremi reserve border. This is a very beautiful area, and worth the drive as far as scenery goes. This was mostly a morning for elephants and hippos and some birding and waterfowl, nothing exciting but a very pleasant drive. This drive and the remainder of our time here did not yield too much as far as predators or other interesting encounters.

By the way, most of our game drives were with a family of four with two boys, 11 and 14 years old. When I first heard that, I have to admit that I was not thinking good thoughts. But the boys turned out to be exceptionally well behaved, very quiet, and apparently enjoyed sitting in the last row (the very bumpy seats) of the vehicle. The parents were friendly, but not unduly talkative, and good spotters, so our vehicle mates here worked out just fine!

In general, we really liked the friendly atmosphere at Chitabe Trails and the camp itself. The view from the lounge area over the water hole is great, we counted 7 different mammals there one afternoon while waiting for teatime. And the same view from the pool area and the lounge restroom (“loo with a view”). The camp is small (five tents spread out enough for privacy), typical 5 paw WS type accommodation-more than adequate for most of us. The two managers were very approachable and nice, food is good-served buffet style, there is a small gift shop for some shopping or souvenirs, and the Hide sleep-out is great. The camp has a nice friendly feel to it. It’s really hard to find fault with the camp, it’s just that our animal viewing here was not great. Maybe I was expecting more from Chitabe in terms of predators, or maybe it was just the luck of the draw - it’s hard to judge on a few days visit.

Sounds like a great trip so far, anxious to hear more.

I've posted some photos on Kodak Gallery if anyone wants a look. Had some trouble with photos at dusk, couldn't really get them focused well enough, but some of those are posted also, since dusk always seems to be prime time for cat viewing. I hope this link works:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...8_743310569206

Great report so far and brings back fond memories of Chitabe Trails, tent #5, which our family had! I guess Kenny is no longer the manager there?

Moremiles,

Yes, Kenny was still there along with Josephine, both very nice. We loved tent #5 at the end. Were you there with family to make use of the second bedroom? Our vehicle mates with the two boys were in Tent #4, so I guess it is also a family unit.

Oooh trip report, trip report!

Can't wait for the rest... wonderful, wonderful!

Keep it coming.

Brandywine, yes we are a family of 3 so did use the 2nd bedroom. I don't remember a Josephine, just Kenny and Beauty.

Seba Camp

We were ready to try a new camp, and Wilderness did a great job of scheduling our flights, so we had a full morning game drive at Chitabe, then made it to Seba by about 3:00 pm, just in time for tea and the afternoon game drive. Seba is a relatively new camp, about a year old, and is owned I believe by EBS, the same owners as Abu Camp. It is being marketed by Wilderness as a 5 paw camp. It is just a short drive from Abu (which is just to the south of Jao concession), so Abu and Seba share an airstrip and share traversing areas.

The flood being quite high this year meant that many of the roads were under water, but we were able to get through the water in the vehicles (new Land-Cruisers), and did not seem to affect our game viewing. It did make the driving somewhat slower going, but it’s quite fun driving through feet of water and also makes for some interesting birdlife and waterfowl along the road

Our first afternoon drive took us through the “water” road, a relaxed and scenic route with some nice sightings of giraffe and birds, then across the bridge to the Abu concession. Our guide had been looking for lions that day, thought to be somewhere in the Abu area, but no luck tonight. It was a good evening for babies though, a group of giraffes with several youngsters, a couple only few weeks old. Also after sundowners, a nice sighting of a female hyena, a younger hyena and a baby. It was dusk and the two young ones were chasing each other around like puppies. It was very interesting seeing their different coat colors, the adult with the typical spotted lighter colored coat, the baby with a dark coat, and the youngster with a somewhat multi-colored coat. Unfortunately, I did not have too much luck with photos in the fading light. On the way back to camp with the spotlight a very brief glimpse of something…..ooooh what was that, we asked. OMG exclaimed our guide, a caracal. We tried searching a bit and spotting the area where it had disappeared, but no further luck of course.
Dinner that night was excellent, pork tenderloin slices with some type of wine reduction sauce and a rich dessert-pots of warm chocolate pudding with caramel sauce. This was one of the best dinners I have had at a safari camp, as good as a fine restaurant.

As it turns out, the other guests here the same three nights were a family of seven, the two parents and five kids about 17 to 24. This family could have been a little overwhelming for another lone couple, but we were all from the southern part of the U.S. and had a few other things in common, so it worked out fine. The camp did need to keep a good supply of Diet Coke to keep up with all of us big drinkers. This situation worked out great for us – the family all wanted to travel together in the same vehicle, that left us in a private vehicle with probably the best guide of our trip for three days-unbelievably lucky for us!

The next morning back over to Abu concession to look for the lion pride (heard roaring during the night). Our guide worked on this for a couple of hours, and I mean really tracking, the brush was very dense and there was little chance of just “spotting”. I was giving up hope, but then there they were…well hidden in a thicket next to a swampy area. We could see two females and couple of cubs. They moved around to the other side of the thicket, so we drove around and could then see the rest of the pride, but not the two males nor the kill. We watched the cubs for awhile and one of the lionesses walked out about 10 feet or so to get a very long drink of water. The guide then made another attempt to get around the thicket to another area to try to find the kill, finally got to it, a not fully grown giraffe a couple of days old with one of the males still working on it.

