New lodge will open the door to ‘Namibia’s Okavango’

As a safari guide with more than four decades of experience, Colin Bell has spent a lifetime immersed in Africa's wildest landscapes. As co-founder of some of Africa’s most respected safari tourism operators, he is a pioneer of sustainable safari tourism in Southern Africa and has done more than most to shape today’s conservation-minded luxury safari industry. So when Bell finds himself enchanted by a new corner of the continent, it pays to sit up and take notice.

“For decades I’ve gazed longingly across the Linyanti River from Botswana, eyes fixed on Nkasa Rupara National Park,” says Bell, co-founder of respected safari operator Natural Selection. “Each glimpse stirred something in me, especially after memorable flights over Nkasa Island revealed its breathtaking beauty: lush islands, untouched waterways, and vast open savannahs teeming with wildlife. It’s a place that feels like Namibia’s answer to the Okavango Delta, equally wild and utterly captivating.”

While the Okavango Delta claims its fair share of the limelight when it comes to African safaris, even the most experienced safari traveller would likely struggle to point out Nkasa Rupara on a map.

Set in the southern corner of Namibia’s Zambezi region — that thin finger of land once known as the Caprivi Strip — Nkasa Rupara is surrounded on three sides by Botswana. Much like the more famous Okavango, Nkasa Rupara National Park is transformed each year by the annual floods, as rainwaters that fell in the distant highlands of Angola arrive from April to October, swelling the channels and creating a lush mosaic of habitats, ranging from open savannah to meandering waterways. Here, the sweeping grasslands, old-growth forests, and crystalline channels of the greater Linyanti and Selinda ecosystems offer a landscape that echoes the Delta, yet remains largely under the radar.

That will change, just a little, next year when Natural Selection opens a brand-new under-canvas camp — Nkasa Linyanti — on a private island within an exclusive concession inside the national park.

Set beneath a canopy of leadwood and sausage trees, Nkasa Linyanti will offer an elegantly intimate take on under-canvas safaris, with just six suites pitched above the floodplains to offer sweeping views across grasslands alive with wildlife.

Raised on wooden platforms, the six tents blend easily into the landscape, treading lightly on the fragile wetlands ecosystem. Here, the focus is on letting the outside in, with canvas walls that roll open to let the sights and sounds of the bush flow indoors.

Inside, a muted palette of natural tones offers a minimalist yet contemporary aesthetic where handwoven baskets, cane armchairs and billowing mosquito nets create a space that is both textural and understated. En suite bathrooms will offer both indoor and open-air showers.

From the suites, sandy walkways wend their way to the camp’s communal tent, an open sociable space where guests gather in the lounge and bar to trade tales of the day, or perhaps take a canvas chair at the firelit beneath a sweep of stars. Candlelit dinners on the shaded terrace? Absolutely.

Daylight hours will be spent exploring the park, with game drives and motorboat safaris revealing the hundreds of species found here. Birdwatching is, unsurprisingly, expected to be a particular draw. With more than 430 species identified in the region, it is Namibia’s most productive birding destination. And because Nkasa Linyanti enjoys its own exclusive concession within the park, night drives and game walks will be offered for a unique experience of the park. Between game drives and guided walks, guests can cool off in Nkasa Linyanti’s retro-styled pool or linger by the firelit, where evenings end with the whoop of hyena.

While Nkasa Linyanti offers travellers unique access to one of Southern Africa’s undiscovered wilderness gems, the new camp also plays a crucial conservation role in safeguarding this vital wildlife corridor.

“Our engagement with nearby communities has been incredibly positive,” says Bell. “For us, this isn’t just a new concession; it’s a chance to work in partnership with local communities, and support meaningful conservation on a landscape scale.”

Stretched across about 70,000-acres of wilderness, Nkasa Rupara is a keystone to the broader Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KZTCA). Set between an array of riverine ecosystems, at the crossroads of traditional migration routes, it protects a vital corridor for regional elephant migration, while supporting vast breeding herds of buffalo — the park is home to the largest concentration of buffalo in Namibia — and other endangered species.

Protecting key wetland habitats, Nkasa Rupara certainly punches above its weight in fostering cross-border biodiversity and conservation across the region. And with the park entirely unfenced, Nkasa Rupara is truly wild, as game moves freely across national boundaries, parks, and ecosystems, ensuring a rich diversity of viewing opportunities.

“Nkasa Rupara is one of Southern Africa’s best-kept secrets: wild, pristine, and utterly magical,” adds Bell. And in early-2026, you’ll have the chance to see it for yourself.