About Kings Pool Camp
Kings Pool Camp features nine well-appointed tents made of canvas and thatch. Each tent has a large bedroom area, lounge, private plunge pool, and a 'sala'.
The spacious en-suite bathrooms are tiled and include double showers and hand basins, as well as an outdoor shower for those who wish to shower close to nature!
The lounge, dining room, and pub areas are situated on expansive raised decks. There is also a communal pool and an open-air 'kgotla' for dining under the stars.
Kings Pool Camp overlooks the Linyanti River and the oxbow-shaped Kings Pool Lagoon, which is reportedly named after a Scandinavian monarch who spent several nights camping on its banks before any camp was built here.
The Linyanti Wildlife Reserve
The Linyanti Wildlife Reserve boasts abundant wildlife across a wide variety of species but is most noted for its very large elephant population, which can reach enormous densities during the dry winter months.
Other abundant game includes impala, lechwe, kudu, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, and bushbuck, as well as their predators: lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, and spotted hyaena.
Rarer species such as sable and roan antelope also emerge from the woodlands during the dry season.
Wildlife Viewing
In addition to watching elephants at the water's edge from the luxury of the raised decks at Kings Pool Camp, spectacular wildlife viewing is available on day and night game drives and walks.
Depending on water levels, seasonal barge cruises along the Linyanti River are also offered.
The reed and papyrus swamps are ideal for numerous and diverse bird species and attract game during the dry winter months.
Hides at Kings Pool Camp
Kings Pool Camp is famed not just for the sights but also for the sounds of wildlife all around. For this reason, the camp has two hides.
One is located at the western end of the camp, where guests can spend their siesta time watching game come down to drink.
The other is an original underground hide, with the water at eye level. Seeing massive elephant feet and trunks almost within touching distance while safely inside is an extraordinary experience.
Activities at Kings Pool Camp
- Game drives via open 4x4 Land Rovers, each accommodating a maximum of six guests, ensuring all guests have an outside seat (each vehicle is equipped with a tree book, a bird book, a mammal book, and insect repellent in a centre console on each row of seats).
- Walking safaris (on request at booking).
- Fishing with a limited supply of basic equipment is offered seasonally on a catch-and-release basis.
- Hides for wildlife viewing.
NG 15 - The Linyanti Wildlife Reserve
The 125,000-hectare (308,000-acre) private Linyanti Concession borders the western boundary of Chobe National Park.
It is an enormous, wildlife-rich area, shared between just three small camps (DumaTau, Kings Pool, and Savuti), and enjoys an unrivalled atmosphere of remoteness and space.
There are three main features of the Linyanti Concession: the Linyanti River, the woodlands of the interior, and the well-known Savute Channel, famous as a sporadic and unusual watercourse.
Between 1980 and 2008, the channel ceased to flow, and much of the area became an open grassland, home to a wide variety of animals.
During 2008, the Savute Channel flowed once more, creating a water source that rapidly filled with aquatic life, a wide variety of waterbirds, and hippo.
With two-thirds of the channel located within the Linyanti Concession, Kings Pool Camp guests have private and exclusive access to its abundant game.
The Linyanti Concession now features floodplains, woodlands, grasslands, palm islands, and scrub vegetation, and one of the highest dry season concentrations of elephants in Botswana, with numbers reaching several thousand at times.
This phenomenon is one of the main attractions of Kings Pool Camp, but the area is also recognised for its predators, providing an integral stronghold for species like the critically endangered wild dog, as well as lion, cheetah, and spotted hyaena.
Viewing the roan antelope in the area is equally thrilling. Many birds of prey and seasonal zebra congregations can also be seen in the cathedral-like woodland of mature mopane trees.
Other plains wildlife includes red lechwe, Burchell's zebra, blue wildebeest, impala, common waterbuck, sable, eland, southern giraffe, chacma baboon, vervet monkey, warthog, hippo, and Cape buffalo.
Nocturnal species often seen are the lesser bushbaby, spring hare, aardwolf, serval, large-spotted genet, and, if you are extremely lucky, the elusive pangolin!
Birding at Kings Pool Camp
Birding is outstanding at Kings Pool Camp, with the Linyanti Concession being an internationally recognised Important Bird Area (IBA).
Sightings range from Okavango specials, like the Slaty Egret, Hartlaub's Babbler, African Skimmer, Allen's Gallinule, and Wattled Crane, to the drier mopane woodland species like Racket-tailed Roller, Bradfield's Hornbill, White-breasted Cuckoo-shrike, Bennett's Woodpecker, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, and Arnott's Chat.
Also on display are the Kori Bustard, Ostrich, Secretarybird, and Ground Hornbill, with Southern Carmine Bee-eaters in summer.
High concentrations of birds of prey and raptors, such as eagles and Dickenson's Kestrel, can also be expected.
Various owl species are also present in the region, including Verreaux's (Giant) Eagle-Owl and African Scops-Owl.
The diverse habitats, spectacular scenery, and prolific wildlife surrounding Kings Pool Camp reflect the contrasts that only Botswana can offer.
Adding this area to a Botswana itinerary makes for a varied and balanced experience of the country.
Conservation Efforts and Sustainability
Perhaps the most topical issue for Botswana at present is its very large elephant population and the potential impact on vegetation and other animal species.
As a result, and in recognition of the fact that in the Selinda and Linyanti Concessions, Wilderness Safaris is responsible for one of the two highest-density elephant concentrations in the country, we have facilitated and partially funded two MSc studies examining vegetation impact.
We are currently hosting a PhD and further MSc researcher to examine additional elements of this puzzle.
Botswana has a well-developed network of protected areas, including concessions that allow hunting as well as photographic safaris.
We have chosen not to hunt in the concessions in which we operate, forfeiting approximately US$1.2 million per annum in hunting quotas that we choose not to take up in preference for photographic safaris.
Wilderness Safaris adheres to the increasingly accepted view that the growing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are driving the global warming phenomenon.
It is clear that everyone has a responsibility to respond to this challenge. We see our own role as threefold:
- We contribute to the economic viability of existing carbon sinks and remaining wilderness areas of southern Africa, thereby ensuring the sustainability of their conservation.As a result, we ensure that the planet's capacity to reabsorb carbon in the areas we operate is not reduced, and that the photosynthetic processes that occur in these wilderness areas are not interrupted.
- We strive to reduce our own energy use and have set targets for reduction over the next five years. We achieve this through greater efficiencies, constant measurement, and alternative energy sources, such as solar, that are renewable and environmentally friendly.
- We provide a learning platform for our guests and staff that increases awareness of the global warming phenomenon and provides guidelines for how individuals can contribute to its solutions through actions in their own lives and businesses.
Where is Kings Pool Camp?
Kings Pool Camp is situated within the Linyanti Wildlife Reserve in Botswana, near the Chobe National Park.