The morning was nearly gone, so we headed back, and about 45 minutes later we found ourselves stopping out in the bush rather than returning to camp – oh my gosh, a beautiful bush lunch set up! So we had a wonderful lunch with wine with a view overlooking the water. By this time, it was after 1:00 pm. There were a couple of hammocks and mats for everyone laid out on the ground for a little afternoon rest. We were all getting a little restless by about 3:00 pm, so tea was set up and more food of course, and then we were off for the afternoon game drive. The bush lunch was definitely an above average effort by the staff to give us a memorable African afternoon.

The afternoon drive was general animal viewing-giraffes, kudu, and steenbok and a short stop at a huge baobab tree. Then both vehicles back to check on the lions. The entire pride was feeding, it was hard to see the males behind the brush, but definitely the carcass was getting a little bare. One of the male lions moved off a bit, and our guide knew that we wanted to back up to get a better view (did I mention that it was rather swampy here?), and ka-boom, our back left wheel down deep in the muck. So Murphy’s Law, we’re stuck, near dusk, with the lion pride 30 or 40 feet away. The other vehicle backed up to our vehicle and our nimble guide crawled down the hood of the Land Cruiser and hooked up a nylon type cinch strap between vehicles, but as the other vehicle attempted to pull us out, the strap snapped. After talking among themselves, the other guide hung out the side of his vehicle to retrieve a heavy chain that was either behind or under his seat. This was rather awkward, and bang went the chain against the side of the vehicle. We were all keeping an eye on the lions of course, and apparently the male was tired of the commotion, he stood up and both guides froze, but then he nonchalantly wandered off further into the bush. Finally the chain was hooked up between the two vehicles and we were pulled out. It was nearly dark and had been a long day, so we started directly back towards camp. The Manager was very thoughtful and served champagne after dinner that night – it was our wedding Anniversary and definitely an unforgettable day.

Seba Camp con't:

The next morning we decided on a boat ride instead of a game drive. The area around Seba is very beautiful, and the boat ride is a nice change of pace and pretty good for birding. We’re not birders at all, but made an effort on this trip to learn to identify a few. Some that I remember are fish-eagle, black shouldered kite, malachite kingfisher, pied kingfisher, little bee-eater, Meyer’s parrot, African darter, grey Heron (among others), Saddle-billed stork, Wattled crane, Hamerkop, red-billed teal, pygmy-goose, jacana, and coppery tailed coucal. We also saw red lechwe, elephants in the distance, and giraffes high-stepping their way across a wide channel. We went all the way up to the south end of Jao concession where we watched hippos in a hippo pool for a while. I was thinking that the morning might be a little boring, but we didn’t get back to camp until 11:00 and I couldn’t believe how fast the time had past.

That afternoon we were able to schedule a visit to see the elephants at Abu camp. We only went over to have chance to meet the elephants, not to ride. We saw the elephants making their way back from the watering hole with their trainer-riders. We were then able to meet the trainers and one of the female elephants that we were able to touch and stroke, and the baby elephant Little Abu. Kathy, the female elephant performed a number of tricks on command. Since I do some dog training as a hobby, I had a number of questions about their training methods (appeared to be similar to positive dog training-teach by repetition and reward with treats and praise), their feeding, etc. This was quite interesting and the trainers were very willing to talk and try to answer questions.

We made a short stop for sundowners, then our guide spotted lion tracks again on the road. He worked with spotlight, both for tracking and spotting. Completely dark by now, and then right On the road in front of us several pairs of eyes. We had a nice view of one lioness and a curious cub that approached our vehicle all by himself for a closer look and sniff of the tires. Just behind the lioness, a Roar from one of the males that we couldn’t see, then the all the lioness started roaring, and about 15 feet off to my left side another tremendous roar from the other male – I about jumped out of my seat. Our guide had a good chuckle, obviously I hadn’t realized that we had driven almost into the midst of the pride and were now surrounded by roaring lions. After a few moments to ourselves, the guide alerted the other vehicle that we had found the lions – he just opened the speaker mike and didn’t have to say a word……..

Our last night at Seba was traditional night, so we ate outside by lantern light instead of under cover. Rather than the usual Beef Seswaa, the main course consisted of kebobs with big chunks of grilled venison, chicken, and lamb, all very tasty. Then the staff song and dance routine, casual but entertaining.

The next morning was our last drive at Seba, and we were sort of on a mission to try to find the buffalo herd. However, not too long after crossing the bridge, the francolins started alarm calling, and then a sound I had never heard before – kudu alarm call. All three of us were looking through the brush when the guide found what he was looking for – leopard tracks! We drove this way and that to either side of a large thicket area, then spotted a female kudu and her young one. This was all new to me and very interesting. Rather than blindly running, the kudu would stare intently into the brush with all her senses alert, you could almost feel the tension. The young kudu was very still, watching its mother for an indication of what to do or which way to run. Our guide spotted the leopard slinking through the brush and my husband (on the better side of the vehicle) got a glance, then the kudu were off and running. Unfortunately, I did not ever see the elusive leopard before it disappeared into the thick brush again. Nonetheless, it was a very interesting sighting watching the kudu behavior.
Driving on to find the buffalo herd, I finally spotted something by myself (I’m usually the last one to see anything) - Lion, I had caught sight of one of the large maned lions lying in tall grass. After stopping the vehicle, we noticed a lioness just apart from the male. Our guide called these two the soon to be honeymooning couple, but probably no action this morning. So we took some pictures and continued on to the buffalo herd. Then time to get back to camp to finish packing and catch our flight. It was disappointing having to leave Seba, but our next camp was Little Vumbura, one of our favorites.

