Botswana is a quick flight up from South Africa. For many years we have wanted to expand into this area, but have been so East Africa focused for so long. Botswana has been appealing in that it offers the massive endless landscapes - where plains surround your 360 degree view, making you feel timeless and at nature. Finally we have decided to offer Botswana and our first reconnaissance trip involved the Kwando circuit.
Kwando offers an amazing game experience! Vintage African Safaris : Intimate Camps With Personalized Service.
What makes Kwando Safaris unique?
From here we went up to Lagoon Camp: http://www.kwando.co.za/lagoon.html Lagoon is perched on the banks of the wild Kwando River, overlooking the Mudumu National Park in the Namibian Caprivi Strip. The camp is nestled beneath towering ebony and marula trees.
Lagoon has a well-earned reputation for big game and large herds of elephant and buffalo, especially in the winter months, when herds of up to a thousand are not uncommon. This vast concentration of game attracts the attention of large predators. The Lagoon wild dog pack regularly den close to the camp and the excellent viewing opportunities have led to Lagoon's reputation as the place to see wild dogs in Botswana.
We had one of the more memorable and special game drives from Lagoon. In the evening we stumbled upon a pack of wild dogs sleeping and being lazy. A couple of them began to get restless and initiated a 'greeting ceremony'. Wild dogs are the most social of all canines and the bonds between pack members are reinforced by these 'greeting ceremonies'. Before a hunt, wild dogs will greet each other with leaps, grunts, squeals, and tail wagging in the morning and afternoon. Most guides know that a pack of wild dogs will begin to hunt after they see this behavior. For us we saw two of these greetings and then as predicted, they were off in single file line and then spreading up almost like a military unit - on the hunt! First they went after an impala and missed the opportunity and then a baby elephant, but were scared off by two big female mothers protecting their young. Finally, they surrounded a warthog den and caught the one that ran away - they killed a warthog. From this point the friendly frenzy began to devour the warthog. Nearly 80% of wild dog hunts end in a kill - they are very successful and ferocious killers, known to disembowel their prey. This is a rapid way of killing and known to be quite brutal, but this is their style. Hunting behavior is passed on from generation to generation. As soon as the pack was getting close to the end of their meal, we heard an insane noise coming from animals, squeals, barking like we have never heard before - hyenas were coming to steal their food; 2 hyenas against 12 screaming wild dogs!! This was chaos, dirt flying everywhere and finally the wild dogs actually left, as they saw no reason to fight over the small quantity left - this was absolutely the most amazing wild life experience we have ever had!! Dinner this night was chat about what had happened on the game drive...
Our next stop was Lebala Camp: http://www.kwando.co.za/lebala.html Lebala is situated in the south of the Kwando concession, adjacent to the head waters of the Linyanti marshes that form the boundary between Botswana and Namibia. The southerly flowing Kwando river disappears into the vast marshland before emerging as the Linyanti river. The triangle formed by this vast wetland is home to the Mamili National Park in Namibia. The guest tents are spacious layouts and one of the more romantic settings of the circuit - we really did enjoy this camp the most.
We did not cover Nxai Pan and Tau Pan, but definitely have more to see from the Kwando circuit. We highly recommend these camps for their service, guiding, and excellent game viewing experiences - let us know if you want to book a Botswana safari!
- 100% citizen owned
- 97% of all Kwando staff are Botswana citizens
- We pride ourselves on the personal attention from committed staff and in providing our guests an all encompassing safari experience. An African safari is not just about the wildlife and décor in your camp, but equally about our people and culture
- Kwando Safaris offers a true Botswana safari!
