A hand-picked selection of lodges and camps. Click through their name to visit their own website directly.
Zarafa Camp
Zarafa Camp looks over the Zibadianja Lagoon, the source of the Savuti Channel, in the private 130,000-hectare Selinda Reserve that links the Okavango Delta with the Linyanti waterways. It was the first safari camp in Botswana to join Relais & Châteaux, and is named after a giraffe sent to Charles X of France in 1826. Four canvas suites of over 100 square metres stand on raised decks, each with a lounge, a copper claw-foot bath, a plunge pool and an outdoor shower. The Dhow Suite is a separate private residence. Drives run morning and late afternoon, with guided walks and pontoon trips among the lagoon’s floating islands.
Selinda Camp
Selinda Camp sits where the Selinda Spillway flows into the Linyanti River, in the private Selinda Reserve in northern Botswana. The area is known for its large elephant herds, wild dogs and the Selinda lion pride filmed by Dereck and Beverly Joubert for National Geographic’s Birth of a Pride. Three tented suites take no more than six guests, each with a veranda, a private pool and an outdoor shower, and the two-bedroom Selinda Suite is booked exclusively with its own guide and chef. Guests are lent cameras and binoculars. Activities include morning and evening drives, guided walks and, when water levels allow, boat trips.
Selinda Explorers Camp
Selinda Explorers Camp stands in riverine forest on the banks of the Selinda Spillway, in the private Selinda Reserve in northern Botswana. It belongs to the Great Plains Explorer Collection and is styled on a 1930s family safari expedition, with campaign furniture made from recycled hardwoods, Persian rugs and brass and copper details. The guest tents, including a two-bedroom family tent, stand on raised wooden platforms, each with a covered veranda and its own bathroom. Days bring morning and afternoon drives and guided walks along the Spillway, with canoe trips when it floods, and in the dry season elephants gather in their thousands.
Okavango Explorers Camp
Okavango Explorers Camp stands on the western side of the private Selinda Reserve, beside the Selinda Spillway, where the upper Okavango Delta meets the Linyanti system. It is a Great Plains Explorer Collection camp in the style of 1920s expeditions, with six Meru-style tents on polished wooden floors, each with its own bathroom, and room for no more than twelve guests. Drives run by day and night, and guided walks work best from May to October. When the spillway carries water, usually between May and September, there are canoe trips along it. Guests fly in from Maun or Kasane to Motswiri airstrip.
