Elephants in the Linyanti marsh. The number of animals has increased since the Cites ban on ivory products. (0656019)

THE first elephant appeared some distance away where woodland met marsh.

Within minutes many more had emerged silently and were crossing into the reed beds. Soon 50 huge, grey backs were heading down towards the spot where I had been standing a few minutes earlier.

I swallowed hard.

Camp manager Martin Smith’s reprimand for my wandering onto the marsh had been justified. The herd was in front of my tent, contentedly eating lush grass.

Had I still been standing out there on the banks of the River Linyanti, close to Chobi National Park, Botswana, things would have been quite different.

In fairness, Martin had said: ‘Go where you like during the day but always call for a guard at night.’

He meant within the camp, not down onto the marshy riverbanks where warblers sang, herons jabbed frogs, lions slept and wildlife enthusiasts wandered irresponsibly. Even when applied to the camp, the advice was a little suspect.

Elephants roam between the tents whenever they please, I discovered. It’s just that one stands more chance of seeing them in daylight.

I awoke on my first, moonlit night under Linyanti canvas to see the dark shape of an elephant through the netting door. It seemed like a dream once day had broken but the huge pile of dung, left as a calling card no doubt, gave great weight to my story over breakfast.

Lions also come into the camp, although not during the day. We found their pugs in the sand next to those of African wild cats (glorified moggies when compared to lions) one morning after a night seemingly filled with their roaring.

That’s the thing about Chobi National Park. It is remote and wild, just the ticket if you want to experience Africa, almost as David Livingstone did. Accommodation was under canvas but not the sort of conditions the great doctor would have recognised.

My tent was pitched on a wooden platform and had a sophisticated shower room attached with a flush lavatory, running hot and cold water for the shower, crisp towels and twice-daily maid service.

The dining area was in a separate building with a permanent kitchen close by. The food was deliciously home-cooked.

Our daily routine involved an early breakfast followed by a game drive or walk, although this also included lots of birdwatching.

Lions have started to prey on young elephants since there are now many more of them in the area. (0656021)

The roaring lions were high on other guests’ hoped-for animals, although we had seen a female coming down from the airstrip, some miles away. Her pride had killed a young elephant, eaten and gone off to the river for a drink. The young lioness had been posted to keep guard on the kill.

Lions taking elephants would have been unheard of at one time. Taking on a family group of pachyderms is a dangerous thing to do for a pride.

But the increase in elephants, and thus young animals, thanks to the Cites ban on trade in ivory products has given more opportunity to lions. It is quite possible that they made up a part of the prey-species until hunting knocked them back to near-extinction levels.

We spent an hour one morning following the spoor of a big male lion, trying to find him lying up for the day, but lost the trail when he went down onto the forbidden marsh.

It is a hugely exciting experience to be on foot, with only one armed tracker, walking through the bush looking for Africa’s biggest predator.

Things become more noticeable: walking is slower than riding a safari vehicle and progress is much quieter.

We saw lots of birds, several of which I was able to train my telescope on, adding a new dimension for some of the other hikers.

Linyanti bush camp is undergoing a change in regime.

It started off as a water-hole observation site. The Linyanti River had been dry for 21 years until April, when rain fell in Angola. So huge were the storms that water rushed down into Botswana and the rivers and lakes north of the Okavango filled. The water is expected to remain for at least three years even if the rains do not return.

Making the water hole three years ago was a controversial move. A borehole was dug and water pumped into an artificial pond daily through the dry season.

Game flocked to drink, followed by predators such as lions, leopards and hyenas (we saw only lions).

It seemed a great idea to me until the manager of another camp explained that during the dry season everything shuts down.

Trees and shrubs lose their leaves, grass dries and withers, the game moves out and everything remains in suspended metabolism. (I’m not sure if it is the same state as hibernation.)

The pugs of lions were found around the camp. (0656020)

Artificial water supplies encourage animals not to leave. They drink and then move away to eat trees, shrubs and withered grass which would otherwise be left alone.

A herd of 50 elephants eats a great deal each day, which means that the poor old habitat takes a hammering at a time when it would normally be left alone, the manager told me.

It may be that he did not like competition from new camps with artificial waterholes but his argument certainly seemed to make sense.

With water in the river, however, the biology of the area had changed. Riparian forests along its banks were thriving, grass was as high as an elephant’s eye and game – waterbuck, reedbuck, impala, kudu, buffalo, red lechwe and blue wildebeest – was plentiful.

I preferred some of the more obscure animals, such as a troop of about 30 banded mongooses which entertained us greatly as they ran across the grasslands, stopping every 20 metres or so to dig for roots, bulbs, grubs and insects, while one stood on its hind legs keeping a lookout.

Meerkats are members of the mongoose family and look similarly endearing when they are on guard.