In general, Seba was the camp where we had the least expectations, but it turned out to a great experience for us. The camp is small and friendly with just 5 tents (one family unit) spaced adequately apart for privacy. The walkways are on the ground, but the tents raised. The bedroom area is large, open and uncluttered with a view over a water filled channel, and an outside deck. The bathroom area is fine and large enough, but the shower is a bit small (and no outdoor shower). Wake up call here was at 6:30 instead of 6:00, then breakfast at 7:00 and leave on drive about 7:30. It was quite cold a couple of nights and early mornings while we were there, so I didn’t mind the extra half hour in bed, but an earlier morning would probably be better in warmer weather. The food and service were excellent and dinner is served rather than buffet style. We had a very good guide, and he almost always found the sightings himself, which is somehow more exciting than being radioed in to a sighting or having to queue for a sighting. All in all, a very nice camp.

I remember when you started planning the night out at Chitabe. Glad it turned out to be a highlight.

What was the wild dog news at Chitabe?

That's nice you can appreciate the animal behavior even if the predator is elusive. You mentioned the kudu alarm calls for the leopard and watching these antelope react.

You have a nice variety of giraffe pics in beautiful settings. Young hyenas are always a treat. Good jumping lechwe and flying fish eagle. Your Seba lunch in the bush shots could go in their promotional literature.

Were there any methods that the Abu elephant trainers used that were notable?

Lynn,

Your trip report about your sleep-out at Chitabe was my inspiration for requesting a sleep out night months before we left, and it was really a lot of fun, so thanks so much for that idea.

We heard nothing about the wild dogs while we were at Chitabe, and when I asked about the dogs, our guide indicated that they hadn't been seen for a while (a few weeks I think, but already I'm starting to forget some details), and I got the impression that it was not likely we would see them, and as obvious from my trip report we did not.

Thanks for looking at the pictures. I have not used my camera much since two years ago on our last trip, so I know better than to expect too much. But they serve me fine for vacation memories, and adequate for family and a few friends.

While at Abu, I would say it was more of a demonstration than an actual training session, and I'm quite sure that Kathy (the elephant that "performed" for us) was well versed in her commands and appeared to demonstrate eagerly and willingly, thus receiving her treats. From my brief knowledge of competitive dog training, I know that it actually takes some amount of patience, practice, and lots of positive reinforcement to get a reliable result from just one verbal command, so I think they must be spending quite a bit of time training the elephants. Also, it was my understanding that some of the elephants may not become reliable or safe enough to use for the rides. Several of the elephants have been released back into the bush, and those are the ones being observed and monitored by the researcher at Seba to see if they will be able to fit back into the wild or ever become part of a herd.

Lynn,

Oops, I posted too soon, meant to say that I am really looking forward to your trip report, your reports are the best! I would love to go back to Sabi Sands, so wondering what to combine that with, and would like to hear about your time at Phinda.

Interesting insight into Seba and its elephants. A Phinda report is coming soon. Overall, I loved my time there. The 7 habitats truly are distinct and contribute greatly to the visit. I especially liked the sand forest, where Forest Lodge was located. The 3 rhino tracking trips I did were outstanding and so was the canoe trip. Mornings are best for rhino. The afternoon is best for the canoe due to the sun's angle. Village visit was nice. There are numerous other activities too, but I didn't do them.

Good cheetah viewing. I had 6 sightings of 5 cheetah. But due to weather and somewhat to my mornings concentrating on rhino, it was not until the 5th day of a week's stay that I saw a cheetah in the daylight. And we had been trying to see them. The people I shared one drive with were there 3 nights (maybe 4) and had not seen a cheetah. I mention this as a recommendation to book at least 3 nights (if not 4) if you seeing cheetah is important to you.

We did drive along the fence at some point most days and the place has more of a managed feel to it than others. I knew that going so that fact did not detract from the overall experience.

Excellent rhino viewing from the vehicle. There are black and white. I saw only white. Nice lion sightings. Eles are usually good, but just prior to my arrival they were being darted from helicopters for contraception so they stuck to thick brush. Great and unique birds. Good game viewing in general, but not as prolific as Sabi Sands.

Thulani, as recommended by Divewop, is who you want. Though my interactions with the other guides were very good too.

Isn't that rewarding when YOU spot the animal, whatever it may be? In your case that makes it YOUR lion.

Brandywine: great trip report thus far and what an amazing way to spend your anniversary -- Congratulations!

That was my first big read on Seba Camp which was interesting. Tremendous to have a guide who works to find his own sightings, it just has a different, more rewarding feel to it in my opinion. Also, holding the handset on in the midst of the lions roaring with no comment is a classic move! I will never forget what it is like to be in the dark and reverberating from the roars next to me, I am so glad you were able to experience that.

Looking forward to the rest of the report.

I have finally added another portion of my trip report for Little Vumbura. Also, forgot that I never posted the link to the rest of the photos for the other camps. I am going to copy this in from Microsoft Word, so hope it works.

The links to the pictures are now in separate files, one for each camp. The last pictures at each camp are photos of the rooms and lounge areas, etc. so easy to skip over for those not interested.

Link to Kodak Gallery Photos for each camp:

Chitabe Trails
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...&Uy=6gv6af

Seba
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...amp;Uy=-wx3q6s

Little Vumbura
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...&Uy=5pw9d8

Selinda
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...&Uy=t7pbh5



Little Vumbura

The ride from the airstrip to the boat dock was about 45 minutes due to the high flood levels, but no problem as we did some viewing on the way including seeing a herd of sable quite close to the road – what beautiful animals!

