Selinda Camp

Where Selinda Camp sits

Selinda Camp stands on the banks of the Selinda Spillway where it enters the Linyanti River, in the private Selinda Reserve in northern Botswana. The Spillway is the channel that links the Okavango and the Linyanti systems, and it flows only in some years — which makes this one of the more dynamic landscapes in the country. The reserve is private, remote, and very lightly used.

Only three suites

Selinda Camp has three suites. That is exceptionally small, and it is the defining fact about staying here: the camp is closer to a private house than a lodge, and sole use is a realistic proposition for a family or a group of friends.

The suites

Each suite has a private open-air verandah and its own swimming pool. The en-suite bathrooms have deep brass baths, double vanity basins and indoor showers. Bedrooms carry heating and cooling above the bed, a writing desk, a tea and coffee area and generous wardrobe space.

The design

The camp was designed by Dereck Joubert around the five elements of earth, wind, water, fire and metal, and moulded around the existing trees rather than clearing a site. Two large elephant sculptures stand at the arrival point, and life-sized elephant skull sculptures by the late Keith Joubert open the main area. The whole camp is built as a statement about elephants.

The spa

There is a private spa area in the main camp, and treatments can also be taken in the privacy of a suite. In a three-suite camp, that privacy is genuine rather than nominal.

Elephants

The Selinda Reserve carries large elephant herds, and the Spillway and Linyanti frontage concentrate them through the dry season. Some of the herds here have been followed by the camp’s founders for over twenty-five years.

Wild dog

The Selinda pack of African wild dogs is regularly seen on the reserve. Wild dog are endangered and hard to find across most of their range; a resident pack on a private reserve of this size is a rare thing.

Lion

The reserve’s lion pride featured in the National Geographic film “Birth of a Pride” by Dereck and Beverly Joubert. Lion viewing on Selinda is a core part of what the camp offers.

Relais and Chateaux

Selinda Camp is a member of Relais and Chateaux, and sits in Great Plains’ Reserve Collection alongside Zarafa, Sitatunga Private Island and Duba Plains in Botswana.

Who it suits

Travellers who want a very small, design-led camp on a private reserve with strong elephant, lion and wild dog viewing, and families or groups considering exclusive use. The dry season concentrates game along the Spillway and Linyanti; the green season is quieter, greener and better for birds.