Xaxaba, Botswana -- "Elephants below!" "Buffalo on the right!" "Impala on the left!"

Though Martin, our Norwegian bush pilot, can put the 5-passenger Cessna down on the head of a pin, the sight of a landing strip is reassuring. "Lion got a zebra here last night" he says laconically as we clamber out of the airplane. "Dragged it off though."

It happens.

We are in what may be Africa's last great wilderness, the Okavango Delta. The river that flows south out of Angola disappears into the Kalahari Desert without a whimper, but first it creates earth's largest inland swamp. There are no roads, and the islands grow and shrink with the season. It is our fourth camp, and now our game runs are on water in a makoro, the metal version of the dugout canoe.

At first glance the itinerary was dismaying. Flying every other day seemed too much even though we were assured traveling 800 feet above the ground is the only way to reach the home-bases of our safari. We find it also an experience in itself, and the animals ranging below are so undisturbed they don't bother looking up.

At each camp the day begins at 5:30 with morning tea ("Knock knock" the girl says softly, swinging the tray down from the top of her head.) At 6, we leave on the first game drive; back to a big British breakfast at 9:30. By then we are quite ready to relax around the pool, write postcards, read or nap; content the animals we have come to see are too smart to be out in the noonday sun. Lunch . . . teatime . . . As the day cools off we are off on another game run.

We are always accompanied by ranger/guides whether in a makoro or open-top Land Rover. They spot animals for us and watch for danger as well as photo opportunities. The only time we see a gun is when we go by foot -- as on Chief's Island -- single file, a ranger leading and a guide following.

This is not budget travel. Botswana, a landlocked democracy bordered by Namibia, Zimbabwe and the Republic of South Africa, is rich and peaceloving. The eco-sensitive government wants high-end low-density tourism so imposes stringent controls on those few companies fortunate enough to have licensed camps in or on the fringes of its national parks and wildlife reserves.

Maximum number of guests per camp is 24, and most take less. Permanent structures are completely forbidden in some areas. "We have the ability to move the whole thing on three weeks notice if there's a change in the ecological balance," Graeme Labe says. He is general manager of Gametrackers, a London-based company with camps strategically placed to cover three distinct eco-systems in northern Botswana: dessert; grass/forest; marsh.

Safaris begin at any time. Our first was Savuti where the "Great Thirstland" of the Kalihari Desert encroaches upon the savannah woodland of Chobe National Park. Bull elephants are the main attraction, but we were advised to double-knot tent flaps to deter curious monkeys and not worry if things bigger than monkeys sniff and prod the canvas during the night. In the morning the tracks were identified: hyena; baboon; male lion.

Khwai River Lodge is a collection of thatch-roofed cottages in the savannah and floodplain on the northern boundary of the Moremi Wildlife Reserve. When we arrived, a family of impala stood on the riverbank drinking daintily while a big buck acted as lookout. "He knows lions sleep now," the driver said, "but he shows off." On the game run, the driver braked for hippos. They looked roly-poly and sweet, but the rule of the region is "Never get between a hippo and the water." Do crocs bother them? "Hippo snap a croc in two," he said with a laugh.

San-ta-wani camp is at the south gate of the Moremi Wildlife Reserve. Facing the only water hole in eight miles, it offers 24-hour ringside seats for prides of lions; breeding herds of elephants; water buffalo by the hundreds; tsessebe; waterbuck. Leopards hide in the grass waiting for impala like farm cats stalking field mice.

Promoting responsible tourism is not a cliche here. Botswana, with the strongest economy south of the Sahara, does not grovel for the tourist dollar. It has one of the world's lowest population densities (2 per square kilometer), little crime, a strong currency and virtually no unemployment. Diamonds were discovered the year after independence, an irony not lost on the Brits who held it as Bechuanaland and left it the most poverty-stricken nation on the continent.

Here in Xaxaba we have reached the heart of the Okavango Delta, the central floodplain. The camp is on a small island and the name means either "island of the tall trees" or "island of the dead elephant." Take your pick. Perhaps "island of the incredible sunsets" would be most appropriate. The delta is endangered by an irony of progress. With the eradication of the tsetse fly will come the end of diseases which have kept the politically-powerful cattle owners at bay. They have already bisected its southwestern end with a 150-mile fence interrupting wildebeest migrations while supposedly protecting their cows. Now, it's said, they would drain the delta to create more rangeland. Civilization has already crowded out the San, as Bushmen prefer to be called. The Kalahari is the last home of these elusive hunters who once covered all southern Africa. Their story-telling cave paintings are the great art treasury of the continent.

The native ranger who grew up at San-ta-wani remembered when the bare land was covered with trees, but before we rushed to accept blame on behalf of exploitive humans, he explained. "Elephants. It takes much grass, trees, acacia pods and bark to fill an elephant."

The imperative for the moment is still pro-wilderness, and tourism -- while not yet a major factor -- is a viable argument in its favor. Even in a country where 37 percent of the land is protected; where killing safaris are outlawed and the economy is strong, those who would save it need all the help they can get.

It's nice to know tourists help.

IF YOU GO: Seasons are reversed (July-August are winter) but wildlife flourishes all year. Jan.-Feb. is rainy season.

WHAT YOU NEED: Valid passport (visas may be necessary for extensions); malaria prevention subscription; only enough loose cotton camp clothing to fit into one small carry-on bag; sunscreen and insect repellant; hat with visor or brim; camera with extra batteries and plenty of film.

WHAT IT COSTS: Gametrackers' packages vary but figure $3650 per person for 3 or 4 camps and 8 nights, including roundtrip air from New York, park entrance fees, meals, safari, local transport and laundry. Optional extensions.

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