April is the cruellest month….as the temperatures continue to drop on a daily basis, I was almost tempted to believe TS Eliot but in fact April has been anything but cruel in terms of its safari this month. It all started with African wild dogs who decided to appear at early morning breakfast and kill [...]

Driving back to camp after a splendid morning tracking a lone Lioness for two hours, eventually finding her plus four two and a half month old cubs. We were just passing an area locally known as Jouberts Island. Here the flood plains are drying up awaiting the seasonal flood to return. It has left pools [...]

27th March 2013 – 6.10am “we hear erratic splashing coming from the water in front of tent 4″. “In the cool of the early morning our guests had been watching the moon set from the main deck.  When there is a full moon you can enjoy its last hanging moments reflecting off the Zibidianja lagoon [...]

While there’s no doubt that being alluded to as the Brangelina’s of the safari industry is quite a compliment, there’s much more substance to the work of Dereck & Beverly than appearances. Tiara Walters of South Africa’s Sunday Times weaves a story which we hope will “turn around a billion Chinese”. But it requires your [...]

Last year we witnessed some extraordinary sightings involving a rather eccentric Cheetah we called Sehema, this  means silly in Setswana. Two of the highlights came in as many days.  The first involved some of our Selinda Camp guests who came across what seemed to be a Cheetah stalking something.  Cheetah are our rarest cat so [...]

Meet Bokamoso The Leopard, she is using this tree to scan for prey not far from Zarafa Camp The Young Female is almost 3 and half years old so she will have left her mother around two years ago. Bokamoso, meaning future in Setswana, is a very appropriate name for this endangered animal. Protecting these species one [...]

A new Wild dog pack on the Selinda Reserve has been discovered.  We have named it the “Explorers Pack” which consists of just 4 individuals.  Led by an Alpha female we suspect  that they have split from a pack from the north, possibly the Kwando area. They are incredibly distinct being very dark.  One of [...]

There are few perfect places in the world, but Zarafa (for want of a piano in the main area) is certainly one of them. I shouldn’t hanker for music with so much wildlife abounding but it’s such an inspirational place that the dulcet tones of a (non ivory) keyboard would not be misplaced at sunset. [...]

We all talk about the “magic hours” of photography.  Those golden soft light periods, just after and before sunrise and sunset. It is often said that the harsher light of midday is just not good enough for great images as it is too bleached and flat.  One tip maybe then to convert to black and [...]

Fred is back at Zarafa, with  an absence of a few months but he has returned! Good ‘ol Fred, the sleeping elephant.  If you can remember Fred from last year?   He was the famous elephant who liked to sleep on the termite mound in front of camp – all the time and made famous [...]

Yesterday’s HES Zibadianja cruise was rather lovely. Guests enjoed a superb lunch on the boat’s deck, floating alongside a herd of munching eles who were happily snorkeling in the lagoon.  Later, we passed a pod of particularly pink hippos and joked that they looked about as pink as our pink champagne. The sizeable boat is [...]

 Boot Camp 2013 Each year, we close our  camps at the end of January for our annual “Boot Camp” – a week of focused intensive training (not military drills!). This was the sixth Selinda Reserve Boot Camp and the second Duba Plains Boot Camp. Each year, there is always the challenge of developing a new [...]

   Weddings Bells at the Selinda Reserve Every year on the Selinda Reserve we bring in the New Year, and the new season, with a fun day for all the staff. Each year is unique, and this year it included the Botswana Olympics (covered in another post). But it was also unique for another reason. There [...]

Botswana Olympics The inaugural Great Plains Conservation “Botswana Olympics” was held in January. The Selinda Reserve, and then Duba Plains, hosted the all day events on 29th January and 1st February respectively. Mirroring our cousins in Kenya, and their Maasai Olympics held in December, we wanted an equally fun day of camaraderie and bonding. With [...]

We have 3 new arrivals on the Selinda Reserve, 3 tiny ten day old lion cubs were spotted for the first time yesterday. Mots (Selinda Camp guide)  was following one of the Wakpuka pride females .  She walked over to an acacia bush to reveal  three tiny little cubs, probably not even 2 weeks old. [...]

