Shinde Camp

• Prices from $423.00
• Per night

Mr Bennett, UK, reports on Shinde Camp 5*

By Mr Bennett, UK Added: 17 July 2007

"Botswana - as you know we stayed at Shinde and Footsteps. We very much
enjoyed both these camps, but the highlight of our week in Botswana was
the three day Walking Safari at Footsteps, because we ended up being the only guests at the camp, being looked after by a staff of nine ! We therefore had our two Bush Guides to ourselves, which mean't that we could fully interact with them and exchange information about our respective ways of life, cultures etc. It was a real privilege to spend about 6 hours per day walking in the Bush with our guides without seeing
another human being or sign of the human world, and receive an education on the Okavango Delta, which is truly a beautiful part of the world, and learn about this vast area where the animals really are in charge.

Experiences:
- Our pilot having to abort our landing at Shinde, as there was an
elephant standing in the middle of the airstrip !
- At Shinde a nightly visit from an elephant outside our tent, shaking
the palm tree just a few metres from where we slept to get at the nuts !
- At Shinde, the appearance in the camp after dinner one night of a
huge hippo which had come to graze, forcing us to rethink our usual
route from restaurant to tent !
- During our transfer from Shinde to Footsteps by Landcruiser, tracking a lion for over an hour until we found him resting behind a hillock. We were able to take photos of him from about 5 metres !

 5*

By Kate Bergh Added: 20 May 2009

Shinde was probably my favourite camp because of the combination of being in a private exclusive concession which was very beautiful; the quality of the game-viewing; the high standard of guiding and the attractive camp under the trees.

Camp – Shinde has a lovely setting under the trees which keeps the tents cool in the high Botswana temperatures. Ideal for year round. The main buildings are very attractive set high in the trees on a cantilevered terrace of decks. I particularly loved the rather grand dining area under a curved canvas roof. At the ground level, there’s a lovely campfire area overlooking the waters/grassland where people meeting for activities or enjoy pre- and post-dinner drinks. There’s also a swimming pool with shaded lounging area.

Rooms – very well appointed with safe, toweling robes, flip flops for the pool, comfy chairs in the room and on the deck, mosquito nets

Shinde Enclave – slightly disappointed in this as its public area was less attractive than at the main camp. Wouldn’t rush to book this as Shinde Camp is small enough to feel exclusive and intimate.

Terrain – Shinde is a private concession so the only vehicles we saw were from Shinde. It is pretty open terrain with lots of small lagoons rapidly filling with flood water. Very pretty area.
Game-viewing – we had excellent sightings of lion (two groups), leopard, elephant, tessebe, red lechwe, fish eagles, zebra, giraffe with a knowledgeable guide with a nice dry sense of humour

Activities – Shinde is unusual in the Delta in offering good quality game drives, boating and mekoro trips year round. Thus if someone only had 3 nights in the Okavango Delta, Shinde would be an ideal base.