Julian: Selinda & trip report
Sep 25th, 2006, 03:36 PM
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Julian: Selinda & trip report
Julian,
I seem to recall your mentioning a while back that you were going to Selinda. Is that trip coming up in the new year?
Also, I've been searching for your trip report on your first Botswana safari, in July last year. The southern Africa trip report index doesn't seem to go back far enough and I can't find anything independent of that. Did you do one?
John
I seem to recall your mentioning a while back that you were going to Selinda. Is that trip coming up in the new year?
Also, I've been searching for your trip report on your first Botswana safari, in July last year. The southern Africa trip report index doesn't seem to go back far enough and I can't find anything independent of that. Did you do one?
John
Sep 25th, 2006, 06:29 PM
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Hi John,
Tanzania in October is it for me this year. My next trip (assuming I don't do a long weekend in Cape Town at some point in March or April) is in late April/early May 2007.
The itinerary is still in flux, but it will include at least three days at Selinda and a 6-night mobile safari with Uncharted Africa. I hope to fit a few nights at Vic Falls and some time in Hwange in as well.
Unfortunately, I never did get around to writing a trip report for my 2005 trip.
Cheers,
Julian
Tanzania in October is it for me this year. My next trip (assuming I don't do a long weekend in Cape Town at some point in March or April) is in late April/early May 2007.
The itinerary is still in flux, but it will include at least three days at Selinda and a 6-night mobile safari with Uncharted Africa. I hope to fit a few nights at Vic Falls and some time in Hwange in as well.
Unfortunately, I never did get around to writing a trip report for my 2005 trip.
Cheers,
Julian
Sep 25th, 2006, 08:07 PM
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Julian,
Pity about the lack of a trip report. You've said a couple of times, I think, that Little Vumbura is your favourite camp in Botswana, or one of them, and I recall seeing somewhere that it was on the itinerary of your first Botswana safari. Knowing how detailed your reports are, I thought it would be worth a look and that finding it would be a cert seeing it was only last year.
Now, guides at Selinda...I'd say Kanawe is still the senior man other than the camp manager. He's good. But OB (ex Kwando) is also there, and I certainly had nothing to complain about with him at Lagoon last year. He was the lion-tracker extraordinaire I spoke of in another thread. Then there's Motsamai, who recently transferred to Selinda from Zibalianja...a very entertaining and capable bloke. I can remember Mots regaling us one sundowner with a very very long, humorous story while wild dogs and hyenas wandered around us as we stood near our vehicle in the dark. We saw a wild dog and a hyena nose-to-nose 20 metres away while we chatted...the dog was apparently telling the hyena to bugger off because the pups were in their den nearby
. Then if my memory serves me correctly, there's Zane, new camp manager (but he's had a lot of experience at Selinda and elsewhere) and qualified guide. I will need to check linyanti.com to confirm his position. Zane is the son of Vaughan, who was Selinda manager when we were there in '02 and one of LE's qualified manager/guides who have always been happy to take me out on extra midday photographic excursions should my companions not want to miss their siesta.
John
Pity about the lack of a trip report. You've said a couple of times, I think, that Little Vumbura is your favourite camp in Botswana, or one of them, and I recall seeing somewhere that it was on the itinerary of your first Botswana safari. Knowing how detailed your reports are, I thought it would be worth a look and that finding it would be a cert seeing it was only last year.
Now, guides at Selinda...I'd say Kanawe is still the senior man other than the camp manager. He's good. But OB (ex Kwando) is also there, and I certainly had nothing to complain about with him at Lagoon last year. He was the lion-tracker extraordinaire I spoke of in another thread. Then there's Motsamai, who recently transferred to Selinda from Zibalianja...a very entertaining and capable bloke. I can remember Mots regaling us one sundowner with a very very long, humorous story while wild dogs and hyenas wandered around us as we stood near our vehicle in the dark. We saw a wild dog and a hyena nose-to-nose 20 metres away while we chatted...the dog was apparently telling the hyena to bugger off because the pups were in their den nearby
. Then if my memory serves me correctly, there's Zane, new camp manager (but he's had a lot of experience at Selinda and elsewhere) and qualified guide. I will need to check linyanti.com to confirm his position. Zane is the son of Vaughan, who was Selinda manager when we were there in '02 and one of LE's qualified manager/guides who have always been happy to take me out on extra midday photographic excursions should my companions not want to miss their siesta.John
Sep 25th, 2006, 08:21 PM
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John,
I agree with OB. He also has a great work ethic...one time, we were tracking cheetah and he didnt want to give up until we found them. Went on and on and on, finally gave up when it started pouring with rain. Went back and tracked them (cheetah mum and two sub-adults) the next day. Ofcourse, full marks to our tracker also (LT)
Hari
I agree with OB. He also has a great work ethic...one time, we were tracking cheetah and he didnt want to give up until we found them. Went on and on and on, finally gave up when it started pouring with rain. Went back and tracked them (cheetah mum and two sub-adults) the next day. Ofcourse, full marks to our tracker also (LT)
Hari
Sep 25th, 2006, 08:44 PM
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Hari,
Yes, they do seem well off for guides right now...but they would need them, with a potential clientele of 18. There's a young couple at Selinda too, who seem to carry out relief guiding/management duties at times. Vaughan and Shirley Volker are still with LE but have been posted at Motswiri since 2003, both during the last year or two of its old life as a hunting camp and in its new role as a photographic safari camp.
