Set in one of the most pristine wilderness areas left on our planet, the Selinda Camp rests on the banks of the eastern Selinda Spillway in northern Botswana’s startlingly beautiful and remote 320,000-acre Selinda Reserve. The Selinda Spillway is an ancient waterway which flows in two directions, weaving its way as it links the far-reaches of the vast Okavango Delta in the south with the Linyanti wetlands in the west, receiving water from both. Further west is the Savute Channel, Chobe and the mighty Zambezi. North lays Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and Angola. Home to some of the largest herds of elephant and buffalo left in Southern Africa, this powerful place is one of the last great bastions of the endangered African wild dog – lycaon pictus – the “painted wolf”.

Designed with the elements in mind, Selinda Camp pays homage first and foremost to water, with splashes of blue and a crystal-clear swimming pool offering views over the equally immaculate Selinda Spillway. The billowing silks, which adorn the ceilings of the lounge area, are a tribute to air, and the afternoon breezes that ripple the endless sea of grasses. Earth is represented in the cornucopia of home-grown meals lovingly prepared in our kitchens and the bright flames of our evening fire complete the ethos of being in harmony with nature. Extensive raised decks give a sense of being part of forever as you gaze out over seemingly endless floodplains where wildlife abounds. But it wasn’t always this way. When Great Plains Conservation took over the Selinda Reserve in 2006 it was to rescue it – the concession and its wildlife had been hunted down to virtually nothing. Now it’s one of the finest wildlife areas in Botswana, if not Africa, and provides a base from which researchers are taking important strides in the effort to conserve and protect iconic species like elephants and Africa’s big cats.