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Copyright@ 1997-2009
Southern Africa
Places cc
P.O. Box 3422
Paarl
Western Cape
South Africa
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Linyanti Wildlife Reserve
In the furthest corner of
Chobe National Park lies the forgotten paradise of
Linyanti.
The Linyanti River forms a natural border between Namibia and Botswana. The
river's
course makes a 90-degree change from south-east to north-east and inside the
corner a swamp has formed (on the Namibian side) similar in appearance to
the Okavango Delta.
On the southern banks of the Linyanti River (in Botswana) is the Linyanti
Wildlife Reserve. Here the marsh subsides into lagoons and steadily flowing
rivers with riverine forests of jackal berry and sausage trees leading to
open grasslands, and dry inland wooded areas.
The wildlife is plentiful, especially in the dry winter months (April –
October) when great concentrations of elephant, buffalo and zebra congregate
along the river, with giraffe, impala and roan antelope being seen in the
forests.
Thousands of zebra spend the winter in the Linyanti before heading south to
the Savuti in November in expectation of summer rains and good grazing.
The particularly beautiful sable and roan antelopes are found here and red
lechwe and the aquatic sitatunga antelope inhabit the wetlands.
The main predators are lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog and hyena. A smaller
carnivore and efficient predator sometimes seen, is the serval.
The birdlife is diverse, if not overwhelming in its numbers. Water birds,
including pelican, are common.
Access is rough and very sandy and the
safari camps in Linyanti
can only be reached by light aircraft.
Mosquitoes are prevalent throughout the park and visitors are strongly advised to take
anti-malarial prophylactics.
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