Yes, BB has been at Zib and probably still is. Another good bloke.
Hari, no guide in his right mind would give up following cheetah with you in the vehicle . Reminds me of the time in 2004 when Kanawe parked us next to the newly-flooded spillway to watch the three cheetah brothers cautiously approach the water and then make a mad, splashing dash across to the other side (I've shown a photo of this event). It was a rare show, because the three boys just weren't used to having to cross water to get where they wanted to go. Anyway, Yvonne was in another vehicle with BB driving. BB dawdled and was late getting to the scene...just in time for Yvonne to see the three boys, soaking wet, drag themselves from the water on the far side of the spillway. Fair dinkum, if looks could have killed, BB would have been lion meat that night. But it was funny, and even Yvonne laughs (a bit) about it now.
John
Yes, they do seem well off for guides right now...but they would need them, with a potential clientele of 18. There's a young couple at Selinda too, who seem to carry out relief guiding/management duties at times. Vaughan and Shirley Volker are still with LE but have been posted at Motswiri since 2003, both during the last year or two of its old life as a hunting camp and in its new role as a photographic safari camp.
Yes, BB has been at Zib and probably still is. Another good bloke.
Hari, no guide in his right mind would give up following cheetah with you in the vehicle
. Reminds me of the time in 2004 when Kanawe parked us next to the newly-flooded spillway to watch the three cheetah brothers cautiously approach the water and then make a mad, splashing dash across to the other side (I've shown a photo of this event). It was a rare show, because the three boys just weren't used to having to cross water to get where they wanted to go. Anyway, Yvonne was in another vehicle with BB driving. BB dawdled and was late getting to the scene...just in time for Yvonne to see the three boys, soaking wet, drag themselves from the water on the far side of the spillway. Fair dinkum, if looks could have killed, BB would have been lion meat that night. But it was funny, and even Yvonne laughs (a bit) about it now.John
Sep 25th, 2006, 08:54 PM
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Especially if cheetah are found in the area, John....i make it easy for the guides...just take me there, relax and let me enjoy the rest of the day!!!
Good thing about cheetah, once they come into an area they hang around for quite a bit (more often than not!!!) The female cheetah from my trip report from Lebala,was being seen for atleast 3 days prior to my visit, 4 days of my visit and from the trip report of another fodorite 3 more days of his visit and i wonder how long she continued to be in the area......
Hari
Good thing about cheetah, once they come into an area they hang around for quite a bit (more often than not!!!) The female cheetah from my trip report from Lebala,was being seen for atleast 3 days prior to my visit, 4 days of my visit and from the trip report of another fodorite 3 more days of his visit and i wonder how long she continued to be in the area......
Hari
Sep 26th, 2006, 06:45 AM
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Hi Hari,
The trip is early for a number of reasons -- partially to see the pans during the wet season (I'm really looking forward to this!) and because there is a major travel industry conference in Durban at the beginning of May. Since I was in the neighbourhood, I couldn't pass up the chance for another visit to Botswana!
However, I do have plans to return to Selinda (and Kwando if we can sort the vehicle issue) in August 2008 for a dry-season visit.
Hi John,
Yes, LV is one of my favourite camps in the Delta -- I had actually planned to return in 2006 but after joining DA I opted to go to Kwando instead in the interest of broadening my exposure. A return to LV is still high on my list!
I'm afraid I just never got around to doing a report. There's quite a big gap between Tanzania in October and Botswana in April 2007, so perhaps I can do a retrospective trip report -- I keep a very detailed travel journal, and I always enjoy reading about my past trips so it might be fun as well as useful for other Fodorites. In general, I used to be terrible about trip reports -- I've not done them for my trips to SA either -- but I'm trying to improve!
Cheers,
Julian
The trip is early for a number of reasons -- partially to see the pans during the wet season (I'm really looking forward to this!) and because there is a major travel industry conference in Durban at the beginning of May. Since I was in the neighbourhood, I couldn't pass up the chance for another visit to Botswana!
However, I do have plans to return to Selinda (and Kwando if we can sort the vehicle issue) in August 2008 for a dry-season visit.