- The essence of Kwando guiding is to provide the ultimate game viewing experience and holistic understanding of Botswana’s wildlife and habitats
- Exclusive concession areas offering some of the most consistent high quality game viewing in the country
- Each of our spectacular camps are set in unique and diverse wildlife destinations
- Kwando Safaris was voted runners up for ‘The Good Safari Guide’s’ ‘Best Guiding Team in Africa’ in 2008
- In private concession areas (four of our camps) guides can move off road and drive at night
- A unique guide and tracker system – a Kwando Safaris’ forte, providing guests the benefit of two sets of searching eyes that miss nothing as you traverse the wilderness of northern Botswana! The guide is also able to concentrate on imparting to you interesting information and bush folklore while the skilled tracker guides you through the undergrowth and across the open plains
- Game drive times are entirely flexible – also a well known characteristic of Kwando Safaris. Guests have come to Botswana to explore our wilderness areas and not to sit in camp! We believe that game activities and sightings should dictate the times of meals and not the other way round! Should you wish to spend more time at a beautiful spot or awesome sighting, then meals will be kept hot or even brought to you, to ensure that your time is best spent - out having an adventure of a lifetime!
- Environmental best practices throughout all areas of operation – Kwando Safaris is pioneering the use of renewable energy within the Botswana safari industry and expanding wholesale use of renewable energy generation and sewerage treatment in all of our camps. Due to this investment in our wildlife areas, our guests know that they are leaving only their footprints in the dust.
From here we went up to Lagoon Camp: http://www.kwando.co.za/lagoon.html Lagoon is perched on the banks of the wild Kwando River, overlooking the Mudumu National Park in the Namibian Caprivi Strip. The camp is nestled beneath towering ebony and marula trees.
Lagoon has a well-earned reputation for big game and large herds of elephant and buffalo, especially in the winter months, when herds of up to a thousand are not uncommon. This vast concentration of game attracts the attention of large predators. The Lagoon wild dog pack regularly den close to the camp and the excellent viewing opportunities have led to Lagoon's reputation as the place to see wild dogs in Botswana.
We had one of the more memorable and special game drives from Lagoon. In the evening we stumbled upon a pack of wild dogs sleeping and being lazy. A couple of them began to get restless and initiated a 'greeting ceremony'. Wild dogs are the most social of all canines and the bonds between pack members are reinforced by these 'greeting ceremonies'. Before a hunt, wild dogs will greet each other with leaps, grunts, squeals, and tail wagging in the morning and afternoon. Most guides know that a pack of wild dogs will begin to hunt after they see this behavior. For us we saw two of these greetings and then as predicted, they were off in single file line and then spreading up almost like a military unit - on the hunt! First they went after an impala and missed the opportunity and then a baby elephant, but were scared off by two big female mothers protecting their young. Finally, they surrounded a warthog den and caught the one that ran away - they killed a warthog. From this point the friendly frenzy began to devour the warthog. Nearly 80% of wild dog hunts end in a kill - they are very successful and ferocious killers, known to disembowel their prey. This is a rapid way of killing and known to be quite brutal, but this is their style. Hunting behavior is passed on from generation to generation. As soon as the pack was getting close to the end of their meal, we heard an insane noise coming from animals, squeals, barking like we have never heard before - hyenas were coming to steal their food; 2 hyenas against 12 screaming wild dogs!! This was chaos, dirt flying everywhere and finally the wild dogs actually left, as they saw no reason to fight over the small quantity left - this was absolutely the most amazing wild life experience we have ever had!! Dinner this night was chat about what had happened on the game drive...
Our next stop was Lebala Camp: http://www.kwando.co.za/lebala.html Lebala is situated in the south of the Kwando concession, adjacent to the head waters of the Linyanti marshes that form the boundary between Botswana and Namibia. The southerly flowing Kwando river disappears into the vast marshland before emerging as the Linyanti river. The triangle formed by this vast wetland is home to the Mamili National Park in Namibia. The guest tents are spacious layouts and one of the more romantic settings of the circuit - we really did enjoy this camp the most.
We did not cover Nxai Pan and Tau Pan, but definitely have more to see from the Kwando circuit. We highly recommend these camps for their service, guiding, and excellent game viewing experiences - let us know if you want to book a Botswana safari!
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