Reviews of Selinda Camp

"Food and hospitality were outstanding but very lacking in game and from this aspect was very disappointing.

However we enjoyed our stay here." See all these reviews: 16n in Namibia; 6n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia; 3n in South Africa

"Loved every moment and we were sorry to leave!" See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 7n in Namibia

"The best rooms of the three lodges we stayed at with lots of character in the main lodge and gift shop. Wonderful game viewing!" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"Much recomended. Our best Safari camp.

We saw an amazing selection of game on our initial ride from the air-strip to the camp.

We had a superb canoe ride. One of our game drive excursions included lunch on a boat moving along one of the waterways." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia

"Selinda is a beautiful camp in a lovely setting. The reserve is beautiful and with the river and lots of waterholes, it was very green.

Rose, Ishmael and Kea are great hosts and everything at the camp runs extremely smoothly. The staff were not in any way over-attentive but there were always people on hand to greet you with a towel (cold or hot depdning on the weather), get you a drink and check whether there was anything that you needed.

The tents were very nicely furnished and extremely clean and we really liked the semi-outdoor bathroom with its open shower and huge bath. Of the 3 places that we stayed on our trip, the tents at Selinda were our favourite. Everything felt new and fresh thanks to the refurbishment not so long ago and we appreciated the quality of the little things (towels, bed linen, toiletries) that added to our stay.

The food was excellent - good selection of cereals, pastries, toast and fruit for early breakfast; for brunches we had all manner of amazing salads, meats, cheeses, eggs cooked to order, bread and fruit; for dinner, we had a choice of main courses with set starter and dessert; the homemade cakes for afternoon tea were a particular highlight. We could not fault the food and, on our last night, they set up dinner for just the 2 of us which was lovely.

On to the important bit - guiding and wildlife. Marks was our guide and he was a nice chap as well as being very knowledgeable. There had been a heavy storm the day before we arrived and we had rain on our first day which had dispersed the game so for our first few drives we did not see many animals. That said, the bird life was amazing and we spent some happy drives learning about the birds and Marks' enthusiasm was infectious. Watching 2 eagles of entirely different species sit next to each other rain drenched on a tiny branch was very memorable.

When the sun and animals returned, there was a lot more to see including some great sightings of lewchwe, kudu, zebra, babboon and giraffe plus separate pairs of female and male lion. We looked for leopard and wilde dogs without success and the cheetah had not been seen for nearly 2 months but there was a lot of variety of other animals and we really enjoyed our drives." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia

"This was the first camp that we visited of three, and was excellent in every way. Marks, our guide, did a brilliant job of finding wildlife to see and photograph on our game drives ( a hungry leopard hunting and stumbling across a wildcat, which lost the fight and became dinner).

We encountered a thunderstorm during our stay, which was to be expected as our holiday was at the beginning of the rainy season, but this was an adventure in itself and didn't really alter our activities." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana

"This was out last and the largest camp. We felt a bit swamped by the size after the previous ones, but all was extremely good." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"This was a lovely camp in all respects. We were made very welcome and no doubt helped by some very nice guests, it felt more like we were staying as house guests than tourists.

The manager Ellie, was extremely good and did not miss a thing. Things not possible one minute, became possible once she knew what had been requested. She was also extremeley personable and by observation treated all guests as well as ourselves.

All meals were of good quality, fresh and varied with three choices for dinner (white or red meat and a vegi option). Food presentation was also good. It might be nice to have some fruit available for snacking on, but I guess thought has to be given to animals helping themselves!

On reflection, given the degreee of attentiveness, guests could be given a little more space when in the public areas at times.

There was a nice little curio shop for the ladies!

There is a socket in every tent to re-charge batteries etc which would have been useful to know in advance for cameras and the like.

Our guide, Dennis was very pleasant. The drives had a maximum of 4 people in the vehicle and on a couple of occasions just the two of us. There was no issue about safety, even when we got stuck in the sand in the dark. Help was soon at hand.

Transfers were fine, with no delays. We did have to make two stops to Chitabe and Savute after our flights to J'burg and Maun which was tiring and made our arrival at Selinda late in the afternoon with only a short time to dump our things before the first game drive. This could be improved.

I never imagined staying awake to listen to hippos telling jokes, nor did I imagine seeing animals so close to our tent.......fabulous.

The amount of game was less than I expected I think with one game drive having been really quiet. We did see lovely wild dogs and pups which were a delight to observe." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana

"A really well run camp - excellent attention to detail in rooms etc. Very knowledgeable and pleasant guides. Shortage of leopards!

I particularly liked the fact that each room had mammal and bird guide books, a nice touch." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"This was our last camp in our visit to Botswana and one that really started to help us unwind. Gracious and welcoming staff and service; Ella and Ishmael were terrific. And the best food of all the camps - lots of grains, vegetables and fruits - including a very salutary bush lunch on our last day.

Our guide Steve did an admirable job in explaining the welcome changes that are happening in the Selinda area due to its unique geology and high water levels. On safari, we tracked cheetah (no luck) and wild dogs, having the opportunity to observe pack behaviour at rest and in pursuit of a kill.

At night, we were serenaded by hippos.

Lovely camp, beautiful landscape." See all these reviews: 13n in Botswana