The newly remodeled Little Vumbura is really nice, the lounge area completely redone with a view over the flood filled channels. Still just six well spaced apart tents, we were in Tent #5 and it was lovely, I would call it a 5-1/2 paw. We met for tea at 3:00 pm (instead of the usual 3:30) and left at 3:30 for the short boat ride to the vehicles. The main highlight this afternoon was seeing a female leopard in a tree with a kill. She did some posing for us, then a hyena came through looking for some pickings on the ground. The leopard was watchful but still relaxed, knowing she and her kill were safe. She was quite small, only about 3 years old, and really pretty. It would have been amazing to see how she could have dragged that impala up the tree.

Then we went looking for the lion pride, and came across them (the Kubu pride) in a large pan area with a partially dried up water hole. This pride consists of four young males, three females and a cub. All were just lying about, so we watched for awhile, waiting for a little activity. The females finally got up and stretched, then one began concentrating on something in the distant brush behind us. She took a few steps in that direction. The males then roused themselves, and in an instant all members of the pride (excepting the cub) were up and alert. Our guide said that a small kudu herd was coming up through the brush (I couldn’t see anything). This was my first experience of seeing lions starting a hunt, and it was fascinating to see them all fan out like members of a team knowing their designated positions. We stayed where we were waiting to see what would unfold; the lions almost disappeared into the brush and tall grass. We couldn’t see what alerted the kudu, but they were off……no success for the lions that night.

Upon arrival back at camp, the manager was there to greet us with glasses of port, and a few minutes chat about what (and where) we had seen that night. This was the procedure each night and the port was a nice touch, then still time to freshen up back at the tents and meet again for dinner about 8:00. The food is quite good, first course and dessert served, the main course buffet style.

The next morning we were late for breakfast, and a guide came to check on us. When we had attempted to leave our tent, an elephant was right at the intersection of our tent walkway with the main walkway, so we were hesitant to try to pass by. The guide shouted and clapped to get the Ele moving off, then walked us down to the lounge area. Little Vumbura encourages guests to do the water activities, usually meaning a mekoro ride in the morning and a boat ride in the evening. We’re not big fans of mekoro rides, and had just done a boat ride at Seba, so we preferred to stay with game drives. However, we did decide to include the walk our first morning here (with an armed guide). So we game drove for about an hour out to the walking area, but managed to get stuck in the mud not long after leaving the vehicle garage area. Just like Seba, the high floods this year made for some very water-logged roads at Little Vumbura. After getting pulled out, we were on our way again. The walk was in a dry area, typical type walk – about tracks, plants, etc. We did see a Giant Eagle Owl flying around a bit from tree to tree and baboons of course. After the walk, we loaded back into the vehicle, then back out to see the leopard from the evening before, and back to camp.

Brunch is served on separate tables (set up for each couple or foursome), rather than one long table, which we really enjoyed, having some time to ourselves to relax over a leisurely meal looking out onto the beautiful flood plain.

The second evening’s drive didn’t yield too much as far as predators. We did see the sable herd again, very close to the road. I found it hard to get a good picture, they don’t run away from the vehicle, but tend to turn away quickly, so hard to get a nice head shot. We then took a long drive out to a part of the concession that I had not seen previously, looking for the male cheetah that frequents this area (a more dry and open plain area), but no luck finding or spotting the cheetah that afternoon. We did have a very nice sighting of a civet driving back to camp that night after dark. The first civet seen in the spotlight quickly disappeared off the side of the road into the brush. But the second civet stayed right out on the road for several minutes, stopping to look back at us every so often. The civet sighting was a first for us, so we were pleased.

Our last evening’s game drive was pretty busy, and started out immediately with a little excitement – a small family of elephants crossing the road and a young bull mock charged our vehicle. A young lady in our vehicle, on her very first game drive ever, was the recipient of most of his attention, his trunk almost in her lap, but she did very well keeping her video camera going! Then a radio call came in from the camp manager on his way back from the airstrip, he had briefly spotted a leopard, and was waiting there until both the camp vehicles arrived at the spot to take over the search. The shy leopard had made his way into a very dense area, and was definitely not interested in being spotted again. In the meantime, one of the guides from Vumbura Plains had found the male cheetah, and invited us out to the sighting. A long drive again to the far side of the reserve, but worthwhile to us since this was only our second time to see cheetah (and the first time on this trip). The cheetah was stretched out on a little road, just lounging, very relaxed around the vehicles. The VP vehicle left, so we stayed here for quite some time, taking pictures and just enjoying the cheetah as dusk settled in. Then we started back to camp, totally dark by now, but our guide decided to check on the female leopard with the kill in the tree. Surprisingly, she was still there, working a bit on a piece of her kill that was left.

This evening was Traditional night, and Little Vumbura now has a very nice boma area, which was all alight with lanterns, a big fire, and the table set up beautifully. This was the best staff show I have seen, the ladies all in beaded costumes that made a wonderful noise as they danced. We were told that Little Vumbura, Vumbura Plains, and Duba Plains have a staff choir and dancing contest every year at Christmas time (with LV winning first place that year). The nights had been quite cold at Seba a few days previously, but the temperature had warmed up nicely, making long outdoor dinners very comfortable.

