Selinda Camp

an historic camp, much upgraded

Selinda Camp is located in the Selinda Concession in northern Botswana.

This high-end luxury tented camp is situated amongst a shady copse to the west of the wetland area at the upper end of the Selinda Spillway. It is the original facility on this concession, dating back to around 1995, but has been substantially upgraded.

The camp is centred on very comfortable open-sided public areas, containing comfortable lounge and dining areas, leading out to decks raised up to give views out over the surrounding plains and featuring a nice swimming pool. Tucked in amongst the trees beyond is the original main building which now contains a small gift-shop, wine cellar and a display of owner Beverly Joubert’s impressive photography, with a nice campfire area out front.

The camp also has a small spa facility.

Guest accommodation is in just three guests tents which are accessed by ground-level pathways and situated at intervals around the periphery of the small ‘tree island’.

There is also a two bedroom annex known as the Selinda Suite, which can function completely independently of the rest of the lodge.

The camp offers extremely high levels of service, with a warm welcome on arrival, personalised notes in your room and a high level of professionalism and attention to detail throughout. The crew of 52 staff members are universally praised by guests.

One aspect we always appreciate is the amount of wildlife that comes into camp. Here the most common visitors are baboons and vervet monkeys in the trees around the tents, with a range of other game often in view on the plains out front. At night hippos and elephants often wander between the tents.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Selinda Camp is in just three suite very well-appointed guest tents, accessed by a network of broad ground-level pathways. Set up on decks, these very large tents have separate and very comfortable lounge and bedrooms areas, with a lavish bathroom at the far end, featuring conventionally plumbed basins, shower and toilet, plus a lovely free-standing copper bath-tub. Out front a private verandah features a decent sized plunge pool and an outside shower. Each room is provided with a pair of top class binoculars and, remarkably, a top of the range SLR camera for use during your stay. The staff will even teach you how to get the best out of them and download your images onto a memory stick for you to take home.

One major standout feature of Selinda Camp is that the bedrooms are fitted with solar powered, environmentally sensitive mini air-conditioning units which maintain comfortable temperatures within the mosquito net, which is highly appreciated during the hotter months of Sep-Dec.

Activities

Selinda Camp provides the following guided activities …

• Vehicle safari
• Walking safari
• Bush meals
• Motorboat safari
• Night vehicle safari

When it comes to trip durations in Botswana, most visitors combine 2, 3 or 4 lodges by light aircraft over 6-12 nights, one of which will usually be here in Linyanti Waterfront, often in combination with further nights at the Victoria Falls and/or down in the Cape.

Linyanti Selinda is one of four private concessions that make up the Linyanti Waterfront, a fabulous safari area that combines naturally with the nearby Okavango Delta.

Most guests choose to stay at one lodge in Linyanti, usually for 3-4 nights.

Seasonality

Linyanti Selinda can be visited year round.

The drying out of the seasonal waterholes in the vast hinterland during Mar-May causes good numbers of animals to migrate towards the Kwando and Linyanti rivers. The wildlife viewing therefore tends to be very strong throughout this period.

During May-Jun temperatures can drop towards freezing during the night, but this has little adverse effect on safari, the days are gorgeous and there are virtually no insects around.

During the May-Oct dry season the wildlife viewing in this area can be really intense and particularly photogenic. This dry season period is the most popular time for safari, when the weather is reliably good.

During Oct-Nov the temperatures and humidities can become uncomfortably high in advance of the rains.

During the Nov-May green season the landscapes are verdant and beautiful, the animals are well-fed and there’s lots of babies around, providing a great contrast to the harshness of the dry season. It is also important to note that there are substantial savings to be made on lodge prices

usually visited in combination with the Okavango Delta