Kings Pool Camp

Named for visiting Scandinavian royalty, Kings Pool Lagoon is known for its attraction to huge herds of elephant in the dry season. Kings Pool Camp combines such spectacular sightings with a luxurious place from which to see them.

Kings Pool Camp is located in the Linyanti Wildlife Reserve, a vast private concession in the northern part of Botswana, on the western boundary of Chobe National Park. The accommodation here is luxurious, the wildlife spectacular.

Nine well-appointed tents of canvas and thatch each have a large bedroom area, lounge, private plunge pool and 'sala'. The spacious en-suite bathrooms are tiled with double showers and hand-basins as well as an outdoor shower for those who wish to shower close to nature! Raised walkways allow animals to wander freely through the camp to and from the water. The lounge, dining room and pub areas are on expansive raised decks and there is a 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, apparently named after a Scandinavian monarch who spent a number of nights camping out on the banks of the lagoon, long before any camp was built here.

The Linyanti area has a large wildlife resource with a wide variety of species, but it is most noted for its very large elephant population, which can reach enormous densities during the dry winter months. Other game is abundant, such as impala, lechwe, kudu, zebra, giraffe, buffalo and bushbuck, and their predators: lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog and spotted hyaena. Rarer species such as sable and roan antelope emerge from the woodlands during the dry season.

Activities include day and night game drives and walks, while boat cruises along the Linyanti River (water levels allowing) offer spectacular viewing. The reed and papyrus swamps are ideal for numerous and diverse species of birds and are a magnet for game in the dry winter months.

Kings Pool is famed not just for the sights but also the sounds of wildlife all around, to say nothing of its two hides: one located at the western end of the camp where one can spend one's entire siesta time watching game come down to drink. The other is an original underground hide, with the water at eye-level - seeing elephant feet and trunks almost within touching distance while safely inside is an extraordinary experience

Conservation:

Perhaps the most topical issue for Botswana at present is its very large elephant population and the possible 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, they have facilitated and partially funded two MSc studies examining vegetation impact and are currently hosting a PhD and further MSc researcher examining additional elements of this puzzle.

Botswana has a well-developed network of protected areas, and these include concessions that allow hunting as well as photographic safaris. Our ground operator has chosen not to hunt in the concessions in which they operate and forfeit approximately US$1.2 million per annum in hunting quotas that they choose not to take up in preference for photographic safaris.

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