My first visit to Botswana was in 1970 when we took the steam train from Cape Town to Plumtree, where my father was officer in charge of the British South Africa Police.  I remember a dusty, barren and desolate place studded with stunted thorn trees - nobody's idea of paradise. How my opinion has changed since then!

The Botswana/Zimbabwe border was undefined in those days, being marked with a whitewashed stone cairn every 10 miles and the odd axe mark on a tree! On one trip father was investigating a "Man Eating Lion" that had terrorised the locals in the area. We camped under the stars, using the bench seats from the land rover as a mattress and the lions roared all night in the distance – I was terrified, didn’t sleep a wink and was sent back to Plumtree the next day!

As late as the 1980's the camp sites were run down, littered with plastic bags and Kasane was a dusty litter strewn village with mud huts made of coke cans as brick substitutes. Nowadays few other countries could boast pristine 100 000+ hectare concessions in unfenced areas bordering the National Parks leased by just one or two 12-16 bedded safari camps. That works out to 6000 hectares of wilderness per tourist!  

For this reason Botswana has become the place to be for the best quality safari in Southern Africa. With the low numbers of beds available and the superb quality of big game viewing, safari camps are booked up long in advance - some as far ahead as the next two years.

On one of our safaris to Botswana we were enjoying sundowners overlooking elephant and giraffe coming down to drink in a lagoon when a kudu burst out of the woodland behind us followed by 12 wild dog. We scrambled for cameras, spilt our gin and tonics, and managed to photograph an amazing interaction between the dogs on the kill and a pack of hyena vying for the meal. Result: Hyena 1 - dogs nil! Read more about Botswana's wild dog below ...   

Combined with the Victoria Falls in nearby Zambia and Zimbabwe, Botswana offers an amazing unspoilt safari holiday with a great variety of big and small game, over 400 species of birds and the most stunning diverse scenery of the Okavango Delta, Linyanti, Chobe, Magadikgadi and Kalahari.  

Sandwiched between the Okavango Delta in the west and the Chobe National Park in the east, lies the Linyanti, Botswana’s hidden gem, a mini Okavango in itself! The Selinda spillway links the north eastern arm of the Okavango Delta to the Kwando and Linyanti Rivers, that drain into the Chobe River, and ultimately into the Zambezi and over the Victoria Falls. 

Bostwana is as flat as a pancake, a termite mound is regarded as a hill! One can appreciate how a slight tetronic upheaval can cause an impact to the ecology of the area. In some years the Chobe River actually flows backwards, when the Zambezi water level is high. This vast, remote area is split into 3 photographic safari concessions with around 9 small camps spread out in an area the size of Wales or Massachusetts.  

Elephant are common with densities during the dry season on a par with those of the Chobe.

The hippo-killing lions of the Linyanti are legendary. Their skill at hunting these huge beasts is an amazing spectacle. 

There is always a chance for "spots". The open plains are an ideal habitat for Cheetah, and Leopard viewing.

One of Africa's most endangered predators, the wild dog, is resident and packs frequently den in close proximity to safari camps.

Other common species include: Cape Buffalo, giraffe, Burchell’s Zebra, wildebeest, hippo, spotted hyena, a variety of antelope - roan, kudu and red lechwe

The Wild Dog (lycaeon pictus) is one of Africa’s most endangered species. First encountered by the Dutch explorers in the 16th century in the Cape of Good Hope, it was named the Cape Hunting Dog.

Recently various names such as “Painted Wolf”, “Painted Dog” have been suggested, but in my mind Wild Dog is the correct name - it is basically a dog, and yes it is very wild!!

As Africa became colonised the wild dog was persecuted as a stock killer. As they range vast areas they became caught up in wire snares, fences and were highly susceptible to canine distemper, a disease introduced by domestic dogs.

In the 1990’s the total population was down to less than 2000 individuals, mostly in Southern Africa as far as Southern Tanzania.

In 1988 we observed a pack of 57 Dogs on the Chewore flood plain on the Zambezi river to the east of Mana Pools in Zimbabwe. The pack decimated the impala, kudu and bushbuck population in the space of 6 months eventually splitting up to form new populations in the Zambezi Valley. At the time this pack was 3% of the world’s population!

Over the last 10 years due to increased conservation awareness and restocking, the wild dog population has increased considerably and packs have settled and bred in areas where they had previously disappeared.

Wild dog are fearless, wander over huge areas, and even encroach settled areas. The vast open, flat terrain of the Okavango and Linyanti regions of Botswana, with the added opportunity of being able to drive off road in the concession areas means Botswana is one of the best areas to photograph and interact with wild dog, especially during May, June and July when they are preparing to den. Once located, the den offers a good 6 weeks of guaranteed close up viewing before the pups are old enough to wander off with the pack!

Despite the increase of population its still rare to have good sightings. Use our specialist knowledge of wild dog habits and dens and book for next year or 2009 - around half the available bed spaces are already booked for 2008. 

If you'd like us to call you just let us know. If you live relatively near any of our consulting offices we'd be delighted to visit you if it suits you better.

Contact Chris on  http://www.easimail.co.za/Home/link.asp?id=5950&hash=3b8885 or call +44 1548  830059

Charity cycle challenge London to Paris update: Trish and Jo are one week away from the start date of this 4 day challenge and in their week of rest.

To date we've raised around £4500 towards the U Foundation charity. Thanks so much to all who've supported us and think of us on our bikes next week http://www.easimail.co.za/Home/link.asp?id=5954&hash=eeff69 (John will be riding along to fix punctures...)

Balloon ride: The Devon based gang (Jane, Claire, Lynda, Michelle, Julian, Chris, John, Trish and Debbie) did a team building exercise over the South Hams - in a hot air balloon at 05:00 Wednesday 23rd May! 

Nerves needed to be calmed with champagne, views were fantastic and we confirm that England is full of sheep!

Educational trip to Mashatu, Mala Mala and Indaba: Julie and Liz have just visited Mashatu (Botswana) and Mala Mala (South Africa) and Julie continued on to attend Indaba Travel Show in Durban, SA. Updates to follow; in the meantime specials are available including both these excellent properties within easy access of Johannesburg airport.