Moliveira

Hello,
I am going to South Africa (Mala Mala, Sun City and Cape Town) in the end of july 2007 with my family and would like to spend some time in Botswana. I will have 4 or 5 nights there and would like some help to define where to go and in which camp to stay.
I am more interested in cats and large herds of elephants, and am not really interested in birding.
My travel agent offered me 2 nights at Sandibe / Okavango Delta and 2 (or 3 if possible) at Savute Elephant Camp in the Savute Marsh / Chobe.
My questions are:
- Is this Savute Elephant Camp a good choice, although it is in the Chobe National Park (I heard there is no off-road or night drives...), or should I change to any camp in the Lynianti region? Is july a good season to see cats and lots of elephants?
- Is Sandibe a good camp for game viewing, especially cats in july? Which are the best camps in the okavango to see game this time of year?
- In which of the regions should I stay for 3 nights if I have 5 nights total?
Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks,
Oliveira

napamatt

I would recommend the Linyanti, Duma Tau, Kings Pool and Savuti are all good for Elephant. Though 4-5 days in Botswana is not much.

atravelynn

Large herds of elephants brings Chobe to mind. And I've seen them there in the 100s at the end of July. I agree with Napamatt that Linyanti is good too. Not as crowded as Chobe.

In early Aug 2005 I saw a nice lion sized lion pride for 2 days and several leopards at Chitabe, next to Sandibe. Wild dogs too.

I think your agent did your bidding.

santharamhari

For cats and dogs, some of the best Botswana camps are Mombo, Chitabe, Lebala, Lagoon, Selinda/zibalianja, Dumatau, Savute.

There is a detailed thread at the moment, started by Cybor....it is called "Botswana camps" over 100 posts to it......

You will see elephants in large numbers at some of the above mentioned camps, but, depends on the rains that they are going to have in Botswana this summer. Last year, they had long and late rains and so the sightings during the dry season werent as good as in prior years......

Hari

Moliveira

Thanks for the help.
I know I should stay more time in botswana, but I have this trip to south Africa with my grandmother and whole family already booked... Iīll look at this "Botswana Camps" thread to find out more about camps in the okavango region. Is there differences in the number and kind of animals in the Linyanti and Savute region also, or the main difference is that in Chobe is a little more crowded?
Thanks again,
Oliveira

santharamhari

Chobe is a national park and hence LOTS more people.....however, much larger elephant concentrations there....

Hari

Tropical_gal

We have just returned from Botswana and saw literally hundreds of elephants at Duma Tau - one day I estimate we saw over 700. We also stayed at Chobe (Muchenje Lodge) which we booked specifically to see elephants but the concentration was more at Duma Tau.

As for the cats - we also saw a large pride of lions (13 in all) - at Chobe Muchenje - and the Selinda pride at Duma Tau as well as a couple of well fed Cheetahs.

I am told that it all depends on the time of year you go - and we were so very lucky.

Good luck,
Alison

santharamhari

Alison,

Glad you had a good trip!!! So, you saw the two male cheetahs at Duma Tau? Always love reading any sightings of those two boys......

Hari

Moliveira

Iīm considering changing Savute Elephant Camp to Duma Tau or Savuti Lodge in the Linyanti region because of the advices of lots of people in Chobe (probably in July it is even more crowded). Good to know you saw some cheetas there. I didnīt see any cheetas last time I went to SA and I donīt think there are many in Mala Mala...

santharamhari

cheetah in the Sabi Sands depends completely on the density of other predators in their traversing area at the given time frame. But, yes....cheetah are a better bet in Botswana than anywhere in the Sabi Sands.

Those two male cheetah mentioned in one of the other posts have a huge home range, they can be anywhere (lagoon, lebala, selinda, Zibalianja, Savuti, Dumatau).

Hari

napamatt

Oliveira

Cheetah are definitely not a guarantee at MM, but I have great luck there, and a review of the cyberdiary will show lots of good sightings. My favorite was a mother and her three full grown male cubs a couple of years ago.