Reviews of Selinda Explorers Camp

"WELCOME
I arrived by helicopter, which gave a stunning landing right next to the camp. My guide waited in a vehicle and gave me a warm welcome pointing out a few things in the camp, I could see from a short distance “on the outside.”

Camp Manager KP greeted me upon arrival. We sat down with a drink, while she took me through formalities, practicalities, and my dietary issues. Everything seemed effortless and easy. I was informed, I would be with another couple for lunches and dinners through out my visit, although it would be a new couple every day.

I would have my own guide and vehicle throughout.

WAKE UP WITH A HOT DRINK AND BUSH BREAKFAST
I love the wake-up calls that come with a fresh hot drink. I am also a great fan of getting out on tour early and enjoy a bush breakfast. That is unique and a privilege. Enjoying good laughs, anecdotes, and information with my guide, while we take breakfast, is something I really enjoy.

Each bush breakfast brought new dishes. The catering is outstanding with a keen eye on both quality, alternatives, and creativity.

If you want something, you ask, and you get a “yes, we can do.”

MAIN AREAS
There is a main area stocked with just about any type of drink, be it alcohol or soft drinks, they are available. A very smart – posh – coffee machine ensures all types of “designer coffees.” That area includes the dining tables.

You can take lunch and dinner there, however, they have a trick up their sleeves here. A chandelier with glass and candles hanging between two trees is lit close by the firepit, and a table set for dinner outside. The camp is situated a few meters from the Selinda Spillway, which just adds to the charm and romance, when you dine outside.

A second main area consists of sofas and tables, this is where we enjoyed high tea before the afternoon tours, and drinks before dinner.

Everything is high quality with an emphasis on cosiness and charm as well as comfort and safety.

TENTS
The tents are spacious and well equipped, the bathrooms are the size of a ballroom. They have white towels! You know your laundry (and they do) when you dare white towels.

The bedlinen is also white, crisp and of very appealing quality.

There is plenty of thermos bottles with chilled water available in your tent. You are also provided with a neat coffee and tea tray with cookies and the optional hot chocolate.

You will find binoculars, a yoga mat, stationary, a nice pen, and a fantastic notebook, which also serves as a book with information on wildlife. It is a gift. I love that gift, it made so much sense, thank you.

The light setting is perfect, also if you enjoy reading in the bed.

There is a walkie-talkie for contact to staff if needed.

Your private outside area comes with a sofa and a table…. baboons and the occasional lion, to name a few.

Nice comfortable soft bathrobes are available in a quality you can wear in the heat too.

HOUSEKEEPING
Every time you leave the tent, for tours, lunch, or dinner, the housekeeper checks up on water in the thermos, if anything needs to be straightened, bedlinens, towels etc. There is a constant focus on you feeling good. The tents are always spotless.

Laundry is done to perfection. A first ever for me was, the laundry is ironed. I have never stayed in a camp that includes ironing of your laundry, impressive and a delight.

WATER BOTTLE
You get a water bottle with your name on. Unlike any camp, I have been to, you just leave your bottle in the vehicle, when the tour ends. Your guide ensures the bottle is washed and refilled. When you start your tours, the clean bottle is available with fresh water and ice. Eye for detail, again. I appreciate that my bottle was washed between each tour.

ONLY INTERNET IN TENTS – SUPER
You have powerful internet in you tent – only! I love it. It ensures a good interaction with staff and guests in the main areas. To me there is nothing sadder than being in a main area of a camp with guests, and everyone is staring into a phone. GREAT idea, more camps should copy.

CATERING
We hit 46 C mid-day. What I am really impressed with is the quality of the food products used. Moreover, the fact that in the heat, the chef managed to serve fresh crisp salat leaves garnished with fresh crisp herbs. I can barely keep coriander crisp in my kitchen. Respect.

All meals came with menu choices. The dinner menu is published in a frame after lunch, and you can decide, what you would like. There is a huge flexibility, you can ask for about anything.

The chefs are eager, enterprising, and like to surprise with quality, flavours, and design of the dishing up.

GUIDE
My guide has a fantastic sense of humour, we had a lot of fun, even when we navigated cultural differences. He is a seasoned guide, who takes immense pride in sharing his knowledge, finding wildlife, and keeping you safe.

When we were to set out on the first tour, he took me through a map of Botswana, then he explained the wildlife on the eastern and western side of the spillway, and he produced a plan for my 3 nights at the camp. I fully trusted his plan, so we went with that, which turned out to be spot on.

“Finding wildlife” is no tall order here. You will find wildlife in abundance. With “finding” I mean the special things, like the Zables we saw, the swimming honey badgers, when my guide listened to a flock of zebras from afar, and felt sure, there was a kill to look at. Indeed, a cheetah had just killed a pregnant impala when we arrived. The zebras blow air through their nostrils in a distinct way when there is trouble around.