Very shortly after starting our last morning’s game drive, we heard loud and clear the sound that I could now recognize – kudu alarm call! We were in the same area as the previous night where the elusive leopard had been sighted. The other LV vehicle was called in, so that both vehicles could work on either side of the large thicket area. As before at Seba, it was very interesting watching the kudu behavior as the leopard was stalking through the brush. We were able to catch glimpses of the leopard (a large male) as he stole through the brush, but the large male kudu wasn’t letting him anywhere near his little herd. Our guide thought it unlikely that the leopard would actually try for these full grown kudus. After some time here, we moved on, then came across a pair of honey badgers scurrying about. I had only seen honey badgers at night previously, so this was my best sighting to date. They were very fast moving and kept ducking into the bushes, but at least we got a pretty good look at them and their color in the daylight.

Then back to camp for a nice brunch and to start packing for our next camp. I did some souvenir shopping at the little store, which was very well stocked. The elephants were in camp again, and my husband was already back at the tent, so I decided to ask one of the staff to walk back to my tent with me. I was hesitant to walk past the feeding eles on my own, since I don’t feel like I know enough about their behavior to judge when they would feel threatened or become agitated, when you can keep proceeding or when you need to stop or back up. So safely back at the tent, we hurried with our packing, and of course did a little more game viewing on our way to the airstrip.

This was our second visit to Little Vumbura, and again we really enjoyed the camp. The game viewing was good, and the scenery is just so beautiful that the drives are a joy. The new tents and lounge areas are lovely, the staff is friendly and professional. The guiding is a little different than most camps because of the different activities, you find yourself with a different guide and a different group of people depending on what activity you decide on. Unfortunately, this means that you may not get to know your guide as well (or him know your preferences), but I really don’t know how they can improve that with the alternate activities being offered. The long time manager at Little Vumbura was leaving permanently in July, so it remains to be seen if the camp will be run as smoothly and professionally as our two visits.

Our experience at LV was different as you can see in my trip report. We had the same guide all the time but LONG drives. We thought the food quite below average..very disappointing. BUT, the staff was absolutely wonderful, wonderful and the camp itself (tents, layout, furnishings) beautiful. We loved the mokoro/mekoro rides (not sure of the spelling as I have seen both in writing!)and the boat ride. There was less prolific game, but the variety of activities made up for that and I would highly recommend the camp.
We did not spot any wild dogs at Chitabe Trails nor Selinda (the only sighting missing from our two weeks on safari, but we saw so much it was unbelievable!!!).
I enjoyed coming across your trip report whilst looking for news on Selwyn (many congrats Selwyn) and so your report was a wonderful bonus! We also went to Chitabe Trails and Selinda in Botswana.

PhilBill,

I really enjoyed your trip report also, it's funny how we were almost at all the same camps, but things differ or we came away with different opinions. It was very odd to me that the food at LV was not up to par when you were there, as the food was good on both of our stays. So I hope that was just a fluke (maybe a temporary chef?). I'm not any kind of expert of course, but LV is probably the best or one of the best managed safari camps I have stayed at, but again, that may be hard to keep up with their long time manager leaving.
Also, Chitable Trails was our most disappointing camp as far as game veiwing goes.
It will be interesting to see each of our opinions about Selinda (if I ever finish my report).

As you can see...we had some great viewing at CT including the kill and of course with the ellies in camp! we saw a large herd of buffalo which was unique in terms of numbers.
At LV Dardley (whom I understand has been there for ever but I don't know for sure), Lawrence who is relatively new, and Unozeba were the managers and did a fabulous job. Not to forget Jacks at the bar. We were quite sad to leave! We were there is August. I would say that the three of them were always visible and checking in with us, knowing all our names of course, and they were great.
At both these camps our guides did a LOT of tracking to find the animals which was fascinating.
Hint: Selinda was our party camp!!!!! Late nights around the fire..that reminds me; I should get working on that!

Hi Brandywine,
Thanks for the trip report. I enjoyed it all, but particularly the portion on Chitabe Trails since I was just there in July. I agree completely about the friendly atmosphere at the camp. And your night in the hide sounds wonderful. I also enjoyed your photos, especially the sable. As you mentioned..what a beautiful animal. I've never seen one myself. Thanks for sharing.

Dana

I finally finished my report (for my own benefit) and thought I may as well post the remainder:

Selinda

Arriving at Selinda after Little Vumbura is quite a change of scenery, Selinda being very dry even in June. The flat open terrain makes for long vistas and gives one the feeling of being out in a great wilderness area (somewhat similar to the feeling in parts of the American West). It was about 45 minutes from the air strip to camp, and we were lucky to spot a herd of roan on the way to camp, off in the distance and moving quickly, but still we were fortunate to see both sable and roan on this trip.

The new lounge area at Selinda is quite large and beautifully decorated, very open with a view out to the spillway. After check in procedure, we were escorted to our tent #4, but then quickly went back to the lounge area for afternoon tea and our game drive. We thought that we had arranged a walk and camp out night at one of the trail camps, similar to what we had done a Chitabe, months before coming. But unlike Chitabe Trails, no mention was made of this when we checked in. We decided not to bring this up, as I guess we were getting a little tired by the time we reached this camp, so I don’t know what would have happened if we brought it to the Manager’s attention.

This evening’s game drive was my favorite at Selinda. One of the lionesses had been spotted with the cubs, so off we went. This turned out to be great fun, and kept us entertained for the entire afternoon, the cubs and one lioness all milled around a termite mound posing all afternoon and into the evening. It was great watching the interaction of the cubs and snapping dozens and dozens of pictures. We found the two males a little ways off in the distance, but they were full and lazy, and of little interest compared to the cubs.

