Travel Guides: All Countries / Africa / Botswana
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| | | | Wild times in beautiful Botswana
A leopard slinks through the bush at dusk, tracking an impala for dinner – it's one of the rarest sights in the animal world.
As the sun sets, the silent assassin is unfazed by goggling tourists 20 yards away who are barely able to contain their excitement.
This is precisely what they're here for in beautiful Botswana, in southern Africa, which offers some of the best game viewing in the world.
Though leopards are not rare, such a close encounter is. It's possible to be three metres from a leopard and still not be able to see it as it crouches on its stomach. Shy creatures, they are experts at slinking away from prying eyes.
But some become used to a human presence and the result is this rare glimpse into their lives. The word graceful hardly does justice to the sinuous spectacle stretching out in front of you. And your visit is helping to preserve it.
Phillip de Villiers Steyn combines being a leopard researcher at the Mashatu National Park in eastern Botswana with being a guide. He says: "The leopard's nocturnal and well-camouflaged so it is very difficult to see.
"You are sometimes tracking ghosts - they are most elusive. We don't collar them like this for tourism - that's just a useful spin-off. The research here comes first."
Though the leopard is not under threat in the way many species are, it is hard to spot and any sighting is to be treasured.
At Mashatu, taking tourists on trips to watch tagged leopards effectively helps pay for the research being carried out by de Villiers Steyn.
And if you don't spot the leopard, don't worry, you're sure to see plenty else. The unblinking gawps of giraffes as they assess whether you pose a danger; lions lazily sleeping off their last meal; soaring eagles swooping and swirling on the thermal currents.
Botswana is most famous for the incredible Okavango Delta's wildlife riches. But where its easternmost region meets Zimbabwe and South Africa, it can be just as rewarding.
This is the Northern Tuli Game Reserve, which includes Mashatu, where the safari drives are chock-a-block with sightings.
But it doesn't come cheap. Many lodges take no more than 12 to 16 people at a time and the price you play reflects that.
But you are guaranteed peace and quiet, to a degree. It's also a virtuous circle as a proportion of the money goes towards preserving the environment.
No comfort is spared and you can choose between Mashatu's tented camp and a wall-fenced headquarters in another part of the reserve.
Two hours away, an entire camp has been built on wooden stilts. Nitani is another labour of love where the cost helps preserve the immense diversity of wildlife.
Managing director Shane Pinchen has dedicated his life to the preservation of the landscape and its treasure trove of wildlife.
Such opulence is something of a shock in the middle of the wild. Kingfishers flit through the trees, hyenas howl at night and the hubbub of birds is ever-present. The experience is positively sybaritic, even if the thirsty elephants sometimes raid the overflow from the personal plunge pool right next to your tree lodge.
Nearby, birdwatchers can see eagles, vultures and the extraordinary kori bustard - it looks half-turkey, half-ostrich and is roughly half the ostrich's size. When startled, it runs around comically like Norman Wisdom before taking to the air in such an ungainly fashion, harrumphing as it goes, that you can tell it doesn't like flying at all.
Tuli Lodge, another two hours away, offers a more family-orientated experience and borders the Limpopo river which divides Botswana and South Africa.
Watch the elephants take a mud bath on the river bank but beware of the gibbons - they'll steal anything and sometimes descend on the camp to scavenge for titbits and knick-knacks. Hilarious, until you're the victim of their magpie mentality.
Service at the lodges borders on the regal. You might be stuck in the bush in the middle of nowhere, unable to access e-mail or use your mobile phone, but other creature comforts are not spared as you're mollycoddled to within an inch of your life.
The quality of fresh food is fantastic, and the chance to dine out in the bush under the stars at the dead of night is not to be missed. Ogle the Milky Way while you're guzzling ostrich and mash!
And the attention to detail is mind-bogglingly thorough. The guides know their stuff and some, as they enthuse on subjects as diverse as ancient tribes' rock art and the habits of aardvarks, border on the evangelistic.
But if you swapped places with them, you'd be evangelistic too. It's smashing.
* Prices with African travel specialist Baobab Travel (Ring 0870 382 5003) start from £2,065 per person, for a week's holiday, including full board, daily day and night game drives, walking and bike safaris, lodge transfers, car hire and return British Airways Heathrow-Jo'burg flights, based on two people sharing.
* For accommodation details, see www.tulilodge.com; www.mashatu.com; www.nitani.co.za.
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Travel guide: Botswana
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