The Okavango is the cornerstone of every safari to Botswana with its waterways, floodplains, islands and woodlands offering access to staggering biodiversity in an untrammelled wilderness area with remarkably low density of tourists.
This enormous 180 000 hectare (445 000 acre) concession comprises a wide range of habitat types that ensure a diverse species composition and good year-round game viewing and activities, such as day and night game drives, walks and mokoro trips. Floodplains, riverine woodland and channels along the well-known Khwai River in the south contrast with mopane woodland, Kalahari apple-leaf savannah and fossil channel systems in the north. Each habitat type attracts its own suite of large characteristic mammals with lechwe and reedbuck common on the floodplains; buffalo, giraffe, impala and kudu present on the floodplain edge; and herds of elephant and zebra in the woodlands. Rarer species like roan antelope also occur, as do the full complement of predators.
The planned Safari Adventure Company development, Banoka Bush Camp, will be located in a prime area on the southern floodplain and will consist of 10 tented units (including two family rooms) shaded by a stand of ebony and mangosteen trees. A series of platforms and hides is planned for the most productive water holes and pans in the mopane woodland, which will enable guests to sleep out overnight and experience this area from a different angle. The 24-bedded camp is scheduled to open in August 2010, which is peak game-viewing time in Botswana.
Aside from the already-mentioned activities, a constructive engagement is planned with the nearby Khwai community, which will allow guests exposure to traditional rural culture and the opportunity to contribute to the interface between responsible ecotourism and adjacent rural communities.
Banoka Bush Camp will combine with Kalahari Plains Camp in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to create an ideal Safari Adventure Company circuit, with the best of two very different ecosystems.
Reservations can be made through Safari Adventure Company offices: Tel: + 27 (0)11 257 5111, email: website:www.safariadventurecompany.com
