Selinda Explorers Camp – Private Safari by Safari Architects Day 1 My guests and I had been waiting for this trip for the last 6 months! After a lot of banter and excitement, the day had finally arrived when we would be leaving for our Selinda adventure.  Both myself and Brad were leading the trip, [...]

Safari Architects’ Brad reviews the wonders of Selinda Explorers Camp on a Private Safari Day 1 My guests and I had been waiting for this trip for the last 6 months! After a lot of banter and excitement, the day had finally arrived when we would be leaving for our Selinda adventure.  Both myself and [...]

And here’s how the cheetah vs. leopard sighting at Selinda Reserve transpired. Written by Jamie Hopf, guest and photographer of this extraordinary event. Dicks of Selinda Camp was the guide. Our very first morning drive definitely set the bar high for the rest of our trip! Our guide, Dicks, spotted some cheetah tracks in the [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

We are always seeking new ways to nurture children’s love and appreciation for the bush. And corollary to that, is giving them ways to express their new found adoration for something as magnificent as a shiny dragonfly or gigantic baobab tree or the huge flock of queleas in the summer sun. It’s often as easy [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Today, CNN featured both Ride Kenya and Selinda Canoe Trail in its article titled “9 Ways to Travel Africa in Style”. We are honored to be part of this adventurous round-up of authentic African experiences which slough off the glitz & glam and get real in the bush. Come join us soon.

Our friend and fan, Dan Achber of Trufflepig, crafted this entertaining and informative video of the Selinda Canoe Trail. It’s a must-see, if for no other reason then to know what to do when you face a pod of hippos be it in in Botswana, or elsewhere in your life. Glad you enjoyed it, Dan! [...]

Summer is on the way! We were all astonished at how quickly the trees and shrubs on the Selinda Reserve started to green up this month. Astonished because it was not until late November last year that this started to happen. We have had some rain too! Not a lot at 3.5mm but it is [...]

We were initially very disappointed to learn just before we left for Botswana, that the Selinda Canoe Trail had been cancelled due to the sudden drop in water levels along the Selinda Spillway.  We were therefore very pleased when Josh, our guide, informed us at the airstrip that we would be after all be able [...]

The Selinda Canoe Trail departure we were on was cancelled because of sudden drop in water levels along the Selinda Spillway in October but we decided to spend 5 days at Selinda nonetheless. Fortunately we were able to do three sessions of paddling on part of the canoe trail, including an overnight stay at the [...]

We stayed at Selinda from September 6 -8,2012 . Selinda was everything we desired and more. It is a magical setting with outstanding game drives,guides and service.It was recommended to us by our excellent travel agency, Explore Africa. We cannot thank Explore Africa enough for their great recommendation of Selinda. John and Liz are fabulous [...]

Some great sightings last week for our guests, a quick summary: – Wild dogs, all 18 including 8 pupppies, were seen hunting, catching and feeding on a female kudu. Unusual as there normal pray is Impala, they have plenty mouths to feed these days though. – 4 female Lions taking down a large male Kudu [...]

We’ve now had two very successful trips at Explorers Camp with a number to come before the end of the season. What has stood out is the complete remoteness, exclusivity, and raw wilderness the camp provides. We have had some extraordinary sightings, but more so experiences at this gem of a place so far, here [...]

The game this month on the northern side of the Selinda Spillway has been simply breathtaking. Elephants are coming down in large numbers now to feed and drink along the edge of the spillway from around midday well into the late afternoon. We’ve had an absolute glut of big cat sightings. The little pride of [...]

Just one and a half hours west of Selinda main camp, Selinda Explorers Camp is poised in a remote, treasured location on the famous Selinda Spillway. As the lifeline of the Selinda Reserve, the Selinda Spillway is a

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 [...]

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 [...]

At 10 we have Foster finding Secretary Birds roosting up a tree (pictured). Unusual sighting seeing these ground dwelling, snake hunting birds pose like this No.9 this week is Dix tracking and finding an adult female leopard on the Selinda Camp side of the Spillway.  Not five minutes from camp No.8 Kane’s bushman skills links [...]

Today our Selinda Camp guests had a bit of a “water jam” during their pristine and private boat cruise along the Selinda Spillway… They admired elephant for half an hour before they were able to come back to camp. There are so many elephants on the Selinda Reserve right now that at both Zarafa Camp [...]

May has been an excellent month here at Selinda Camp. Game viewing from the camp itself has been exceptional! We have had 3 visits from the Selinda Wild Dog Pack which is now comprised of the Alpha Male and Alpha Female and 8 puppies from last year’s litter. They have taken to hunting the herds [...]

We’ve had a brilliant start to our Selinda Canoe season, being incredibly fortunate enough to find lions on foot on the first trip. Since then we witnesses two Sable Bulls fighting in the river itself for nearly two hours completely oblivious to our presence. See the action sequence photos below They were both sometime up [...]

Many of Zarafa’s guests took up our brand new offer for breakfast to go. We deliver tea and coffee your room with your wake up and when you are ready we take you straight out into the field in order maximize the best morning light. We had some guests going out super early and had [...]

One day on the first Selinda Canoe Trail of the 2012 season… (the first of the 2012 Selinda Canoe Trail departures commenced in mid April 2012) Waking up everyday in the dark gets to a lot of people but on Safari in the bush it’s the norm. It’s one of the best parts of the [...]

Dux took his guests, Richard and Janet Hickson, who were also accompanied by their private guide – Gavin Ford – out on a boat cruise two afternoon’s ago. The afternoon boat cruise is a lovely change in tempo for our guests. It affords them the opportunity to relax as the boat meanders along the Selinda [...]

The seasons are a changing, the grass is turning that yellow , golden brown that hides the predators so well, there is a slight coolness in the morning air which is nice for those of you who get up earlier enough to enjoy it !! The shenanigans around the Selinda Reserv’e headquarters have been quiet [...]

Zarafa Camp 2012 started with a bang at Zarafa.  The staff pulled out all the stops and put on the most unique of any evenings entertainment I have seen in the bush (pictured).  HES Zibidianja, our floating platform boat, was steered to the front of the deck and for the staff to present a show [...]