Dinner at Selinda is served (at one long table) rather than buffet style which is nice. Before leaving for the afternoon game drive, you are given a choice of two entrees. The food is good, but not great, I would say similar to other 5 paw camps. The one thing that I did not personally like here is that dinner is served promptly at 7:30. So it always seemed a bit rushed to me, making evening game drives somewhat shorter than other camps, then back to your tent for a few minutes before being picked up for dinner, then sit at the fire for about a minute and get a drink and immediately go the dinner table, maybe getting one quick gulp of your before dinner drink. I’m not sure what the rush at dinner time was all about, but not very relaxing.

The next morning, no sooner had we left camp when we observed an interesting encounter – two young bull elephants chasing off the two male lions. Really funny to see the “king of jungle” lions skedaddle when chased by two irate bull elephants. We watched the elephants for a bit, then went off to find the lions. Our guide apparently had an idea where the lions were headed, so he was able to get us out in front of them, and then we had an excellent time for the next hour or so, watching in the morning light as they came in to drink, rest a bit, drink again, marking, roaring, etc. The lions wandered off a little ways, and our guide informed us that we had a flat tire. So he climbed out, but asked us to stay in the vehicle a bit longer while he did some prep work. Then we all got out of the vehicle, but stayed nearby, keeping watch on the lions that were now further away.

Unfortunately, after the tire was changed, we were told that the spare tire did not have adequate air to continue our game drive. Since we were not too far from camp, we returned to the maintenance area to pick up a new spare, and to get air in all four of our tires. While I’m on the vehicles, I’ll mention that we found these at Selinda to be the oldest and most uncomfortable vehicles of any camp we have so far visited. The middle seat in the two front rows had been taken out so there was no where to place coats, and bag with extra camera gear, binoculars, etc. – this stuff just had to sit on the floorboards and sort of slide around. Also, one of the seats in the front row (right behind the driver) was broken, so that the seat back laid back at about a 45 degree angle-OK for looking up at the sky, but pretty bad for game viewing. Since no one else wanted this seat (including me) my husband used it for the days we were there, meaning that he virtually had no back support for any game drive.

Anyway, to continue, we then went for a long off road drive that we were radioed into to see a lone lioness with a kill. This lioness was well hidden and almost invisible hiding in the high grass far far off the road. I really have to give credit to the guide that found this lioness, it seemed nearly impossible to me that he could actually have located this. Then back to camp and lunch. After lunch, we sat in some chairs that are provided to look out onto the spillway and just relaxed for a while; it’s really a nice view. Then we checked out the gift shop, but there was nothing much there except a stack of the Jouberts DVDs. Not too much to report from the afternoon game drive, near dusk, we followed a lioness along a road for a while, our guide seemed to think that she was looking for the rest of the pride, she would stop and listen for awhile, then continue trotting on down the road. We headed directly back to camp at dark, when some eyes showed up in a tree in the spotlight, we all yelled at our guide “please stop”. It was a genet, but by the time we stopped and backed up, it had slipped back under cover.
The next morning rather slow as far as predators, but we did come across a large herd of zebra near the spillway. I think this may have been the largest herd of zebra I have seen. There was one lone wildebeast that was hanging around with a group of zebra, and quite funny to watch as he seemed to be trying to fit in with his new friends – a few zebra rolled in the dust, and then the wildebeast went to the same spot and also rolled around for a bit. Our guide told us that an animal (an herbivore I guess) that is separated from its own kind will try to hang out with any other group in order to avoid being alone and becoming easy prey. We also saw some jackals this morning, a male and female or course, and another one that was probably still young, although not really that much smaller. Our most interesting sighting was a young Bateleur that was perched so nicely for picture taking. He had some kind of small kill in his talons, and we were able to keep approaching slowly until we had a really nice view.

We went on a longer drive in the afternoon to an area we had not transversed previously. It was an area rather torn up by elephants, but apparently is sometimes favored by the dogs, but no sign of the wild dogs while we were at Selinda. While we were at Little Vumbura, several couples had just arrived from Duma Tau, and had all seen the dogs there, and I believe this is the same pack. So I guess we were in the wrong camp at the wrong time as far as that goes, but can’t be helped of course.
Another interesting sighting of a lone animal keeping company with another species – this time a tsessebe with a group of ostriches, really strange. We spent most of the afternoon until dark with a female cheetah with a kill in some brush right by the side of a road (we were radioed to the sighting). This is the first time I had witnessed a cheetah feeding, and much different than watching lions feed. She would feed for a few minutes, then sit up, listen intently and look all around, then back to eating. It looked pretty nerve wracking to me, the way she had to constantly be on alert while trying to feed. Anyway, she made out good, consuming so much that she actually moved away for a bit and laid down with a very full stomach. Then she went back for some more. It was getting dark, so we had our sundowners in the vehicle watching the cheetah and the sunset; this was our last night on safari and a wonderful ending!

We had an early flight (7:30 am) from Selinda back to Maun to catch the 10:00 am flight from Maun to JNB, so unfortunately missed our morning game drive. Spent a long afternoon at the airport in the international terminal, where there is plenty of shopping, then back to the U.S.

