Luxury Safaris in Linyanti made for you

With uninterrupted views over Osprey Lagoon, and a fantastic vantage point from which to watch the areas mega-herds of elephants, Wilderness DumaTau and nearby Wilderness Little DumaTau are perfectly located for making the most of your stay in the Linyanti Wildlife Reserve. Each spacious tented guest suite has been positioned to offer great views whether you’re relaxing on your deck, or cooling off in your plunge pool. You’ll also find the tents include spot-cooling, meaning you can find respite from the hot afternoons indoors. Spend time investigating the ‘curiosity boxes’ you’ll find mounted on the walls in your room and the drawers filled with fascinating artefacts and information. They’re a great way to learn more about the area’s wildlife and rich history. Look out for unique elephant and wild dog art in the rooms and library made from reclaimed snare wire. Wilderness Safaris have constructed both camps to give maximum comfort and offer guests a large array of facilities. In addition to the in-tent cooling systems, you’ll discover that the central Osprey Retreat which sits between the two camps boasts a pool, drink and snack counter and a Safari Boutique area, offering you more space to mingle with your fellow guests if you choose to do so. Large decks, plunge pools and awnings are attached to each of Wilderness Duma Tau’s eight tented suites as well as at the four at Wilderness Little DumaTau. The Wilderness DumaTau team continues to focus on the sustainability of wildlife corridors, as they have done since 1997. They believe that it is more vital than ever to protect large wildlife corridors of wilderness,  like those within the vast Linyanti Wildlife Reserve – especially for the African elephant and wild dog that cover extensive ground. Staying at Wilderness DumaTau offers you easy access to the Linyanti floodplain as well as the Savuti Channel, in fact, it’s the only concession from which you can access both. The region has all the habitat diversity to make it a haven for wildlife, and is well-known for its elephant concentrations as they congregate along the waterways and lagoons during the dry winter months. General wildlife viewing is excellent year round including impala, wildebeest, red lechwe, Burchell’s zebra, giraffe, Cape buffalo, chacma baboon, vervet monkey, and warthog. Predator sightings of lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog and spotted hyena are good. As well as day and night game drives, you can explore on nature walks or take to the water on motorboats or the river barge (depending on water levels).  

Zarafa Camp is set inside the 320,000 acre Selinda Reserve, created to conserve and protect the wildlife of the area alongside connecting Botswana’s Okavango Delta to the Linyanti waterways. This reserve is home to a diverse and rich abundance of species similar to those found in the Savuti and Chobe National Parks, but with the exclusivity of a private reserve. Simply one of the most beautiful tented camps in Africa, Zarafa is a triumph of conservation and attention to detail. There are just four immense tented suites set on raised wooden platforms overlooking the floodplain of the Zibadianja Lagoon. The tents are decorated in a style befitting of the explorations of the early 20th Century, matched with modern comforts and technological surprises. Outdoor decking wraps around each guest suite and offers guests a private plunge pool, private outdoor shower, and outdoor seating. Within the suite your lounge flows into a well-decorated bedroom and an open layout indoor bathroom that is adorned with a polished copper bath tub and fireplace. The main camp, made up of a generously-sized main lounge, library, dining area and bush boutique, is nestled under a canopy of  trees a slight distance from the suites. An outdoor gym and in-room massages are also available. Environmentally, Zarafa has a number of initiatives in place to ensure they have as light an impact on their surrounding as possible, from solar power and water filtration systems, to electric vehicles. The camp also supports the notion that conservation can only be successful if communities living alongside wildlife and protected areas are given opportunities to learn, interact, and benefit from these conserved areas. As part of Great Plains Conservation, Zarafa is involved with the Great Plains Foundation’s launch of the Great Plains Academy, which provides enrichment opportunities for a community in the upper reaches of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. The academy will supply vocational training, supplemental education, and scholarships with a conservation and tourism focus. All programmes seek to invest in the skill and capacity of the individual whilst displaying respect for natural heritage and a solid conservation ethic.  

