DUBA NEWSLETTER April has been amazing month in the Duba Plains concession, with fantastic sightings, hard working guests and inspired guides. A large group of Australian guests arrived for their fourth visit to the area and were not disappointed on their first night when they were greeted by a large herd of elephant in camp [...]

If you are asked to sum up Duba Plains in a matter of words then more often than not Lions, Buffalo, exceptional photography, Dereck and Beverley Joubert and National Geographic’s The Last Lions come to mind. The Lion and Buffalo interaction is world famous and we are one of the top places in Africa to [...]

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 [...]

A large python, close to 10 feet, was seen last night by tent 1 at Duba, the housekeepers were “awakened” to it during turndown…Nick, the Duba manager, went to see what he could do to calm the ladies and found the snake  busy hunting  under the deckboards…. All of  a sudden the hunter became the [...]

This was the month that we completed the first ever Great Plains Conservation aerial survey over Duba Plains.   We have collaborated with Elephant Without Borders’ Mike Chase and Kelly Langden for what will be two annual survey, one in each the wet and dry seasons.  Each May, we will then release a full report [...]

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 [...]

KB, our Duba guide who has outstanding birding knowledge, has found a Pel’s fishing Owl only 2 km from Duba Plains. This is one of Africa’s, and the world’s, most sought after birds as it is an incredibly unique owl that predates on fish. This compliments some outstanding birding at Duba, one of the foremost [...]

 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 [...]

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 [...]

Duba Plains’ Executive Chef Pierre was setting up early brunch one morning last week, always with a camera near by, Pierre spotted these two Cattle Egrets bickering away whilst bouncing around on the back of a buffalo. Oblivious to their surroundings, and the fact they are prancing around on a mass of grumpy Cape Buffalo. [...]

January’s rains were not for the faint of heart, with numerous downpours. There’s nothing more beautiful then the before and after from a Botswana summer storm. You can see the thunderheads build, like giants in the sky, while the wind picks up and then you know it is coming. It is so refreshing and renewing, [...]

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 [...]

Our Duba Plains airstrip is open for new arrivals! After weeks of toil, we have completed a resurfacing of the entire length of the strip, now  providing a smooth runway surface, and steady landing for all guests. The Botswana Air Authority arrived, gave its stamp of approval after the inspection, and we are good to [...]

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 [...]

You don’t have to travel far in Duba Plains Camp before you see something lively.  Whether it is a herd of 1000 Buffalo, or the occasional Lions following them, or the local herd of Kudu pictured, you can immerse yourself very quickly by just stepping out of your tent. Then you can look up and [...]

Duba’s December Delights December is an exciting month all around the world and no less so at Duba Plains. We received big rains in the first week of December and within days the bush became alive and green again. Many birds started breeding so the sky is filled with bright and beautiful colours while the [...]

We still have not received any rainfall save for the showers that we had mid November. It looks like the rainy season is delayed but the sky is always filled with rain-pregnant clouds and anytime we might get a down pour. All our game drive areas are accessible as the area is dry. Game viewing [...]

Lara Logan of CBS 60 Minutes profiles “The Last Lions” filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert on location at their Great Plains Conservation Camps in Botswana Scheduled to air Sunday November 25, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT Lara Logan and a team from CBS 60 Minutes profiled filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert at their Great Plains [...]

Great Plains Conservation is not simply a tourism venture. As our name suggests, we are actually primarily focused on conservation and use tourism as a vector to achieve our conservation goals. Hence we we call ourselves a “Conservation Tourism” company. To this end, Dereck & Beverly Joubert founded Big Cats Initiative in partnership with National [...]

Perched on the tree waiting to do what it knows best. We have interesting bird spotting areas at Duba Plains and it was interesting to see this juvenile, completely different to usually seeing an adult. Guess what it is yet?     A Juvenile Fish Eagle

These two lion cubs find themselves in a situation where they have to struggle to find some shade, with the temperature at 41 degrees, buffalo refusing to be intimidated and no big trees to cool down temperatures. Under these bushes, the risk of encountering pythons and mambas is increased and also the risk that comes [...]

Summer is here and the heat that we have experienced so far is a signal that we are approaching the hot season. This will remain like this for sometime as the temperatures have ranged between 35 degrees and 39 degrees. The end of October has seen some rain clouds gathering but it hasn’t rained yet [...]

“Duba Plains Camp’s room and setting were excellent, Standard of food produced in such a remote location was impressive.  The guide at Duba Plains was excellent.  Highlight of the trip was seeing a kill at Duba Plains” Mr & Mrs L were from the UK, and traveled in Sept 2012 with Steppes Travel, UK

This strong and young looking male lion arrived at Duba Plains on the 17th of October 2012 and moved across from the airstrip towards the bridge that lead to the southern part of the camp. He did not cross the bridge but spent the whole day sleeping there while contemplating his crossing. The Tsaro lion [...]

Recently our friends and colleagues at Ellerman House, based in Cape Town, hosted the annual ArtAngels charity art auction and party for the first time this year, following the success of the inaugural 2011 event at CIRCA on Jellicoe in Johannesburg where R1.6 million was then raised for charity This year, and going forward, ArtAngels [...]

This solitary bull elephant showed us his magnificence with a mock charge whilst out on drive today. He came as close as two meters and then went past the vehicle.

As many of you know Dereck and Beverly recently made a new movie called The Unlikely Leopard Why not take 2 minutes and enjoy the short clip available here ? Easy Prey scene – The Unlikely Leopard

Following a relatively dry season this year around the country and also less in-flow from our catchment area, the water levels have gone down drastically around the concession and most areas that would normally be flooded this time of the year are completely dry. This dry spell will continue for some time as we do [...]

Today, 30 September, Botswana celebrates 46 years of independence. The celebrations are in full swing! Watch this space for some more pictures of the action with guests and staff. Pula, Pula, Pula!!!!