The dawn comes up fast in northern Botswana. It is seven o'clock on a bright April morning and already the sun has risen above the Mokolwane palms, bringing with it a resounding dawn chorus of francolins, hornbills and Red-eyed doves. The low golden light floods across the plain, glinting on the tasselled topknots of spear grass and revealing a fine set of fresh lion tracks in the soft Kalahari sand.

Elephants had also passed this way, and I could see where they had marched through the grass on their way to feed somewhere in the woodlands at the edge of the horizon. In April most of the elephants are still dispersed deep in the vastness of Chobe National Park. But as the dry season returns, so do the elephant breeding herds as they head for the Zibalianja lediba, the vast, reed-fringed lagoon whose permanent waters attract huge numbers of game to the Selinda Reserve.

Selinda is a private wildlife stronghold spreading 1350km2 around the Selinda Spillway, the seasonal channel which connects the Okavango Delta to the great Linyanti Swamps. It is run by Brian and Jan Graham (founder members of Classic Safari Camps of Africa), whose company, Linyanti Explorations, has been operating here for more than 25 years.

Nothing is left of the original Selinda camp site where I stayed a decade ago. Then it was newly built and run by Mike Penman, who now has his own outfit, Wild Lifestyles, operating mobile safaris in the Delta. Later, for a time, Ian McColl, a bearded Australian with a passion for lions, ran Selinda with Kathleen, his wife, who did the cooking and used to conjure up wonderful suppers of spicy Indonesian-style chicken.

But then the Spillway began to dry up. Without the water there was no panorama of reeds, no hippos, no sunset flights of White-faced ducks; and so in 1995 a fresh site was chosen two kilometres farther along the channel, where the water still flows, the hippos chunter and the ducks still whistle down the wind.

The new 12-bed camp is infinitely more luxurious than the last, not least because it boasts a welcome plunge pool. Each of the six comfortably appointed Meru tents has its own shady verandah and en suite bathroom. The dining room is built above the bar, looking out over the Spillway. Days at Selinda are spent following the lions that weave their lives among the anthills and woodlands. On one such day we came upon a huge black-maned male sprawled on a carpet of trampled grass with six lionesses. They looked magnificent in the morning light and Paul Moleseng, my guide, knew them at once. They were part of the Selinda pride, notorious for killing adult hippos when other game is scarce. Altogether the pride has eight adult females, including two veteran sisters, and three magnificent males - Arnold, Brad and Dopey.

The black-maned lion was Arnold (as in Schwarzenneger). He had been one of a powerful coalition of five nomadic males which had arrived two years ago and taken over the pride after a bloody battle in which one of the three previous resident males had been killed. Afterwards, two of the nomads had moved on towards King's Pool, leaving Arnold and his two remaining companions as undisputed lords of Selinda.

Lions, of course, are not the only cats to be found here. Leopard and serval are seen regularly, and some 25 cheetahs currently roam the reserve. We found four one morning: a mother with three adolescent cubs resting under a tree at the edge of the Spillway. When I moved on to Zibalianja (Selinda's sister-camp a few miles away) I was told that a big male cheetah had been seen resting under a tree outside my tent just a few days beforehand.

"Zib", as the locals call the camp, has a dining area decorated with croc and hippo skulls, a camp fire and a thatched bar built around a leadwood tree, with huge views across the flood plains. Its South African managers are Stephen and Maryna Bouwer, who arrived here by way of Makalali, Londolozi and Ngala game lodges. The real joy of the camp - apart from its far-ranging views and dreamy location - is that there are only six beds.

The result is that even if you are with other guests, you feel as if you are on a private safari. The tents themselves stand on raised decks, as is invariably the rule nowadays in Botswana, with en suite bathrooms, flush toilets and an open corner where you can shower under the stars. Other nice touches are the decanters filled with port and sherry, and electric lights disguised as oil lamps. Yet despite all these five-star comforts, Zibalianja has the feel of a genuine Botswanan bush camp.

Every day brought a fresh surprise. One morning it was an encounter with a female honey badger and her half-grown cub. The youngster shuffled towards us, utterly without fear, as if determined to drive our vehicle off the road. But the mother, older and wiser, grabbed her struggling offspring by the scruff of its neck and dragged it off into the bush.

Off-track driving adds to the pleasure of staying here - especially if you want to watch wild dogs hunting. With only 4500 of these elusive animals surviving in the whole of Africa, they are probably the most sought-after species in the reserve, so we were lucky to come upon a pack of five one morning at the edge of the Spillway. Another group, known as the Kwando pack, also frequents the reserve, but these were newcomers, said Mompati Aaron, my guide, who has been based at Zibalianja for the past five years and knows all the top predators on his patch.

In the late afternoon we returned to the Spillway and followed them as they set off to hunt. Flocks of Meyer's parrots flew up with shrill squealing cries as the dogs loped effortlessly through a wild parkland of open country scattered with leadwoods and mighty knobthorns. We followed as best we could, bashing through the Bushman grass, zig-zagging between thickets of fever-berries, but missed the kill when they finally managed to pull down a young kudu in the woodlands.

On our morning drives I loved to stop for tea beside the big mangosteen tree at Star Pan and watch the zebra trooping in to drink. In the evenings we would park at the edge of the Zibalianja lagoon and enjoy a sundowner as the air grew still, the painted reedfrogs began to clink and streamers of egrets flew in to roost. Then slowly back to camp in the velvet darkness, swinging the halogen spotlight from side to side to pick up a serval cat hunting mice in the grass and a porcupine trundling along ahead of us with a rattle of quills.

Not so long ago the Zibalianja lagoon was the prime source of the Savuti Channel. Today it is shrinking (a natural process), as is the Spillway itself, and the swamp-dwellers - Red lechwe and rare Sitatunga among them - are retreating northwards into the vast Linyanti. But the elephant herds are as big as ever, the wild dogs thrive and the Selinda pride still greets the dawn in what will always be one of Botswana's top safari destinations.

Selinda Reserve Factfile

Getting There
The best way to reach Botswana is to take one of the numerous daily flights between Heathrow and Johannesburg, then transfer to Gaborone (Botswana's capital) with a local carrier such as Air Botswana or South African Airways. Air Botswana fly between Gaborone and Linyanti or Savuti, where you can transfer by road to Selinda (around two hours away). Air charter companies will fly into the Selinda from Maun.

All foreign nationals require a visa except for citizens of the Commonwealth and EU, Scandinavia, America and South Africa.

Accommodation
Selinda Reserve is a private concession on which there are two semi-permanent camps:

Selinda Camp - Tent under thatch en suite camp for 12 people, situated on the Selinda Spillway. Main living area and plunge pool.

Zibalianja Camp - A small, tented camp for 6 people, situated near the Zibalianja lagoon in the northern Linyanti swamps.

Walking Safaris
A special area as been set aside along the Selinda Spillway especially for walking safaris. Three day long treks start and end at one of the main camps, using Mokoba and Tshwene trail camps during the safari. Usually only four people are allowed on each walk.

When To Go Between
March and November, avoiding the rainy season. June and July are cold at night, and October-November are extremely hot.

Brian Jackman's safari to Selinda was organised by Roxton Bailey Robinson Worldwide.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Nineteen: Spring 2002.Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)