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 [...]

“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 [...]

Underneath the Mangosteen… We have this huge Mangosteen tree right in front of Zarafa. And every year in November it gives us very tasteful orange fruits. The birds like them, the squirrels, the warthogs, the elephants and the housekeepers. So the battle of the fruits has started. Since we like our animals in camp it [...]

October heat has carried onto November, temperatures reaching the maximum of 42 degrees flushing away the hopes of rains. This has been an amazingly dry season with the wilderness covered with a brown blanket of dying grass and leafless trees. This was a perfect game-viewing time of the year, also a disheartening time to watch [...]

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 [...]

Dereck and Beverly Joubert have spent more time filming and living among lions in the wild than anyone alive today. The discoveries they’ve made over 30 years of wildlife filmmaking have challenged conventional wisdom about Africa’s big cats.

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 [...]

Every so often we get amazing sightings which are usually deemed super because of interactions between predator and prey, or between differing predators. Then you get exceptional sightings, those that are life changing and have little chance of playing out in the same way, or with the same interactions ever again. This is what happened [...]

This is for all those folks who are looking forward to doing a touch of DIY around the house this weekend… Have a look at what the Selinda Lion Pride did when they saw us wanting to remove an old Jetty we had on the Selinda Reserve recently… Guess it is always a good idea [...]

As we constantly strive to improve on the guest experience at our camps, we took a long hard look at the existing design of the entrances as Zarafa to the guest tents Feeling we could definitely improve upon the existing design each tent now comes with a wonderfully “zanzibari” inspired set of doors which open [...]

Well, I don’t know how to start this Dispatch off other than to say the game viewing and most especially that of predators here on the Selinda Reserve has been spectacular this past month. If the predators of the Selinda Reserve were playing cards then we would have the house beating hands down just about [...]

It is with great excitement that the Selinda Reserve shares this wonderful news. About 5 weeks ago now the alpha female of the Selinda Wild Dog pack denned in an area we call Fish Eagles nest which is about 25 minutes from Selinda Camp. At that point we closed off all the roads leading into [...]

Two days ago a group of Mara Plains guests packed lunch and drove south to Sand Rivers on the Serengeti/Mara border to see if they could catch a glimpse of the Great Migration. They were greeted with….half a million wildebeest and zebra heading our way! Such exciting news and we (the team at Mara Plains [...]

It started early in the morning when the Tsaro lion pride crossed the Duba Plains bridge from the south and moved very quickly towards the airstrip where they stopped for about three minutes before proceeded to Hammerkop Island, searching each and every corner of the smaller islands. The search quickly paid off when they found [...]

A young Marshal eagle perched on a tree and possibly looking for food. A grown up eagle can take down small antelopes and other large birds. Duba Plains has a variety of bird species and all birders always enjoy the time spent out in the field watching these birds.

The Selinda Lion Pride is back… “Our” 15 lions just walked back into the Selinda Reserve this morning, and this time they brought their cubs. They actually entered last night to steal a fresh (elephant) kill from a bunch of hyena who were just behind Zarafa Camp. We were about to go out with the [...]

July on the Masai Mara plains has started as one who has been to this corner of the wild world would imagine – it has been epic to say the least. Yes the Great Migration is a little late this year (Nature does not have a schedule after all) but this has not meant that [...]

Amazing things happen around Selinda Camp, you often don’t have to stray too far to see something exceptional. A few afternoons ago we spotted this bull Elephant laying down against a termite mound on an island within view of the deck. (Yes, that infamous deck that often is the scene of superb sightings of Elephant, [...]

Whether you are at the dinner table, your outdoor shower, our “jungle” gym or the “loo-with-a-view”, there is always an elephant around to keep an eye on you at Zarafa Camp in Botswana.

ABC television’s Nightline highlights the Big Cats Initiative, the new documentary by Dereck & Beverly Joubert called The Unlikely Leopard, and the work of Great Plains Conservation. This enlightening episode will open your eyes to the plight of the big cats and how to take action NOW. Regrettably only available to folks that are based [...]

It started with the buffalo running away but the roles were quickly reversed…

The water level continues to drop drastically and it will be a miracle to have the water level rise again this year. This has led to most places being accessible, enabling more chances to view game at different places that used to be inaccessible during this time of the year. June is also our coldest [...]

The past month, and especially the past few days have seen the Big Cats of Selinda Reserve in full action. Yesterday Selinda Camp had 3 vehicles out in the morning and they were treated to sightings of the Selinda Pride male Lion, a male Cheetah who frequents the area and 2 separate sightings of Leopard’s [...]

Always wonderful to see the faces of who is hosting friends and clients. From left to right are Martin Mathumo, Elizabeth Bayane, Tshipidi Diako and Debbie Edmonds. Tshipidi runs the kitchen and the rest are managers. The photo was taken during one of the daily camp meetings, on an island, away from Duba Plains itself. [...]

“You don’t change the world to travel, you travel to change the world.” Dedrick D. L. Pitter This June, in comparison to other years, has been a wet one, adding to the way-over-average amount of rain this part of the Masai Mara has received in April and May. Consequently we are living in a sea [...]

This is a female Pied Kingfisher…always by our brand new bridge hovering and diving into the water to get her food. Can anyone tell why we say she is female? Have a look at her features and we will post that of a male one to show the difference.

The new Selinda Explorers Camp, set on Botswana’s Selinda Reserve is being erected right now and will be ready for opening on the 15th of August. There will be four rooms, with the camp being sold on an exclusive use basis. Activities will be focused around  canoeing and walking with a game drive vehicle handy [...]

We spent about 10 minutes watching these water monitor lizards mating very close to a water crossing and before heading off to  host a guest’s picnic. We came back after an hour and 45 minutes and the two were still there doing the same act. You could tell from their faces that they meant business [...]

This sub adult male lion is having a hard time as the dominant male is chasing him away from the rest of Tsaro lion pride. He is just above two years and the dominant male thinks it is time for him to move away from his mother, aunts and sisters. This has seen him missing [...]

The Tsaro lion pride consisting of the elderly lioness with a tumor on the neck (facing away from camera), five lionesses, three sub adults and two cubs brought down a buffalo cow in the early morning and by the afternoon, there were a few ribs left. It was an easy kill as the buffalo was [...]