Hi John,
Yes, LV is one of my favourite camps in the Delta -- I had actually planned to return in 2006 but after joining DA I opted to go to Kwando instead in the interest of broadening my exposure. A return to LV is still high on my list!
I'm afraid I just never got around to doing a report. There's quite a big gap between Tanzania in October and Botswana in April 2007, so perhaps I can do a retrospective trip report -- I keep a very detailed travel journal, and I always enjoy reading about my past trips so it might be fun as well as useful for other Fodorites. In general, I used to be terrible about trip reports -- I've not done them for my trips to SA either -- but I'm trying to improve!
Cheers,
Julian
Sep 26th, 2006, 01:56 PM
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"I do have plans to return to Selinda"- Julian
I didn't realise you'd been there before, especially as you asked me about the guides. Not another missing trip report?
John
I didn't realise you'd been there before, especially as you asked me about the guides. Not another missing trip report?
John
Sep 26th, 2006, 02:05 PM
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Julian,
Ah, ah...I misread your post. Sorry...excellent idea to look at Selinda in the 'damp' and the dry. I've often thought of doing Selinda in the green season, but much earlier than you're planning, because I love thunder and lightning, especially in the bush, and wouldn't mind a bit if game viewing wasn't quite as good as usual. We had an unseasonable thunderstorm and a few hours of rain one August at Selinda...remarkable to sit around the campfire while the heavens lit up.
John
Ah, ah...I misread your post. Sorry...excellent idea to look at Selinda in the 'damp' and the dry. I've often thought of doing Selinda in the green season, but much earlier than you're planning, because I love thunder and lightning, especially in the bush, and wouldn't mind a bit if game viewing wasn't quite as good as usual. We had an unseasonable thunderstorm and a few hours of rain one August at Selinda...remarkable to sit around the campfire while the heavens lit up.
John
Sep 26th, 2006, 06:39 PM
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John,
The only thing i dont like about the green season is all the poncho wearing and getting drenched on the drive!!!
What's worse...somedays, the clothes dont dry out....but, it's all part of the fun of safari.
But, i guess in the end....all the spectacular colors are well worth the visit....i've had great game viewing during the green season also (Just not the big ele herds). Smaller buffalo concentrations than in the dry season....otherwise, everything else the same.
Hari
The only thing i dont like about the green season is all the poncho wearing and getting drenched on the drive!!!
What's worse...somedays, the clothes dont dry out....but, it's all part of the fun of safari.
But, i guess in the end....all the spectacular colors are well worth the visit....i've had great game viewing during the green season also (Just not the big ele herds). Smaller buffalo concentrations than in the dry season....otherwise, everything else the same.
Hari
Sep 27th, 2006, 04:57 AM
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Ha, Hari, you can't tell me a thing about getting drenched in the 'green' season Not in Africa, but when I lived in Darwin with my first wife and our three little kids, our house was blown down around our ears by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas morning, 1974 (along with 50,000 other people...the whole city was demolished). Funny how I still love tropical storms...though I've got to confess that windy weather made me anxious for a few years after that.
John
Not in Africa, but when I lived in Darwin with my first wife and our three little kids, our house was blown down around our ears by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas morning, 1974 (along with 50,000 other people...the whole city was demolished). Funny how I still love tropical storms...though I've got to confess that windy weather made me anxious for a few years after that.John
Sep 27th, 2006, 03:59 PM
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Hi John,
I'm rather fond of big weather and spectacular storms (we occasionally get some big ones here in Oxford which light up all the medieval buildings in a very dramatic way) but I know from experience that I find extreme humidity difficult to tolerate for health reasons so I've avoided the green season thus far. If I tolerate the April/May temperatures well (it will be quite a bit warmer than my usual June/July trips, though I have been to South Africa in August/September) I may re-think a green-season trip.
Cheers,
Julian
I'm rather fond of big weather and spectacular storms (we occasionally get some big ones here in Oxford which light up all the medieval buildings in a very dramatic way) but I know from experience that I find extreme humidity difficult to tolerate for health reasons so I've avoided the green season thus far. If I tolerate the April/May temperatures well (it will be quite a bit warmer than my usual June/July trips, though I have been to South Africa in August/September) I may re-think a green-season trip.
Cheers,
Julian
Sep 27th, 2006, 08:55 PM
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Julian,
I've a sister at Frieth in Buckinghamshire who used to live just outside Henley on Thames and took me to visit Oxford once. 'Twas pleasant, but a bit of an anticlimax coming as it did after a safari in Kenya
John
I've a sister at Frieth in Buckinghamshire who used to live just outside Henley on Thames and took me to visit Oxford once. 'Twas pleasant, but a bit of an anticlimax coming as it did after a safari in Kenya
John
