Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

Linyanti game reserve lies in the far north western corner of the Chobe National Park, northeast of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Taking its name from the river of the same name Linyanti is best known for the large numbers of elephant that roam the reserve. It's also one of the best places in Africa to see the African wild dog. A tiny portion of Linyanti is accesible for selfdrive tourists. From Savuti you can drive to the Linyanti river and you can then drive approx. seven kilometers of the banks of the Linyanti river. The rest of Linyanti is only accessible to tourist who are booked into one of the commercial lodges (DumaTau, Kings Pool, Zafara, Selinda and Savuti Camp). 

Best season to visit

The Linyanti Reserve is highly populated with animals particularly in the dry season (May to October). In the dry season elephants concentrate in enormous numbers at the rivers and waterholes. 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.

Rain falls during the warm months of November to March creating high temperatures and humidity. Mosquitoes breed well in these conditions. A lot of the game moves south in the wet season, but game viewing is still rewarding in the wet season.

Visiting Linyanti

Selfdrive visitors can stay at the public campground in Linyanti. Bookings for this campground can be made through the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) reservations office in Maun. The campground (S18.29578 E23.90840) can be reached from Savuti by either a 39km long very sandy track or via Ghoha Gate which is located about 4 kilometers East of the camp ground. As is true for all the DWNP campgrounds the number of available camp sites is limited so make sure you book well in advance.

If you prefer to stay in a lodge then you can choose any of the commercial lodges (DumaTau, Kings Pool, Zafara, Selinda and Savuti Camp).