Perched above the Zibadianja Lagoon, Zarafa Dhow Suites is an understatedly opulent retreat, exclusive for your family or group of friends. Oozing old-world elegance, this award-winning private tented villa echoes the 1920’s style of Zarafa’s main camp – but on a more personal scale. A lavish lounge and dining room, filled with deep leather sofas and beautiful campaign furniture, sits at the centre of the property and is bookended by two sumptuous suites. Inspired by the unique flavour of Eastern Africa, the rooms are dressed with ancient Zanzibari doors, fireplaces and grand cropper baths overlooking the lagoon and untouched wilderness. Drink in these elevated bushland views, spotting the resident wild dogs, big cats and elephants, with your suite’s professional Canon camera and Swarovski binoculars. Then, get up close to the incredible wildlife on game drives and bush walks with your expert guide, bush picnics, afternoon tea and canapés. Dining here is first-class, at Relais & Chateaux standard, and most magical when enjoyed under the vast expanse of African stars.

Overlooking a tranquil lagoon, King’s Pool is a luxurious camp tucked away in a grove of jackalberry trees.  The eight spacious canvas suites covered with thatched roofs are raised on wooden platforms to take in the views below. Families travelling together can enjoy the two bedroom family suite with sunken deck and private plunge pool. The camp sits overlooking the Linyanti River and the oxbow lake of Wilderness King’s Pool from which it derives its name. Communal areas include a lounge dining area, bar and a shared pool. These all sit on raised decking allowing for excellent armchair game viewing of the river and lake. This part of the Linyanti borders the Chobe National Park, meaning that great numbers of elephant frequent the area during the dry months as they visit the lagoon and river. Other game is abundant too during these months including giraffe, lechwe, zebra and impala, all helping to draw the large predators; lion, leopard, cheetah and wild-dog. As well as game drives the camp offers seasonal barge cruises along the river (dependent on the river level) , basic fishing and walking safaris (on request in advance). The camp also has two wildlife hides, excellent for close up observation of game.

Open, relaxed and resting on the banks of the eastern Selinda Spillway in the heart of the 320 000 acre Selinda Reserve, this safari camp has a prime location within a territory rich with wildlife. Having been recently rebuilt, the camp provides a blend of old colonial elegance, updated with contemporary amenities. This is an old-world luxury experience for the modern-day traveler. Tucked away under its sweeping thatched roof, the camp remains cool in the midday heat, and commands excellent views out over the floodplains and savanna of the Selinda Reserve. The extensive raised decks surrounding both the main lodge and guest tents facilitate wildlife viewing directly from the camp, meaning you can sit back and enjoy a delicious meal and never keep your eye off the local animals. When you want to get more up close and personal, the camp offers both day and night game drives, on which you will be highly likely to see antelope, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, elephant and buffalo. Whether you choose to travel by foot, boat or 4×4, you’ll have a unique experience of the African wilderness.

Set away in a pristine location on the Selinda Spillway’s banks, this camp offers a chance for a different type of safari experience. Getting out of the vehicle, and onto ground and water with guided walks and canoeing, connects you with Africa, the motherland. This is by no means at the expense of wildlife, which remains prolific and regularly spotted. Couple Selinda Explorers with more traditional safari camps, and it’s a stellar combination for all types of travellers. The camp is in the Selinda Reserve whose position in the Selinda Spillway, which flows from east to west through the concession and linking the far reaches of the Okavango Delta in the south with the Linyanti systems in the east, means that you have access to both places and their wildlife with the exclusivity of the reserve to boot. It’s easy to miss the inconspicuous Selinda Explorers Camp. This is not an ostentatious place, but rather somewhere to get back to the nitty-gritty and focus on small details. The camp’s atmosphere of authenticity coupled with a bohemian flair makes it a relaxed place to unwind and stay a while. The canvas main area is simple, but shaded and cool, providing a place to rendezvous, contemplate and have a jolly good laugh. Dinner is served under the stars or in the dining area but always wholesome, tasty and cooked over open fire. It is this same fire that then becomes our nightcap spot – an aperitif, Amarula on ice or a nice herbal tea. Selinda Explorers is an authentic tented camp drawing on traditions of the classic East African safari with beautifully detailed campaign style furniture made from recycled hard woods, and soft furnishings from Zanzibar and the East. Consisting of only four luxury guest tents, each with their own adjoining en-suite, private open air ‘bustani bathroom’ with explorer themed hot water bucket showers and flush porcelain toilets. Each tent overlooks the Selinda Spillway with a private verandah. There will be limited power available. The tents will have individual solar panels to power lights. Charging of batteries can be done in the main area and through an inverter system. Power is supplied to the main area through the main solar power supply.