Natural Selection offers remarkable experiences in wild, untouched places. We are not your typical safari company. We’re about conservation first, proudly protecting wild spaces for the future and supporting the communities living in and around these wild areas.
Our founders, Dave van Smeerdijk, Jennifer Lalley, James Ramsay, and Colin Bell, all began their careers as guides in the bush, and for the last 30 years they have been pioneering safari experiences across Southern Africa’s least explored places and spaces, carrying out wildlife research, or changing the conservation landscape.
In 2016, united by the desire to help reshape the role that conservation and nature-based tourism play in conserving and protecting wilderness areas around the globe, they started Natural Selection. From the outset, building strong partnerships with like-minded property owners, communities, and conservation groups has been a cornerstone of our approach to making a positive impact.
Today we are a conservation-driven tourism company offering a collection of 26 family-owned and community joint-venture lodges and camps in remote wild places in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Our group employs over 1200 people, looks after 1.6 million hectares of wildlife land, and contributes significantly to conservation and community upliftment.
Being a force for good in the protection of natural habitats and providing experiences in nature that rekindle a deep love and care for wild places.
Conservation based tourism plays an important role in the protection of wilderness areas around the globe, particularly in Africa. At Natural Selection, conservation is at the heart of everything we do.
We make sure every visitor’s trip counts. That’s why 1.5% of every booking at our lodges, in addition to a per person per night Conservation, Community and Reserve (CCR) Fee, goes directly to protecting wildlife, wildlife habitat, and supporting communities who live alongside wildlife.
In addition to this, we partner with the local communities, governments and conservation organisations in the areas where we operate to help protect (and sometimes even expand) these important conservation areas. Click here to see the projects that your booking supports.
GweGwe Beach Lodge, our hidden gem along the Wild Coast of South Africa, voted a Conde Nast Traveler 2025 Hot List winner.
An unparalleled wildlife immersion in the Moremi Game Reserve, our striking new premier camp Tawana voted AFAR Best New Hotels and Resorts of 2025 Winner.
A timeless Bousfield masterpiece, Jack’s Camp has won the Condé Nast 2025 Gold List Award for The Best Hotels and Resorts in the World.
An intimate, modern gem, North Island Okavango has been voted one of Robb Reports 50 Greatest Luxury Hotels in 2024.
Where the wildlife comes to you. North Island has been voted as Conde Nast The Hot List Winner for Best New Hotels 2024.
The greatest luxury is in its exclusivity! North Island Okavango scoops another award as Travel + Leisure’s IT List Winner 2024.
A ride on the wild side. Our Botswana Guided Cycling Safaris have won us the TIME’S 2024 World’s Greatest Places Awards.
Safari guide extraordinaire, Ralph Bousfield and Super Sande have both been voted Tatler Travel Best Safari Guide in Africa 2023.
Our founders are among the pioneers of the most successful photographic safaris in southern Africa, with decades of industry experience. Bonded by friendship, a shared experience in ecotourism, and a deep interest in wildlife conservation, their coming together was not merely to create yet another good business; it was to create a sustainable tourism-conservation business with a capability to play a significant role in the protection of wilderness areas around the globe.
To them, the most important part of a safari is finding that connection to nature by keeping things simple and enriching. Their aim is to bring our guests closer to special wilderness areas, ensuring they have fun and hopefully inspire them to make a positive impact on these and other areas.
Dave is an expert on travel to Africa’s wildest places. Over the course of 37 years he has worked across the continent, first as a safari guide in Southern and East Africa, and more recently as director of several highly respected safari companies, including Wilderness Safaris and Asilia before co-founding Natural Selection.
Dave has an MBA and economics degree and has worked in the African tourism sector since 1987.
Jennifer is a US-born conservation scientist and ecotourism specialist who has lived and worked in Africa for 30 years. Originally employed in the Botswana tourism industry in the 1990s, she shifted her focus to wildlife conservation, earning her master’s degree at the Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology and PhD at Oxford University. She’s worked with non-profits and government, run a consulting company, and lectured at the University of Witwatersrand before starting Natural Selection as a means of generating sustainable charitable funding for Africa.
James is a CA by profession and has spent most of his working life running safari and travel companies in South Africa, Tanzania, and Botswana. His love for Africa and its wildlife was ignited as a child by regular family trips to the Kruger National Park. A long road trip with friends through Africa cemented his love for Africa and a desire to help conserve its wilderness areas. Following a brief stint in London working in the world of finance, James returned to Africa and kicked off his career in tourism.
South Africa-born Colin landed his first job as a safari guide in Botswana in 1977—at a time when, in his words, “a cold beer came out of a wet long sock, tied to the side mirror of the Land Rover and cooled while hanging in the breeze.” In 1983, he co-founded Wilderness Safaris, which has become one of the most successful specialist safari companies in Africa. Colin sold his stake in the company in 2005.
Colin’s leadership has been instrumental in shaping the impact that nature-based tourism and true partnerships can have on conserving wildlife and wild lands in Africa.
Dave is an expert on travel to Africa’s wildest places. Over the course of 37 years he has worked across the continent, first as a safari guide in Southern and East Africa, and more recently as director of several highly respected safari companies, including Wilderness Safaris and Asilia before co-founding Natural Selection.