In general, the game viewing at Selinda was pretty good, and the landscape is very open with long views. Our game drives seemed a little repetitious, that is, we seemed to go over the same area and roads most days. I believe the concession is quite large, but not sure that we saw that much of it. Maybe it’s large but with limited roads? I thought we would go all the way to the lagoon one day, but we never did. The tents are quite nice, good size, and the bathroom area is lovely – very open with a large tub in the middle, double sinks and open shower. There is also a small bottle of port and a couple of glasses on the writing desk. The tents are spaced closer together here than most other camps that we have visited, so we could hear our neighbors. Also, the camp is fenced on the back side - the staff village is located right behind the camp, so there’s a little more foot traffic on the trail behind the tents. The somewhat closer spaced tents, and the fencing, the staff area, etc. made this camp not quite so private or intimate, and not quite as “wild” feeling as our other camps. There are only two tents on one side of the lounge, and seven tents on the other side, so I think perhaps the other side with two tents would feel more private.

Twelve days of game viewing in the wilderness was a great vacation! It’s always so hard to have to come back to the real world. Even though we were not able to spot any wild dogs on this trip, one thing I was looking forward to - I was ready to get to see my own dogs!

Nice report, Brandywine ..... agree with your observations in the Selinda.

Rgds,
Hari

thank you so much for this report!! i got so excited and want to visit there and feel i have much informations and experiences about Botswana before i go ,thank you again so much

Loved all your pics - particularly the mirror of the 2 lions drinking.
It's hard to catch them doing anything except snoozing.

You itinerary sounds fabulous and got my attention b/c I'll be going to Selinda, Chitabe Trails and L. Vumbura - do you have a favorite?

What was the deal with the broken seat at Selinda? I'm guessing that they're weren't any other vehicles - true? I reluctantly booked Selinda b/c Zibilianga (sp.) raised their pricing above my budget - makes me wonder.
Oh, and who were your guides and what were your trip dates?
Thanks for finishing your informative report.

Nice trip report - thanks for sharing! It brings back happy memories of Seba and Selinda, which we visited this month.

Cybor, we are just a few weeks back from Selinda. You should ask for Mots - he is an awesome guide.

As for the vehicles - they were super comfortable when we were there. Each person has their own bucket seat and there are no middle seats, which is really nice if you are taking pictures. I guess it is a matter of opinion. But, we didn't have coats since we were there in the hot season, so I can imagine if you had lots of layers on you might not want to put them on the ground next to your seat.

Cybor,

I think I read somewhere here on Fodors that Selinda was supposed to be getting new vehicles in September, so when you go next year, you should be OK. Maybe Melissa was there after the new vehicles were in use. I'm not sure why the middle seat is taken out, unless you paid for a private vehicle, and could use the floor space for a tripod - that's the only reason I can think of. But the main problem was the broken seat back. Our guide at Selinda was Mots, he was fine. The other guide that seemed to be an excellent tracker was BB, but the other guests commented that he was unhappy with his situation or his life, or whatever, I don't know what that was all about, hopefully resolved now.

Our favorite camp was probably Little Vumbura, but I also loved Seba. Both of these are the delta camps with beautiful scenery, and we had good game viewing at both.

I really like Chitabe Trails camp, it is small and very friendly, and definitely do the camp out night at the hide if you can. It is not as luxurious as the camps that have been recently remodeled, but it is really just fine. We just did not happen to have great game viewing while we were there, but it seems that most other people have had better luck. There are several guides at Chitabe/Chitabe Trails that have been there a long time and really know the concession well, so I think it's hard to go wrong here. Our guide was Ebbs and he is quite good. But if Newman is there during your stay, then you should request him, he's the king there.

Melissa, I'm glad that Seba is getting some visitors, we had a great guide there, and the best food!

Brandywine,

At Selinda main camp in June .... we had one of those "New vehicles" with no middle seat. IMO, they were a bit high up for decent photography ...... not much to complain about, except the trucks were not provided with beanbags and the like ...... that would have come in handy!

I did have one of the battered old vehicles at Zib camp to myself and wasn't happy at all with it.

Hari

Brandywine,

Thanks for your informative report on Selinda. Some telling and unfortunate changes there under the new ownership. You've mentioned a couple:

1) dinner prompt at 7.30 (no flexibility at all?). It's easy to see what kind of clientele they are now looking for. I recall our first visit to Selinda: we found the Selinda pride with a fresh zebra kill a few hundred metres from Zibalianja camp, and generously radioed Zib. But no, their clients weren't interested, having just returned to camp for dinner. That was good for us...we had an undisturbed viewing for the next hour or so with the lights of Zib visible in the near distance.

2) Less privacy between the tents. That's a consequence of putting more tents in the same space; the camp has been expanded and upgraded with little if any thought to its ambience.

John

Hari,

Hopefully the new vehicles are at the camps now, and satisfactory to everyone. I know from reading many other trip reports that it's hard to please everyone as far as vehicles go! Although having a spare tire that was not really useable seems to be more of a maintenance issue than a new vs. old issue. Maybe because new vehicles were arriving, they did not want to put any expense or time into maintaining the old vehicles?

John,

Well obviously, this was my first time at Selinda, so I can't compare the Joubert ownership to Linyanti Explorations if that is what you meant. It is my understanding that the Jouberts have done away with all hunting on the concession, and opened up the small camp (Motswiri?) to try to develop a presence at that end of the reserve, so there is something to be said for that. Of course, the rates have also gone up considerably starting next year.

Regarding the tent spacing, I was reading another report about another camp, where the guest thought that the walk from his tent to the lounge area was a bit too far, and I guess would have appreciated having the tents closer, so you never know, everyone has their own preferences. For us, relaxing at our tent in the afternoon without hearing the sound of other human voices is part of the African experience.

