Duba Explorers Camp
- Six tents
- Dining tent
Set within the 77,000-hectare Duba Plains private reserve is the Duba Explorers Camp, a wonderful base from which to explore this incredible wildlife-rich part of Botswana. Guests can rest assured that the team at this camp is completely dedicated to conservation and supporting the local community. They have various initiatives in place, from Pack for a Purpose, to sports programmes and community enrichment projects.
The camp is built on a wooded island and consists of six expedition-style tents that sit on slightly raised decking and look out across the surrounding floodplains. With wooden writing desks and large four-poster beds, the tents are designed to evoke feelings of old-school safari xploration. There are en-suite bathroom and an open-plan living and dining area, which opens on all sides, leads out onto a private verandah.
This part of the Delta is home to large herds of buffalo and elephant as well as healthy lion, leopard and hippo populations. Bird watchers will not be disappointed with the wattled crane, pel’s fishing owl, white-backed night heron and marsh owl nesting in the trees. Enjoy guided walks, boating opportunities and open air game drives throughout the reserve, then come back and enjoy a sundowner and dinner under the stars back at camp.
Telling important stories
During decades as wildlife filmmakers and conservationists, the Jouberts have brought to life the drama of the Okavango Delta for avid audiences around the world. They are also the founders of Great Plains Conservation, an organisation devoted to supporting sustainable eco-tourism. Duba Plains Camp has served as a base for the Jouberts since they first set out to tell the story of the Okavango’s incredible inhabitants. The property is also part of Rhinos without Borders. And they have partnered with local communities to restore indigenous trees to the local landscapes.
Pack for a Purpose
Duba Explorers Camp is a members of Pack for a Purpose, an initiative that allows travellers to make a lasting impact in the community. Supplies for go to their Conservation Education Program and their Women’s Craft Groups operating in Gudigwa and Seronga, making a priceless impact in the lives of local children and families.
For the community
They use sports as a tool to bring the conservation conversation to the forefront with communities in the northern Okavango Delta. Titled, “Conservation Goals”, this innovative program leverages the resources of Great Plains Conservation and its partners to promote a positive, constructive, and action-oriented dialogue with local communities about conservation. Great Plains partnered with highly accomplished, retired professional football player and coach, Gordon Gilbert, to organise sporting competitions and training clinics throughout Botswana’s Okavango Delta; a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Candles and paraffin lanterns are used by most households in the local communities, but bring with them a very real risk of fire. Great Plains Foundation has launched a project to distribute much-needed light. By buying these lanterns, guests are giving a safe and sustainable light to a member of the community to use for school studies, to create handiwork to sell and to thus illuminate opportunities.
Leveraging the resources of Great Plains Conservation, the government of Botswana, and local public and private partnerships, the Great Plains Academy provides personal and community enrichment opportunities for local youth and adults in Botswana’s Okavango Delta through vocational training and conservation education programmes. The Great Plains Foundation is revitalizing indigenous knowledge and the successful approaches to livestock herding developed over many generations. Through a series of courses, led by subject matter experts, local farmers are re-introduced to the wisdom of their forbearers and encouraged to apply these lessons to their current practices.
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