The Selinda Canoe Trail is an exciting new development in the remote northern reaches of the Okavango Delta. Set up in 2009 as a one-off departure, Selinda has since become an established walking and canoeing trail. It covers much of the course of the Selinda Spillway, the waterway that connects the Delta to the Kwando-Linyanti river system.
Departing from Motswiri Camp, in Linyanti, and ending at Selinda Camp, you spend four days and three nights travelling east along the spillway and into the 130,000ha Selinda Reserve, stopping along the way to explore on foot and to set up camp at light mobile bivouacs where you sleep in dome tents. It is a mobile safari experience of a kind that is rarely found these days outside of East Africa.
While on the Selinda trail, you begin each day at the crack of dawn and make your way along the waterway. The pace is leisurely, and the distances covered moderate, so there’s never any risk of you not arriving at your campsite before dark. The Selinda Canoe Trail is very much intended to be an impromptu safari experience, and the stops you make during the journey are not pre-decided (though the campsites largely are). Few visitors travel to this region of the Delta/Linyanti, so the Selinda Canoe Trail really feels like a voyage into the wild.
The Selinda Canoe Trial is likely to appeal to more adventurous types, keen to escape the rigid structures of a standard safari. It is a scheduled tour with fixed departures between May and October. Most visitors will combine the Selinda Canoe Trail with a few nights at a permanent camp, either in Selinda or the Okavango Delta proper. Contact us for suggestions.
Accommodation
Long Canadian canoes with cushioned seats are your transportation—two guests to each canoe. A full team consisting of cook, camp hands, and guide accompanies each Selinda Canoe Trail departure, traveling in their own canoes and carrying the bulk of the supplies.
On arrival at camp in the late afternoon, the team will set up the dome tents. The tents provided are reasonably spacious (3 x 3 metres) and comfortable—thick bedrolls and bed linen are provided. Shared toilet facilities consist of bucket showers (hot water provided each evening) and long drop loos with raised seats. The loos are in canvas tents and pitched some distance from the dome tents.
Dining
Hearty bush meals are prepared on an open fire by your chef, and enjoyed around the campfire in the company of your fellow travellers and guide. Your guide will choose a suitable place to stop for lunch and a siesta each day.
Beers, wine and soft drinks are included, though premium drinks and spirits are at additional cost.
Child Policy
Children over the age of 12 can join the Selinda Trail, though we would recommend it to older children only, due to the remoteness of the region and the emphasis on walking activities.
