Botswana: Lion on buffalo and elephants in water action 2008

Trip 1: 24 October – 31 October, 2008 – Only 3 places remaining.
Trip 2: 31 October - 7 November, 2008 – This trip is full.
US$ 7,490 per person, ex Maun, on a shared basis

This trip has been designed around two of our favourite camps in Botswana.  The first camp, Duba, will allow us to follow a pride of lions which hunts buffalo during the day.  The buffalo are hemmed in by the water channels and even when they go into the water the lions can cope with this as they have taken to swimming themselves!  There is bound to be exciting interaction and retaliation between the lion and buffalo.  This all makes for exciting photography and you may have seen some of these photos and a previous trip report on this website. In all likelihood, we will be spending all day out with game.  Each day we will look for the buffalo herd, nearby we will find the lions and then it’s a mater of waiting and following the action. 

The second camp, Savuti, has been chosen because at the time of year that we are going we can hope to see very large groups of elephants (several hundred at a time) coming down to a waterhole near the camp.  The weather at both camps, but in particular Savuti, will be very hot and dry, and possibly quite dusty.  All of the game including the elephant will converge, seeking out the water.  At Savuti we will not be spending all day out in the vehicle - it is likely to be too hot for the animals to be active, so we will focus our attention around the waterholes at the start and end of the day.  On a previous trip we have also followed a fantastic leopard hunting through the mopane scrub at Savuti but there are no guarantees this will be repeated.  We will just have to be flexible and catch whatever comes down to the waterholes.

Throughout the trip, when we are not out gamedriving (or in a hide near one of the waterholes), there will be plenty of time for relaxation and photo tutorials.  

We are also offering an optional helicopter flight;  the flight will take just under an hour and will allow you to get aerial shots of the game.  We'd highly recommend this option to you as you will get a very different perspective and some unusual shots for your portfolio.  It's also just a hoot getting around in a chopper!  The doors of the helicopter have been taken out, and each passenger gets a seat by the open door and a good seatbelt!  

As you probably know, we design our trips around getting the very best wildlife action, not around the most up market accommodation, however on this trip the accommodation just happens to be about as good as it gets. The tents, facilities, food and staff are all outstanding and although they don't have the character of our bush camp in the Mara, you will be more than comfortable and we know you will fall in love with both camps.  The comfort of a splash pool at Savuti will certainly be appreciated in the heat. 

The best Botswana has to offer is regrettably expensive, nevertheless this is an exceptional trip and offers good value, travelling with a small group of keen wildlife and/or photography enthusiasts, staying at some of the best camps Botswana has to offer, prized for their game and hospitality.  So .... we hope you are able to join us.  Please get in touch if you are interested or with any questions. Repeat clients have snapped up all but three of the available spaces for this trip so do not delay!