I can understand that a larger camp makes the logistics for dinner a little bit harder, trying to get everyone back at nearly the same time. But it did feel rushed, and there was no time to stop at night for a genet. But what if it was a leopard, would we have stopped, I certainly hope so. Maybe just setting up dinner at 8:00 instead of 7:30 would have helped.

I just want to say again, that we did have excellent lion sightings there, I don't think I will ever forget the first night with the cubs, and the next morning with the two males at the spillway. I also really appreciated our cheetah sighting, and with the open terrain, I suspect this is a good place to actually have a chance to see cheetahs in action.

Brandywine,

Don't know if they have deceided to go thru with the winetasting session from 7PM to 7 30PM when you sit down for dinner. That was the talk when the wine cellar was getting ready. And oh! they have two huge humming air conditioners in there too ..... if all of this is as per schedule, would make for an even shorter game drive!!!

But, sure ...... if their target market desires that kind of experience, then by all means i suppose they are justified to create just such an experience ......

and hope everything's okay with BB ......

Hari

Thanks for the final installment. I'll be checking the pics a little later.

If you thought you had arranged a night at the walking camp in Selinda, but did not go, it would be worth checking to see if you had paid extra for that experience. You don't want to be charged for something you did not get.

Great lion-ele encounter to go with the lions and cubs.

A tsessebe with the ostriches is a fun combo. A final cheetah in the sunset is indeed a grand finale.

I'm sure your own dogs were ready to see you too.

sorry, missed your comment on the spacing between tents ...... i was on the left side of the lounge, and can't remember anything in particular with being too close to the next tent (atleast on my side). However, i thought the bathroom design was a bit too unnatural and meshed-in.

Agree though, the lounge is beautiful and the design of their dining table in particular is fabulous!!!

Hari

Brandywine,

For years Selinda has been renowned for its lion. So if you did not have a spectacular sighting you can consider the trip was a dud.

Yes. The open flood plains make for excellent cheetah kill action. I have witnessed four cheetah kills there and many other sighting with them feeding on a carcass.

On one fabulous morning (Oct' 2002) I saw eleven individual cheetah in 2 hours.

At one of those the 3 boys were harrassing a female with a sub-adult cub. You should have heard the bizarre noises they were making - Particularly the female who was trying to get away and also protect her male offspring.

From all the descriptions I've read here I definitely do NOT like the changes to the Selinda.

Geoff.

brandywine,

The end of hunting in the Selinda concession is probably the only good thing to have happened there in the past three years...at least to most of us who are in a position to compare the old with the new (I appreciate that you have no comparison).

I've not been as fortunate as Geoff to see that many cheetah at Selinda, but we have seen at least five cheetah there on every single trip...always the 'brothers', and often a female with one or more cubs. We've had numerous wild dog sightings, and as Geoff says, always lion-- the "home pride" was more than 20 strong in the early 2000s, and there were nearly 40 lion in the vicinity of Zib lagoon in 2002.

John

Using GeoffG's lion standards, my 4-night stay at Zib in Aug 2006 was a dud. Since I had come from Duba Plains and Vumbura with lots of lions, I was not disappointed in the lack of Selinda lions. Right after I came back from Selinda, I read an article in one of the traveler mags, maybe Conde Nast or Nat Geog Traveler (I was leafing through mags at a bank) and the article was on the decline of lions, specifically Selinda.

The one good thing for me about Selinda's change is that it will become one less place competing for my limited time and money.

Brandywine, You had plenty of good lion pics both day, dusk, and night shots. The fish eagle and the coucal were great bird photos. You caught some of the beautifully colored grasses at Chitabe with your buffalo herd. I remember taking grass photos there, it was so lovely. Some nice ele shots, like the one speckled with mud. I was just about to comment on all the baby giraffes, when I had a deja vu. I scrolled back through the posts and, sure enough, I had noticed the giraffes the first time. And the fish eagle. Enjoyed the second viewing of your slide show.

Talking about changes in the Selinda - i truly wish i had experienced the "old selinda" as described by Afrigalah, Geoff and Sniktawk on these forums ..... something, i will regret!

All this cheetah talk makes me want to mention this - in the new Selinda, i'm not sure if they know what their clients are looking for! The reason i say this - we had been tracking for the two cheetah boys all morning (Kanawe) and there were signs that they had just gotten into the concession from up north i.e.,Kwando on their way South ....... we didn't have much luck tracking the boys.

Another guide (the resident Zib guide) dropped his guests off at the airstrip after brunch and found the cheetah boys there ....... he knew we had been tracking them all morning, and didn't mention a thing ..... i spent the afternoon reading a book!!!! Not a word ..... i did go straight there in the PM drive (skipping high tea as usual) and they had left .....

Finally, Kanawe tracked them down the next morning (after having to change two flat tires) with great expertize. He first looked for tracks around the final few termite mounds and then mentioned that they haven't crossed over into WS as yet. Then through the corner of his eyes, he saw the boys and we raced over and saw them scent mark the final few termite mounds and then it was "GOOD BYE" .... they went into Duma Tau.

My point being, they are lucky to have great guides like Kanawe and wish they weren't as regimented in their attitude. Also, the area and terrain around the Selinda is truly spectacular IMO and it is a pity that they don't take advantage of the fabulous outdoors opportunities (no, i'm not counting the bush dinners!!!)

Cheers,
Hari