Selinda camp is an intimate camp offering understated luxury on the banks of the eastern Selinda Spillway – a waterway that links Botswana’s Okavango Delta to the Linyanti and Kwando marshes, rivers and floodplains.
The shaded camp is raised a metre or so off the ground and offers extraordinary views over the floodplains, waterways and wide-open savannas which are only broken by attractive palm islands. It is these views that are one of Selinda’s most compelling features.
Selinda Camp has nine spacious guest tents under thatch, each with two comfortable three-quarter sized beds draped with flowing mosquito nets adding to the romantic atmosphere. The thatch roof combined with ceiling fans and roof vents cool the living space during the hot days.
The rooms have spacious, en-suite bathrooms, with full sized stone baths and antique showers. Dual vanity basins complement the sense of luxury and sliding doors allow for privacy or create an open-air bathroom feel as well.
Activities in the Selinda Reserve include both day and night game drives in open 4×4 vehicles and game viewing by boat on the Zibalianja Lagoon (subject to water levels).
Game viewing is of a high standard, particularly in the drier months and typically seen in the Selinda area are giraffe, baboon, black-backed jackal, elephants, wildebeest, cheetah, crocodile, lion, wild dog, hippo, honey badger, reedbuck, roan, sable and a host of birds.
For the more energetic, short guided walking trails are available on request within the vicinity of the camp as well as short mokoro sessions and fishing.
LINYANTI
The Linyanti Wildlife Reserve consists of 1,250 km2 of pristine wildlife area, bordered by the Linyanti River in the north and the Chobe National Park in the east. North of the Linyanti River lies Namibia’s Caprivi strip. The Selinda spillway links the area to the Okavango Delta.
The region is one of the least visited and most pristine corners of Botswana, shared by a very small number of camps running on private concessions, ensuring that guests are able to view the abundant wildlife exclusively.
The Linyanti area is renowned for its predators, in particular wild dog and this is one of the best areas in Botswana to look for them. The area’s wonderful diversity of habitat includes open grasslands, riverine forest and mopane woodland which provide a haven for wildlife. The waters of the Linyanti weave their way eastwards towards Chobe, forming a myriad of pools and lagoons favored by hippos, crocodiles and birdlife. These pools also attract game from the drylands to the east and hold the first permanent waters in the rainy season.
In the early evening, several breeding herds of elephants usually gather by the pools along the Linyanti with youngsters in tow to enjoy a drink and wallow in the mud holes. In the green season this is a fantastic area for birding with carmine bee-eaters nesting in the river banks and migrant birds appearing in their thousands.
