Travel to Linyanti East

a handful of reliable and luxurious safari camps

At around 875 square kilometres, the Linyanti East Concession is a superb private safari area which is particularly renowned for strong sightings of lions, leopards, spotted hyenas and wild-dogs, especially during the May-Oct dry season

The area contains only five small camps, which works out at around 14 square kilometres per person, which is a relatively low guest density.

This private concession is an utterly pristine wilderness, free from all signs of humanity other than these small scale safari operations and where you are free to explore unhindered by the strict regulations and often chronic vehicle traffic of the national parks.

The great joy of the area lies along the western border, where groves of impressive hardwood forest stand above a grassy “beach”, sloping down to the Linyanti River and looking out over the wetlands of the Caprivi Heel.

There is a sense that the safari experience delivered by the camps in this area can be rather less hard-hitting than we would like. The fact that the safari vehicles no longer come with spotters is rarely a good indication.

When it comes to trip durations in Botswana, most visitors combine 2, 3 or 4 lodges by light aircraft over 6-12 nights, one of which will usually be here in Linyanti Waterfront, often in combination with further nights at the Victoria Falls and/or down in the Cape.

Seasonality

During the May-Oct dry season the wildlife density along the waterfront can be astounding, especially the large herds of elephants, which decimate the stands of hardwood trees at the back of the beach.

During May-Jun there is a good chance of catching wild-dogs at den, which is usually the only time that they can be seen with any regularity.

Nov-May is the green season with verdant and beautiful landscapes, with plenty of baby animals and wildflowers.

The arrival of the rains around Nov-Dec and the subsequent filling of the seasonal waterholes sees a high proportion of the wildlife head south and east into the vast hinterlands in search of better grazing, particularly elephants, although there are still some around.

Despite these effects, we have experienced some really excellent safari here during the Nov-Mar green season and there can be really substantial savings on lodge prices, so it really can be a smart time to travel.

Getting there

Access to Linyanti East is usually by light aircraft from Kasane, Maun and other camp airstrips.

very high wildlife densities during the May-Oct dry season