One Night In Linyanti

We drove into camp in Linyanti – a clearing under a tree looking out over a never-ending riverine view. Around a hundred impala skittered through the swamp. A silver ribbon of erratic river courses webbed into the distance – into a view that switched countries and park names like a card trick.

One night in Linyanti. We spent the afternoon game driving – peeking at the river from gaps in the bush and snaking through tight twisting paths through mopani. Herds of elephant silently walked between giant tree trunks – shifting grey in understory shadow.

Our binoculars were raised at almost mechanical intervals. Wetland birds, bushveld birds, forest birds. An elephant carcass became pedestal and plinth for vultures – streaks of droppings giving a sense of vandalised majesty.

As night fell and we watched the colours of the day change, an Eagle-Owl signalled the coming of night, the perfect messenger of an end and a beginning. We watched his outline in the tree above us until it became one with the darkness and eventually merged into the silence too.

For anyone interested in the footsteps of early European explorers in Africa, Linyanti and Livingstone are connected. Livingstone spent some time in the area (extended across modern borders into Namibia), which he described as ‘the Garden of Eden’ and where he befriended Chief Sebetwane. He left and returned, supported by the Makololo people of the area.

Looking back on my own travels, perhaps the greatest privilege is understanding this area from both sides of the border. That day, we looked out into the wild, wide space that stretched into Caprivi Strip and Namibia beyond. We stopped at roads reserved for luxury lodges, ripples of Chobe all around. There is connection in the expanse in places like this and piecing together the jigsaw is the perfect homage to precious Southern African conservation.

On a separate trip, we sat in Nkasa Rupara National Park – a place that is a delta in its own right – and looked over into the Linyanti Concession, sharing a view of elephants and buffalo with a King’s Pool game-viewer. In that view was an understanding, a new perspective, and one of millions of reasons to seek out safari experiences to complete the picture and give every view a third dimension.

Quick Snaps From a Quick Trip to Linyanti

Birds without borders. A Little Bee-Eater comes to rest - a citizen of everywhere at this wild meeting point between Southern African nations. Sunset on safari hits differently in places like this - last light over wide open spaces; an end and a beginning in the bush. We found a dead elephant covered in vultures on the road outside Linyanti Campsite - with droppings like graffiti on one of Africa's most iconic animals. As the last vulture staked his claim, one couldn't help but wonder about portion control. A steady stream of impalas made their way to the water's edge during the course of the afternoon - a peaceful pulse of life in the otherwise still and expansive view. A beautiful kudu bull is a sighting with a twist.

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