Linyanti Wildlife Reserve

Linyanti Wildlife Reserve
 
The Linyanti Wildlife Reserve consists of 125 000 hectares of pristine wildlife area to the north of the Okavango Delta. It is bordered by the Linyanti River in the north and the Chobe National Park in the east. Across the Linyanti River northwards lies Namibia's Caprivi Strip. Two thirds of the Savuti Channel is situated within the Linyanti reserve.
 
General
 
There are three main features of the Linyanti Wildlife Reserve: the Linyanti River, Savuti Channel and the woodlands of the interior. The last stretches of Africa's Great Rift Valley separate the forests of the interior from the rivers and floodplains of the Linyanti and it is along this ridge - and along the Savuti Channel - that the best wildlife can be seen.
 
The Savuti Channel was a "dry waterway" that used to connect the Linyanti River at Zibadianja Lagoon with the interior of the south Chobe National Park at the Savuti Marsh. The Savuti has only ever flowed intermittently and dried up for the last time in 1980. Two thirds of the famous Savuti Channel is in the Linyanti concession and guests are able to view the abundant wildlife privately and exclusively. 
The Savuti Channel has recently filled with water again after 28 years of being a ribbon of grassland and wildlife has had to adapt to a new source of water and all the opportunities and menaces it has brought with it.
 
Space and privacy are what sets Linyanti Wildlife Reserve aside - as well as its brilliant wildlife concentrations.   The Linyanti area is renowned for its predators and large concentrations of game, particularly elephant. Dereck and Beverly Joubert made the region famous in their National Geographic films. "Eternal enemies" is a classic, and chronicles in detail the interaction between lion and hyena.
 
Travel Access
 
The Linyanti region is shared between a small number of private camps, ensuring that guests are able to view the abundant wildlife privately and exclusively. Travellers visit Linyanti Wildlife Reserve on fly-in safaris. Flight transfers are quick and easy, typically taking only an hour or two from departure point to camp. Guests minimize their travelling time, and maximize their time on safari by using there short flights.  
 
 
Seasons and Best Times to Travel
 
The rainy season is during the summer months from November to April. During this time the humidity and heat is high.
The dry season is between May to October. During these months, the surface water subsides and the wildlife congregates along the river. Game is at its most dense and easily visible. The month of October is the hottest month of the year, with temperatures reaching the high 40 degrees Celsius.  
 
 
Wildlife
 
The Linyanti is characterized by a diversity of habitat that makes it a haven for wildlife. Open grasslands and waterholes along the Savuti Channel and along the Linyanti River, with mature woodlands (mopane and leadwood forests) inland.  
The Linyanti River weaves and meanders eastwards towards Chobe. Along its course, pools and lagoons are formed and contain hippos, crocodiles and superb bird life. The pools attract game from the dry lands due to the pools being the first to hold permanent waters after the rainy season. 
 
Elephants are one of the prime attractions, especially during the dry winter months when they congregate along the waterways and around the waterholes as the rainfall-filled depressions and pans of the interior dry up.  At times the reserve must have several thousand elephants roaming around.  Thousands of zebra also spend the dry winter months in the Linyanti area before migrating south to the Savuti in November in expectation of summer rain and good grazing.   Red lechwe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck, sable, roan, eland, giraffe, baboon, monkey, warthog, crocodile and buffalo are some of the other animals to be found here. Predators include lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog and hyena. Night drives provide a chance to see nocturnal animals such as bushbaby, spring hare, aardwolf, serval, genet and pangolin. Birding is excellent from the Okavango "specials" such as slaty egret, white-rumped babbler and wattled crane through to the bushveld species.
 
Activities are diverse and allow guests time on the water, on land and occasionally on foot. Day and night game drives are conducted in open 4x4 vehicles along the Savuti Channel and the banks of the Linyanti River. There are many hides in the area where guests can enjoy wildlife viewing close up and away from a vehicle. One of the best hides is right at the source of the Savuti and many species of game and birdlife can usually be seen from this hide