Wild dogs are incredibly relaxed around humans. This inquisitive behaviour can contribute to their downfall though, human encroachment into their habitats has caused serious conflicts for these social animals.  Numbers ranging from 2,500 to 3,500 place them as the rarest mammal in Southern Africa. Imagine the delight when one of our new puppies from 2012 [...]

Let’s transport you to another vision, where you are floating on the HBS Zib in the middle of Zibadianja Lagoon in Botswana’s Selinda Reserve. And get this, you are on a massage bed. Yes, it’s true. “There is always a bowl of water with an orchid in it whenever I go to a spa, so [...]

With the increased demand for small luxuries in the safari industry, Great Plains Conservation looks for innovative ways to retain the true essence of safari while also meeting the needs of our guests. With that, Zarafa Camp’s four guest tents rooms now have a new cooling system for all of the beds.feature a new, very [...]

January at Zarafa has brought much needed “pula”, also known as rain and also Botswana’s currency. The camp is beautifully green, as the vegetation grows at an incredible rate during the appropriately named “green season”.  It transforms into a birder’s paradise, and the animals at this time of year just seem to glow, enamored with all [...]

Email from Dollar on 15 Feb: “On Friday I went to the Sea Point Beach, I met a guy there called Nicollas and he took me very beautiful pictures.  I saw some big scallops next to me, I never saw that before, I wanted to pick one but suddenly  big big waves came, I tried [...]

The Selinda Pack of African wild dog seem to be thriving. We’ve just recently seen nine of the puppies, each looking like buff teens ready to soon join in the hunting.   This image was recently taken by Johnny Wagner between Zarafa and Selinda Camps.  While you can still see the softness of the fur, there’s [...]

When you fly into any safari destination the excitement of the first few steps from the light aircraft is palpable. Today, even more thrilling was the sight of two male cheetahs right on the airstrip’s edge. These two cheetah are part of what is a coalition of three brothers. It is a bit worrisome that [...]

Feb 7, 2013, email from Dollar: “Dav, um in the kitchen for a little bit, then I will move to the front then to the office just to see how everything goes,  they run such an amazing service, I  luv the way they do their salads it really cool, 5*. I’m loving the food and [...]

Dollar’s Diaries Throughout the next month we will presenting a short blog following the adventures of Dollar Ngore on his trip to Ellerman House in Cape Town. Dollar is the manager of the new Selinda Explorers Camp in Botswana.  A legend in his own right, from his chef skills to a master in traditional dance, [...]

Pictured is a Flap-Necke Chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepsis), taken at Selinda Camp.  They can often be seen in all our camps ambling slowly looking for small insects.  They famously change colour, when stressed, and most significantly their eyes move independently of each other. Did you know? – In Botswana culture the Chameleon can be related to [...]

    A Hippo jumps for joy (with Zarafa in the background) in celebration of Zarafa’s achievement as Best Camp in Africa at this year’s Safari Awards that took place in London this week Thank you Peter Luck-Hille (a recent Zarafa guest) who took this freeze frame action shot from the Zarafa pontoon boat one [...]

Each year, Mr. Harper chooses favorite properties that he has visited over the past 12 months to comprise this prestigious Grand Award list. To be considered for the annual awards, properties must be relatively small in size, possess strong individual personalities, offer relaxing atmospheres and demonstrate a consistent devotion to personal service. We are of [...]

December 2012, Zarafa Camp. Babies! It’s annual “baby-time” again around Zarafa Camp. All the animals are waiting for the first rains in order to deliver their young in times of plenty. With these delightful rains, fresh grasses and leaves emerge everywhere and the mothers agree that this is a safe and bountiful time for birth. [...]

Yesterday, after a huge maintenance day we went on a short game drive/ boat cruise with the entire staff. Kathy made Christmas pudding and we had small (Dutch) presents for everyone. We had our X-mas sundowners in front of the camp. We toasted on a very successful 2012 year and and the anticipation of a [...]

Dear Caitlin: My husband Peter and I had the singular pleasure of staying at Zarafa on the 5/6/7 and 8th of November. Whilst there, we were informed that the next leg of our journey which was to have been Zambia, had to be cancelled due to widespread flooding. Willem and Nienke were solicitous and incredibly [...]