Our first task involved mapping the area's roads with a GPS. It was my first visit to the area and proved a useful means of orientation. The landscape can be roughly divided into three main forms: perennial swamp, seasonally inundated floodplain grassland and, mainly in the south, drier systems derived from sandveld. There is a diverse mix of tropical lagoons and wetlands, old-growth mixed woodlands, palm forests, and even a small area of drier savanna vegetation. The area is well-endowed with wildlife. A recent poaching incident here involved local men on horse-back shooting giraffes. However, as in other parts of the Delta, a key part of the management strategy is to improve protection so that wildlife densities can increase. While this is a multiple use area, zoned for trophy hunting and photographic tourism, a moratorium has been placed on hunting, to encourage increased game density and approachability. We encountered large herds of buffalo and zebra, plus elephant, impala, lechwe, kudu, tsessebe, wildebeest, reedbuck, bushbuck, wart hog, giraffe, lions and jackals. I am looking forward to subsequent trips when I hope to see leopard and cheetah, which also occur. Wild dogs are uncommon visitors, recorded once in 1999.

Facilities for tourists visiting NG25 are spectacular and luxurious. They are constructed along the lines of the "stilt villages" of west Africa and parts of Asia, blending into the tall woodlands of the islands. Three camps have been operating since 1999, Jao, Kwetsane and Jacana (see map). More camps will be opened this year, including a luxury floating camp, to be located in the perennial swamp in the northern part of the concession. The project is still in its early stages. It is a challenging proposition, particularly because of the dynamic nature of the Okavango landscape, which changes in response to varying flood patterns, but we hope that if its worth can be proven in NG25 there will be potential to extend it to other areas. S. J.