Dave has an MBA and economics degree and has worked in the African tourism sector since 1987.
Jennifer is a US-born conservation scientist and ecotourism specialist who has lived and worked in Africa for 30 years. Originally employed in the Botswana tourism industry in the 1990s, she shifted her focus to wildlife conservation, earning her master’s degree at the Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology and PhD at Oxford University. She’s worked with non-profits and government, run a consulting company, and lectured at the University of Witwatersrand before starting Natural Selection as a means of generating sustainable charitable funding for Africa.
James is a CA by profession and has spent most of his working life running safari and travel companies in South Africa, Tanzania, and Botswana. His love for Africa and its wildlife was ignited as a child by regular family trips to the Kruger National Park. A long road trip with friends through Africa cemented his love for Africa and a desire to help conserve its wilderness areas. Following a brief stint in London working in the world of finance, James returned to Africa and kicked off his career in tourism.
South Africa-born Colin landed his first job as a safari guide in Botswana in 1977—at a time when, in his words, “a cold beer came out of a wet long sock, tied to the side mirror of the Land Rover and cooled while hanging in the breeze.” In 1983, he co-founded Wilderness Safaris, which has become one of the most successful specialist safari companies in Africa. Colin sold his stake in the company in 2005.
Colin’s leadership has been instrumental in shaping the impact that nature-based tourism and true partnerships can have on conserving wildlife and wild lands in Africa.
Our key partnerships including property owners, communities and conservation groups are the cornerstone of Natural Selection. Natural Selection embraces lodge partnerships that give each lodge a level of autonomy and unique character, while benefiting from a common goal of service provision and conservation commitment. By doing so, we have been able to set new standards in safari lodge design, service, and conservation ethics.
Our lodge partners include the companies, communities and individuals listed below, all of whom share our commitment to protecting Africa’s wild places.
Founded by Ralph Bousfield in 1993, in memory of his father Jack, Uncharted Africa is the purveyor of some of the continent’s most distinctive safaris and inspired experiences. Jack’s Camp is an icon of the southern Africa safari landscape. Jack’s Camp, San Camp and Camp Kalahari in the centre of the Makgadikgadi Pans deliver extraordinary activities and experiences in this desert environment. Duke’s Camp, Dukes East and Mbamba in the remote north west corner of the Okavango Delta deliver one-of-a-kind wildlife encounters combined with an inimitable safari style.
Khwai Private Reserve is a great conservation triumph and we are extremely proud of what we have achieved in the region, transforming the area into a safari destination of note. Helping us make the area such a success are our outstanding partners: the Khwai Development Trust, the communities surrounding Khwai itself, and Kevin and Shannon Lang. Properties in the reserve include Tuludi, Sable Alley, Little Sable, Elephant Pan (formerly Hyena Pan) and Sky Beds.
At Meno a Kwena, we have partnered with local residents, Hennie and Angie Rawlinson. Hennie built the first camp for Wilderness Safaris, before embarking on a flying career for many years and returning to Botswana to build the first camp for Natural Selection – Meno.
Andre Nel and Leen de Koster are our partners in the transformation of this former hunting area. This partnership has seen the successful transition of the land from agriculture and hunting use to ecotourism, the safe-guarding of the reserves rhinos and the addition of this vast property to the ever-growing conservation and ecology efforts across Namibia . Today this thriving wildlife area supports endangered species and high standard, long-term research. Tourism properties in the reserve include Safari Hoek Lodge, Etosha Mountain Lodge, and the exclusive use Safari House.
In a country that’s jam-packed with staggering landscapes and fascinating cultures, there are none quite as spectacular as the ethereal Skeleton Coast. Tucked away in the north-western corner of Namibia, we are pleased to have partnered with the local communities at Sesfontein and Puros, local Namibian businesses, Trip Travel and Journeys Namibia, as well as the Namibian government to establish our projects in the region.
In the creation of Hoanib Valley Camp, we partnered with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, cofounded by Julian and Stephanie Fennessy, and with the people of Sesfontein, who are the long custodians of this magnificent piece of the Kaokoveld.
Mkambati Nature Reserve is on South Africa’s Wild Coast. A biodiversity hotspot and proclaimed provincial reserve, Mkambati is now owned by a Trust that represents the 40,000 local Pondo people living inland from the reserve. GweGwe Lodge has partnered with the Mkambati Land Trust to use tourism generated funds for conservation and community upliftment projects. The community benefits from the creation of new jobs; their lease fees; the creation of community owned business and many other financial and upliftment benefits.
De Hoop Reserve is one of Africa’s largest marine parks, and home to pods of dolphin and large populations of migrating southern right whales. Our co-founder and partner in Lekkerwater, Colin Bell, has lead the development of Lekkewater lodge.
When it comes to Namibian safaris, experience counts - and that’s where Namibia Tracks and Trails (NTT) come in. Founded in 1986 by Karl Heinz Grüttemeyer, NTT has spent the last 30 years organising mobile and fly-in safaris to some of the most remote and spectacular areas of Namibia. A true family business (there are no less than three generations involved!), the NTT team now numbers 28, and every single person is committed to the preservation of this vast and beguiling land, just as we are.
