Review: Duba Plains Camp

How did it strike you on arrival?
The Great Plains founders (and National Geographic filmmakers and influential conservationists) Dereck and Beverly Joubert chose this piece of land as their home base many years ago, before opening a camp on the property in 2017. And it's easy to see why: On entering the main tent (surrounded by five smaller tents and a two-bedroom suite) you're met with wide-angle views onto the Okavango flood plains. The classic aesthetic instantly throws you back to a circa 1920’s African safari, with campaign-style chairs and tables, oriental rugs, leather armchairs, brass fixtures, a library, and vintage maps on the walls, all under swagged canvas tenting. The living space opens onto a wooden platform with dining tables and a fire pit, where guests mingle at night.

Nice. Tell us about your tent.
I stayed in the Duba Plains Suite, a two-bedroom tent raised on recycled railway sleeper decking with indoor dining and living areas. Each of the bedrooms has its own plunge pool and bathroom, and indoor/outdoor shower. The wooden canopy beds are shrouded in mosquito netting, and the front window unzips to give the most insane view of the swamp from your bed—and the occasional ellie walking by. (In winter, there’s a fireplace near the bed.) Decor touches like a copper roll-top bathtub and a mini bar housed in a vintage-style campaign chest complete the fantasy. The room also comes with 8x42 binoculars and a new model Canon camera and lenses on loan (you'll go home with a thumb drive of your images). One especially nice touch was personalized Duba Plains stationary, not that I’ve written a letter in years.

Let’s talk about the food.
All meals are included: coffee brought to your tent for that 5:30 a.m. wake-up call; a hearty breakfast, picnic lunches, afternoon tea on the verandah; and dinners, which you can eat communally or on your own (I loved the avocado and snap pea salad followed by leg of lamb). The all-important sundowners are served out in the bush, and back at the tent, there’s a wine cellar with a few hundred bottles hand picked by the Jouberts, whose winemakers all support some kind of conservation or community effort.

Now, about that safari.
Great Plains is the only operator on the concession, so it’s all private wildlife sightings—no Land Cruiser traffic jams at all. If you’re there during the wet season (roughly June through August), the Delta swells up and the “swamp vehicles” plough through water that can sometimes splash through the doors, so prepare to get a little wet. On one drive, we saw tons of kudu antelope, vervet monkeys, bushbucks, hippo, lion, warthogs, and even a leopard family.

Anything else stand out? Were there any other cultural or outdoor experiences that were really interesting?
There are no villages nearby, so there’s not much cultural interaction (except that much of the staff hails from the greater vicinity). But Duba Plains does partner with communities in the broader area, with land lease funds, jobs, and projects like Lamps for Learning and Conservation Camp for Kids, so the populace receive tangible benefits from wildlife conservation. Oh, and the very tempting bush shop sells locally and regionally produced crafts.

Bottom line: worth it, and why?
This property is top of class in Botswana, with incredible and exclusive landscape, beautiful interiors, and excellent guiding and service.