This trip starts at Meno a Kwena, which overlooks the magnificent Makgadikgadi National Park. From your lofty position of your private verandah observe the animals as they drink from the Boteti River below. Activities include game drive day trips to the Makgadikgadi Pans, guided walks with the San bushmen, and up-close game viewing from the floating hide.

Elephants for Africa (EFA) is situated on the north western edge of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. This conservation project is dedicated to enhancing human-wildlife coexistence in rural farming communities, which we believe is crucial to protecting both the elephant and the communities in this wildlife area. The project focuses on mitigating human-wildlife conflict primarily through community workshopping and installing elephant proof fencing.

You will get to speak to local farmers in Moreomaoto on a ‘Community Elephant Coexistence’ cultural tour to get a better understanding and insight into some of the challenges faced when living alongside elephants and how they are deterred with the help of EFA and the importance of these vital partnerships. Followed by a visit to the EFA research base to see some of the EFA research activities.

Little Sable is where you will spend the next three days of your trip. This intimate, tented safari camp is located amid the water channels and the game-rich grasslands of the Khwai Private Reserve. Up here, there’s something to see around every corner and a different activity to enjoy every day, from classic game drives to mokoro trips and boat safaris.

Botswana Predator Conservation Trust (BPC) run the Wild Dog Research Camp which sits in the Moremi Game Reserve, on the southeastern edge of the Okavango Delta. It is the most well-established research centre in the Okavango and has conducted over 30 years of research on wild dog packs, as well as members of the large carnivore guild, the lions, leopards and spotted hyenas. The various projects supported by this centre are dispersed across the Okavango landscape, in and around the Khwai Private Reserve. Here you will also get to meet the anti-poaching team. A group of dedicated rangers that perform crucial tasks within and outside the concession, including de-snaring sweeps, tracking and surveillance.

The Khwai community and village is situated on the eastern edge of the Khwai Private Reserve. It is here that we dedicate a lot of time and effort to implementing multiple community outreach initiatives in and around the settlement of Khwai village. This veritably reflects our goal of continuously improving the livelihoods of communities living alongside wildlife. You’ll get to see first-hand the community work that is being done here, including a visit to the preschool to plant a tree. With a stop outside the Kgotla to explain its role in the community. And like it is for us, your visit and interaction with the community, will truly be an insightful and humbling experience.

Back at camp enjoy a talk by a member of the conservation and community team about how Little Sable works hand-in-hand with the local community and how the KPR ranger team monitor wildlife and work closely with the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) on anti-poaching. You will also learn about the important wild dog and predator-focused research program being undertaken by Wild Entrust’s Botswana Predator Conservation programme, as well as Natural Selections support of this work.

From Khwai you’ll charter to Duke’s Camp (or Duke’s East right next door), both brought to life by Ralph Bousfield and the creators of Jack’s Camp. Enjoy the same yesteryear charm and understated luxury in the unspoilt wilderness of the northern Okavango Delta. Pitched on raised wooden decks beneath a canopy of ebony and leadwood trees, the luxurious safari tents offer an unforgettable under-canvas adventure in the midst of this remarkable World Heritage Site. With expert guides honed in the bushcraft and lore of the Delta, there are few better ways to explore this wild landscape rich in game and natural beauty, lying waiting to be discovered.

The Elephant Express project is situated close by, on the north eastern edge of the Okavango. It is a wonderful solution to a complex human-wildlife conflict issue, made possible through a partnership between Okavango Community Trust, EcoExist Trust and Duke’s Camp and Duke’s East. The project transports vulnerable members of the community – children, elderly and the disabled – to school and clinics through dangerous elephant corridors. The Elephant Express helps to minimise human-wildlife conflict by reducing the likelihood of dangerous confrontations so elephants and people can co-exist more easily.

Communal Herding for Livestock and Wildlife Protection (CLAWS) plays an integral part in protecting both lions and livestock and has been set up in the north eastern edge of the Okavango Delta to support human-wildlife conflict (HWC) mitigation. By collaring and tracking lions and facilitating a return to traditional herding practices, whereby a herder accompanies livestock, lion livestock interaction is reduced and the perceived conflict between lions and farmers can be alleviated. This initiative combines herds to reduce the costs of herding per household and achieves two goals: reducing retaliatory killing of lions, and improving grazing land for livestock herders through rotational grazing.

You’ll visit  CLAWS to visit a cattle kraal or the herd of cattle in the bush. Followed by a Life with Elephants Tour, where you will learn about the community’s traditional way of life and what it is like to live in close proximity to elephants.

Murray McCallum

Born in South Africa, Murray’s background is in Environmental Consulting and Project Management, which tally neatly with his long-standing interest in the interplay between environmental matters, community and conservation. Murray’s formal education comprises an honours in Environmental Science and an undergraduate in Environmental Science and Anthropology. His thesis tackled community resource management and the pressure of poaching and impoverishment. In the field, Murray has managed lodges in Botswana and Zambia, and once kayaked 300 kilometres across the Savuti Channel and Selinda Spillway with Track of Giants – an initiative bringing attention to elephant conservation corridors and the importance of trans frontier park conservation. Murray now works in our Cape Town office as our Sustainability Advisor, and provides conservation and community support for the Natural Selection Trust and Foundation.