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in Maun (a frontier town turned tourist gateway, about a 90-minute flight from Gaborone, Botswana's capital) to the backcountry. Once in the delta, set up in Gunn's Camp, a way sta- tion that has accommodations ranging from basic (bring your own tent) to deluxe (triple-walled tents with Plexiglas windows and high-backed chairs out front). The local guide will take you game-viewing on various islands in the delta both on foot and in a mokoro-a long, thin, poled canoe. In a place that's more water than terra firma, hippos top lions as the biggest threat. With tusks up to two feet long, they have been known to attack canoes-in one instance, split- ting a mokoro in half and sending two terrified guests into the silty water. Only a guide's dexterity saved their lives. After spending the night in Gunn's Camp, you'll set -Maun out through the delta past hippos, buffalo and crocodiles, and eventually stop on one of the many small islands to set up camp for the night. Over the next few days, follow your guide on foot along the island's game trails, hunting the hunters in the cool of dawn, then move by mokoro to another island for a new camp and more game walks. Stalking lions, wildebeest, ele- phants, zebras, giraffes, buffalo and impala on foot is a riveting experience. Knowing you are low on the food chain, and exposed, heightens your senses in a way that buzzing along in a Jeep cannot. When the day heats up, you head back to camp ~ to relax and take a swim in the languid river. As evening draws The last thing you want to see on your African bush safari is more humans than hippos. But in cer- tain parts of Africa, if you can't afford top dollar outfits you may find yourself cheek by lens with other Nikon-wielding tourists, all surrounding a single hapless lion. Botswana's Okavango Delta, on the other hand, offers safari in a more intimate setting. Nestled between the sands of the Kalahari and the rampant tourism of Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls, Botswana is an oasis of calm, filled with enrap- turing landscapes and blessedly few people. The size of France, the country has only los-million peo- ple but one of the largest elephant herds on the continent. A strict policy of high quality, low-vol- ume tourism has helped to preserve wildlife and has kept the Okavango Delta almost completely pristine. Even so, a privately guided tour can cost as little as $3S0 (per person) for four days, if you bring your own food. Locals have control over which guides operate in the Okavango, ensuring keen attention to the local environment and communities. Africa usually conjures images of rolling open plains or dense jungles, but here the attrac- tion is water. Fed by the Okavango River, which runs out of Angola, the delta spreads like a watery palm frond over almost 10,000 square miles before drying out in the Kalahari. There are few roads in, so a bush-plane is the preferred mode of transport. In under an hour, you'll get from a bar stool 68 near and the sun's intensity fades, you venture out for another ~ game walk, till the light has disappeared. As the stars light up ~ the African sky and you stare into your campfire, you have a 0 sense of what being a part of the land means for the people ~ who live here. Camped by the water's edge, you fall asleep to ~ the sound of lions calling out hunting ranges to one another. ~ During the rainy season-November to March-the ffi rivers of the delta swell and spread out, and lush, high grass ~ covers the ground, making game more difficult to spot. Late ~ summer and fall is the best time for safari in Botswana, when ~ the broad swamps dry up and game is more easily seen.-Tom ~ ~re OUTFITTERS BATHUSI TRAVEL & SAFARIS, Botswana Based in Botswana, Bathusi has an experienced and knowl- edgeable staff of guides and coordinators. 4 days, $400, Daily departures, 267-66-0647, www.info.bw/-bathusi AFRICA TRAVEL CENTRE, USA z o z o '" o '" o o :>: « ;; o Z Africa Travel Centre has created the nonprofit African Wildlife ~ Conservation (AWe) to provide a forum for information exchange and focus on African environmental issues. ffi ;:; Ii: 4 days, $975, 10 days, $2,800, March to November (booked ;:; by request), 800-361-8024, www.africatvl.com @ :J: 0. ~ g