This is where I got a bit more than I expected. The cheetah left the kill to her two cubs. They were eating from the back legs, and a few times they tried to pull the kill from one tree to another. They were too small to do this yet. Mum cheetah turned up and pulled the kill, as a lesson for her cubs. They attacked the back legs again, AND suddenly they pulled out the embryo via the birth canal and started playing with it.

We joked constantly about seeing the rare pangolin. I know for a fact, that a few days after I left, a healthy pangolin was spotted in the area. I might have to come back.

The spillway is lovely, it gives amazing sightings. Early morning a flock of hyenas playing in the water, lions, leopards, giraffes, springbucks, impalas, hyenas, jackals, elephants etc., all in abundance, a list of birds as long as my arm.

At one point my guide claimed I was the easiest guest ever. I immediately responded, “there is not a single friend of mine, who will believe that.” He replied, you say what you would like, easy – easy.

The camp managers, and the guides listened to all guests, gave advise and suggestions. My guide and the camp manager KP have suggested a few camps to me. They could argue why they felt the camps will be the right choices for me. I will investigate this for sure. 2025 is waiting around the corner.

I would go back, and I highly recommend this camp. The accommodation, the main areas, the teams, the tours, the guides, the catering, the housekeeping, the stunning location, not to forget the wildlife in abundance, and the relaxed atmosphere, ALL 5 stars.

Thank you for adding to my Botswana experience. I loved every minute.

-o0o-" See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana

"This was our favourite camp on our whole trip. The tent and the bathroom were huge and beautifully set up, with loads of space to unpack and spread out, and the details inside were really well thought through - they provide big binoculars, a torch (flashlight) for night drives, a walkie-talkie to reach staff, two proper wardrobes, fluffy dressing gowns, a coffee/tea station in the room, and the best camera/device charging set-up that we saw. Our tent was the one on the end (#4) so we were miles from the other guests and it felt really private; we also had our own private hammock for siesta time, which just caught a bit (but not too much) of the early afternoon sun and was absolute bliss. The firepit and dining area is gorgeous and having our dinner under the chandelier hung off the big tree was magical. Also a special mention of Olly the housekeeper and her telepathic laundry abilities, what a star.

We were brought tea and coffee at the wake-up call, and also given travel mugs with hot drinks at the start of the morning drive, which went a long way to keeping the early chill at bay. Breakfast we usually had in the Land Cruiser in the field, and was a very civilised affair with fried eggs, pastries, yoghurt, fruit, and the lovely smoothies (or 'smooth' as our guide called them). The food at Selinda Explorers was generally to the highest standard on our trip - a trip of very high standards (!) - and generally the lightest also, with lots of salads and fresh fruit and veg - a welcome change after stuffing our faces at the previous two camps. They also featured some Botswana food like seswaa and papa, which was all absolutely delicious and it was nice to try the local stuff. Chef Mike - a special thank you.

It's a small camp so there aren't many guests and it feels very special indeed. The camp is unfenced and we had 7 hyenas visit us at the firepit one evening, including one curious one that came right up to the seating area... totally amazing. Elephants paid our tent a visit also.

We were just the two of us in our jeep for the whole stay, and our guide Stanley (Dr Livingstone, I presume?) was fantastic. He has 24 years experience and it really showed. We had sundowners with hippos and elephants, followed a leopard as she hunted, saw a pair of big male lions, the list is endless. Stanley took us on a walking safari one morning also, where we followed hyena tracks and found their den. We returned in the evening - armed with gin and tonics - and waited for the sun to go down, our patience rewarded with a sighting of two adult hyena and two pups no more than a month old. It was our final game drive of the trip and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect send-off." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"It is very hard to fault Selinda Explorers camp. Everything about the room was of extremely high quality and all comforts had been thought of.
Our guide Rati was a mine of information, charming and clearly very experienced. She looked after us very well and we will never forget our race across the bush to catch up with the wild dogs! We particularly enjoyed having our breakfasts out in the bush around 9/9.30am rather than the hurried breakfasts around the firepits at 6am which we had at the other camps.
Selinda Explorers seemed to be more flexible with meal times which allowed a more relaxed game drive experience.
The food in camp was absolutely first class and all the staff were welcoming and very friendly." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana

"Camp felt more remote than the others and provided a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.

Wildlife was harder to spot than in Duba but one of the highlights of our trip was spending a morning with a leopard and her two cubs.

Food was amazing and the staff superb." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 6n in South Africa; 2n in Namibia; 2n in Zambia

"My first of four GP camps on this tour!Arrived late afternoon for 4 nights.

My guide was Rati.Some great sightings in the Selinda concession.Viewed a pride of lions with cubs. Two sub adult males.

Selinda spillway was dry as floods not reached that far at this time.

Food was excellent with tasting menu for dinner. Lots of elephants viewed on east day. Ostrich's, Large male leopard, Spring hare spotted on night drive. Had a nice Brai BBQ for dinner.

