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 [...]

Pictured is a frequent visitor to the camp, loving the lush green leaves on the trees at this time of year.  5 tonnes of mass, he is incredibly tactile in camp. Stepping over obstacles in order not to break them.  One amazing site is watching him breathe in so that he can squeeze through a [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

                ….. And all the surrounding landscape merely a playground. At ol Donyo Lodge the ‘element of surprise’ is around every corner, and when a lodge is placed upon a 270,000 acre sanctuary— anything is possible. Last night we unveiled our newest secret Bush Dinner site, and it’s [...]

On the 15th of February, after having been watching, and waiting for two months we had the first ever sighting of the Leopard cub belonging to the leopardess who has been a regular around Mara Plains and Toto for the last 5 months. On the morning of the 15th, guests out with the morning drives [...]

Recently, Selinda Camp has been abuzz with breeding herds. From the Red lechwes to the impalas to the Blue wildebeest, and even the roan. It’s been a veritable wonderland of new life. A rare hybrid of a Red lechwe and a waterbuck was spotted, leaving many of us quite perplexed at first (see picture, below [...]

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, [...]

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 plan was to have a suprise sundowner for our guests at Starpan, so we loaded up the vehicle with everything we needed and set off with plenty of time to spare, an easy evening drive I said. We were busy driving down a road, that had not been used in a number of weeks, [...]

Last night we surprised our Hong Kong honeymoon couple, Flora and Tang, with a romantic moment to remember.  After a special game drive, witnessing a pregnant lion hunting, we walked them back to their room surprising them with a private dinner, and a romantic bubble bath for two!  Bubbles with two flutes of “bubbly” to [...]

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson One month into 2013 and so much has already happened here [...]

To say that the sightings and the wildlife here have been unbelievable over the past week or so would be an understatement! The greatest treat our guests had the other evening is actually spotting two of our young local lions enjoying their version of one of our spectacular bush dinners, our guests however enjoyed a [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

    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 [...]

The most exciting thing happened last night when a couple of our guests along with Seki our head guide stumbled upon our well known local lion! It’s always a treat to get a sighting of a species which has been so heavily persecuted in this region. Small conservation steps matter. Today, all of the birds [...]

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly” – Richard Bach As some of you may already know this December (especially the second half) has been one of the most incredible months any of us can remember. After a brief reprieve from the early month rains that brought on [...]

“To see ten thousand animals untamed and not branded with the symbols of human commerce is like scaling an unconquered mountain for the first time, or like finding a forest without roads or footpaths, or the blemish of an axe. You know then what you had always been told — that the world once lived [...]