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Images
from the Interior - Livingstone to
Wilderness
Gill Staden
Wilderness Safaris owns or markets many
lodges in Africa. The company has grown
from small beginnings in Botswana to a
large organization which operates in many
countries. They have an ethos of working
with the environment and not against it.In
March I went to see three of their lodges
in Botswana: Dumatau in Linyanti;Duba
Plains and Jaoin the Okavango. It was an
amazing experience so I have plenty of
stories. Our journey started from
Livingstone where we boarded a light
aircraft, Cessna 206. The aircraft was one
of the Sefofane fleet, a partner of
Wilderness Safaris. The flight to Kasane,
Botswana, took 25 minutes; a flight along
the Zambezi River. The Zambezi was in
flood so it was interesting to see where
the water had infiltrated inland.
All the flood plains were inundated
with water; the Zambezi was bursting at
the seams. At Kasanewe we checked in at
Immigration and Customs,a very friendly
process. We then boarded a Cessna Caravan
for our flight to Selinda Airstrip near
Dumatau, our first lodge. Againthe flight
was great fun, seeing where the waterhad
spread inland fromthe Chobe River.
 Arriving
at Selinda, the land was so flooded that
we had to be taken by helicopter from the
airstrip to Dumatau. Dumatau, meaning'roar
of the lion',is ona backwater to the
LinyantiRiver. Itisa10-roomed lodge;the
tentedroomsreachedbyraised timber
walkways. All the rooms overlook the
lagoon in front. The main area,with its
various decks and
rooms,arealsoraisedupofftheground.
Theloungehada librarywith manybooksabout
Botswana,the Okavangoand
wildlife;lotsofcomfysetteesand chairs
tooon which torelaxand read. But wedidn't
gothere to read;we wentthere tosee the
animals,birds andlandscape.
Ourdriver/guidewasTheba,knownas'Mr.T'.
Mr.ThasbeenwithWildernessSafaris for as
long as anyone can remember. He let it be
known in 2001 that he was going to retire;
since
thenhehasbeengoingtoretireeveryyear…heisstillretiringin2010.
Mr T, an entertaining,dryol'
stick,informedus ofeverythingthere was to
knowabout the Linyanti region. Mr T found
us lions,wild dog,and much more. He knows
the name of every bird; hetold us about
the Savute Channel and the Selinda
Spilllway; he is a mine of information. He
also kept us well fed and watered as we
journeyed around. These stories will have
to wait until the next time.
gill@livingstonian.com
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