Viewed another pride of Lions females with cubs, Roan antelopes.When leaving camp for flight out tracked a cheetah near the airstrip." See all these reviews: 15n in Botswana

"With James (Mr. 007), we had one of the best safari guides ever.

He was highly committed, stayed out with us beyond the normal hours, always ensured the best angle for photos, kept us engaged in the tracking and also taught us a few words in Setswana. Ke a leboga for an excellent safari experience." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana

"This camp is perfect - absolutely encapsulating the spirit of safari in the bush and exactly the type of camp we enjoy staying at. It was simple and rustic but extremely comfortable, with a Moroccan bedouin feel set around a large termite mound overlooking part of the Selinda spillway.

The channel was still flowing when we were there so there was a variety of wildlife using it close to camp. Only five 'tents' including a family tent and ours was private and extremely spacious and well appointed, with thoughtful touches including Leica binos to borrow, tea station, fan, good wifi and charging points and a spacious bathroom. Tents have a colonial explorers feel to them with rugs and dark wood furniture, the bed is very comfortable.

Food and drink was excellent. You are woken with tea in your tent, breakfast out on the morning drive (loved the homemade granola), and very fresh varied ingredients for lunch and dinner. We had some lovely private dinners and I was really spoilt for my birthday. The staff were relaxed and informal and very friendly and professional. Nothing was too much trouble.

Beautiful small swimming pool overlooking the channel.

Our guide was excellent, a great tracker, interesting, funny and very knowledgeable. We did a canoe trip which was a bit of a challenge due to the low water level and a walk, which was interesting but a bit short (it was very hot). We had some superb sightings.

We loved this camp and would stay there again in a heartbeat!" See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana

"This camp was nice being on ground level, and had a very traditional camp feel.

The staff were friendly and the food was the highlight of the whole trip. Lots of fresh vegetable and salads and good quality meat/fish, lots of variety.

The guide was a women which was nice to see and was very knowledgeable, she was very good at tracking animals. We saw lots of animals and birds.

The room was a luxury tent and got very hot in the afternoon.

Would highly recommend this camp." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"Another superb experience at this camp - again from the off. We had a charming welcome from managers Tseppo & Chantal (?).

Tents are comfortable and again well equipped, though the fans don’t have much effect when temps soar to the mid-30s! Frequent cold showers were very welcome!

Information on the camp is a bit outdated - no more bucket showers and they do take laundry. Plus there are charging points (slow) in the tent but a charging area in the main communal area is better for faster charging of camera batteries, phones etc. Also, wifi in the tents.

Food is delightful – though menus were ‘affected’ by the presence of a Michelin starred chef as one of the guests – who couldn’t resist getting involved in dinner prep in the kitchens (which was a real treat – staff seemed to enjoy his presence too) Again, the ability to order from a choice of main meals (usually meat or fish/vegetarian) was appreciated.

Probably best game viewing of the camps though only marginally – Serval (in daylight!), multiple Lion sightings, Elephants, Wild Dogs, and Leopard plus some good night spotting on drive back to camp – Civet, Spring Hare & a Verreaux’s Eagle Owl devouring a lizard! Another nice touch - only 3 vehicles are allowed at a sighting at any one time – we sense the welfare of animals is taken seriously here.

Sticht proved a diligent and persistent guide in pursuing game and (eventually) birds alike. His knowledge of birds was good but not outstanding - but made up for it by his ability to spot them.

Selinda ais a very chilled camp - you can help yourself to drinks if staff not around. It seemed a very happy camp with lots of laughter in the kitchens. Waiting staff were charming and delightful. There is flexibility on meal timings. And you don’t have to sit communally if that’s your preference.

Overall, a fabulous camp to stay at." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"My wife and I had been to Selinda Explorers before, some four years ago. We had enjoyed it so much we wanted to make a return visit. It was well worth it.

We travelled there from Lebala by road, again changing vehicles at the "border", which was much better than flying. The Camp has a wonderful location beside the Selinda Spillway. It is small, with only four tents, and has a marvellous atmosphere. We have loved the Linyanti area ever since our first safari in Botswana sixteen years ago; it is wild and open Africa in a nutshell.

Again everything about it was excellent, the tent itself, which now has running water (and so no more bucket showers), the laundry service (which was not there last time and, unusually for Botswana, will take all underwear), the food and the general care and attention. The staff were very friendly, charming and helpful. Once again the Camp was not full. It was explained that October is always a quiet month and that November was going to be busier but it seems that Botswana tourism has not yet fully recovered from the pandemic.

The scenery was varied and very attractive and so was the wildlife. Some of it was very dry and there was a sense that the rains were not far away. They do not use a tracker but our female guide (Oratile, Rati for short) was excellent. There was plenty of plains game and some lovely birds, including a very handsome sub-adult martial eagle.

The highlight was a superb male leopard, who was plainly on the prowl hoping to find some prey. We followed him for quite a while but he was out of luck and in the end just lay down to rest and, like any cat, pretended he really didn't care." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana