quimbymoy

hi all,

thanks for all the advice from my previous post. after reflecting on your comments regarding my Botswana trip, here are the camps my TA suggested:

Kwando Lagoon Camp
Camp Kalahari
Kwara Camp

would these camps have have diverse activities (i.e. walking, mokoro, game drives, etc)?

and which area would be better in mid-late March, Linyanti or Savute? I'd love to do both but I'm also adding Namibia to the tail end of the trip.

thanks again!!

lbj

I would happily book that.

In my experience, Selinda is very miss at this time of year. The Linyanti Concession does not compare to Kwando in terms of game viewing.

Lagoon is in a more wooded area, so you will have the advantage of seeing more elephants compared to Lebala etc. In addition, there is a good chance of dogs plus the three cheetah boys. Compared to WS, guides at Kwando really hunt out the game and are more concerned with finding with finding things with the trackers than getting back for meal times.

Kwara, good camp and excellent value at that time of year. I would book a private vehicle at least one day and get your guide to drive all the way down to the short plains of Tsum Tsum, excellent for Cheetah.

As for the Kalahari, I am actually heading there around March next year, though on a mobile safari. I would say go, but many first timers may prefer a second Delta camp. I would recommend Duba as the place to go during March.

The true water experience will be better at a place like Jacana etc. Though if you are looking for a true walking experience with water activities at a lower cost than WS, I would recommend Camp Okavango. Not everybodies cup of tea, but I have alsways had incredible walking there. Including around 40 lions on one walk............


Cheers
R

PredatorBiologist

Agree Lagoon and Kwara are great choices.

Note that Camp Kalahari is actually on the Makgadikgadi Pans and not inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve which is what most people probably associate with the Kalahari, and where I imagine LBJ is referring to. Camp Kalahari is in a spectacular location and exploring the pans is an amazing experience but quite different than other safari stops which will add diversity to your trip.

I think it is a great itinerary.

HariS

Agree 100% with LBJ. Kwara in the green season is fantastic. I was at LK this past green season and can't imagine a better place to be ....... do a search on this forum, you may find my pics on pbase from the particular trip. Had some spectacular Leopard and cheetah viewing ..........

You may already know that Kwando's new camps will be open for business next green season in both CKGR and Nxai pans .......

Cheers
Hari

HariS

http://www.pbase.com/haris_7/january_2008

quimbymoy

thanks for the replies! glad i am on the right track now.

lbj, (and excuse me for my ignorance), when you say "book a private vehicle", are game drives taken by more people than just your party? what kind of vehicles should i look for? would these vehicles not be included in the rate? and why would you say Camp Okavango is not everyone's cup of tea? looks perfectly nice to me... ;-)

hi PB, i do know that Camp Kalahari is in the Makgadikgadi Pans... i would like the diversity as well as a chance to see the migration during the green season. and the meekats are just too cute.

hi hari, thanks for the comments and the pics, they are outstanding!

lbj

My confusion, I thought you were heading to Kalahari Plains Camp, the new WS offering.

Indeed, you game drives will be shared with others in the camp, depending of the suze of your party. THis will mean having to compromise your time at sightings etc etc. You get the same vehicle as you would normally go out in, but just have the vehicle to yourself with the guide. It is an additional cost though.

Camp O as it is known, does not cover your high luxury end, so is often over looked on forums like this.

quimbymoy

thanks lbj for the clarification! looking forward to hearing about your trip in march!

Lynneb

We stayed at Kwara and Lebala this March and it was fantastic. Lots of cat sitings at Kwara as well as stunning scenery. We were lucky enough to find the wild dogs at Lebala due to the great guiding. As PB says, Kwando guides really do work hard to ensure you get the most from your stay.

We combined the delta and linyanti with a few days camping in CKGR which made for a nice combination.

quimbymoy

thanks lynneb for your experiences! what part of march did you go and did it rain much?

Lynneb

We were there towards the end of March. No rain at all.

quimbymoy

if i were to save namibia for another trip, where would you add 3-4 additional days with the above itinerary?

HariS

Lebala. Yes, L and L are in the same concession, but, some game viewing areas are really far and out that they can't always be accessed on a daily basis due to various reasons - Light, time of the day etc etc.,.

You can easily do 4 nights there - or if you are really serious about gameviewing IMHO Kwara would be better that time of the year. I was there 5 nights in January and would have preferred to have stayed put out there for the rest of my trip.