As the River Rises

A changed landscape in northern Botswana is now a hot spot for wildlife year-round. Jessica Vincent checks in to the new safari camp giving explorers a front-row seat.

- Jessica Vincent

"IF THE LION charges us, stay seated," whispered my safari guide, Jonah Seboko, his gaze fixed on a large adult male only a few feet from our car. Just after sunrise, we had peered through blades of golden grass and spotted a male and female lion devouring an adult buffalo. "Some of these animals have never seen a vehicle before," said Seboko, who has been working at the Wilderness Mokete tented camp, in northern Botswana's Mababe Depression, since it opened in July of last year. "We must not startle them."

The Mababe Depression-once an ancient super lake that covered most of northern Botswana-was a grassy plain that flooded from November through March, Botswana's summer. But that changed in 2007, when tectonic-plate movements caused the Mababe River to start flowing again, eventually creating a 6,400-acre wetland. Formerly animals visited the area for seasonal watering holes, but now the depression is home to big game all year, including elephants, hippos, and 2,000-strong herds of buffalo-a prize meal for lions.

"The Mababe Depression is the only place in Botswana where you can see buffalo herds of this size and where witnessing kill action is almost guaranteed," Attorney Vasco, community relations manager for Wilderness, told me. "It's raw and unpredictable out here. People come to feel their heart beating in their chest."

In hopes of protecting the wildlife of the Mababe Depression for future generations, Wilderness Mokete has leased a 193-square-mile private concession that was formerly used for hunting. "We want to protect these mega herds from hunting and human-wildlife conflict," Vasco told me. To get there, guests can travel via private helicopter or drive from the airport in the town of Maun.