JACK’S CAMP – MAKGADIKGADI PANS

Jack’s Camp is one of Africa’s most individual, iconic and flamboyantly decorated camps in Africa, and just one of three camps set in a one million acre private wildlife reserve.  It is the only camp in Africa with a swimming pool tent and a tea tent, and the vamp houses one of the most comprehensive collections of ancient artefacts in Botswana, collected by the Bousfield family over decades.

If that is not enough – Jack’s Camp offers a blockbuster of activities including quad biking, horseback riding, bushman walks, game drives and meerkat encounters with some of the best and most experienced guides in Botswana.  If you visit from January to April you may see 50,000 zebra and wildebeest migrate through the area.

Year round wildlife includes zebra, wildebeest, springbok, steenbok, elephant, brown hyena, oryx, Kalahari lion and cheetah.

LOCATION

Jack’s Camp is set in the Makgadikgani Pans in southern Botswana and is reached by a light aircraft flight from Maun.  On arrival at the airstrip you are met and transferred the short distance to camp.

CAMP

Jack’s Camp is designed around 1940s campaign style and has just nine guest tents, 7 twin tents (each with two extra length queen size beds) and 2 double tents (each with one extra length king size bed), all with a classic East African safari feel. The iconic green canvas and muslin-draped walls are embellished with Persian and North African rugs, paraffin lamps, brass fittings, luxuriant textiles and mahogany campaign furniture.

There is a comfortable living area, with a sofa and day bed for relaxing on and the outer deck has a private plunge pool, with swing beds for exquisite views overlooking the Makgadikgadi Pans. You’ll discover Natural History Museum cabinets, an over-bed air-conditioning system and an en-suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers.

The camp’s large mess tent houses a vintage 36 seater dining table that served as an officer’s mess table in the 1820’s, a well-stocked drinks cabinet and an antique pool table. The iconic nomadic Persian tea provides a variety of afternoon sweet treats and the shop is stocked with treasures to take home from your travels.  You can also see the Natural History Museum and library.

Framed Peter Beard pictures sit alongside original posters from French taxidermist Deyrolle, both complemented by Bousfield family photos. The swimming pool pavilion is still the only one of its kind in Africa, and an ideal place to escape the desert heat.

• 9 tents: 7 twins, 2 doubles
• Rooms: 270 sq metres (135 sq m indoors / 135 sq m outdoors)
• Ensuite bathrooms with indoor & outdoor showers
• Private deck with plunge pool
• Over-bed air-conditioning system
• Swimming pool pavilion
• Persian tea tent
• Spa treatments available (at additional cost)
• Wi-Fi available: Yes
• Hairdryers: Yes
• 24-hour electricity in tents (100% solar-powered)
• Complimentary laundry service

ACTIVITIES

Game Drives

Take game drives and night drives in custom built 4x4s to spot the unique desert wildlife that inhabit the pans, like the elusive brown hyena or Kalahari lion. Your experienced safari guide will help you discover a desert landscape, pulsating with life. Complete with bush picnics, morning coffees and chilled drinks.

Meet the Meerkats

Get up close and personal with our families of meerkats. Leaving camp as the sun begins to rise you will accompany these inquisitive members of the mongoose family as they set off in search of their breakfast. Walk amongst them (you’re not allowed to touch or feed them) and if you take a seat you might be lucky enough to be mistaken for a termite mound, where you’ll be used as a look out point for predators.

Bushman Walk

Discover the secrets of the pans with the Zu/’hoasi Bushmen on a fascinating bush walk. See this ancient desert landscape through their eyes. These skilled hunter gatherers will show you how to survive, using their extraordinary tracking skills to uncover a smorgasbord of culinary delights… from bulbs, to scorpions, to berries. Spending time with them is a very rare privilege.

Horse Riding

Saddle up to explore this wild, unspoilt area in the same way many of the earliest explorers, hunters and missionaries did – on horseback! You’ll embark on an adventurous outride (for all level riders). This is an exhilarating way to spot wildlife, cantering along the crusty salt flats and following the animal highways that bring life to the Makgadikgadi Pans.

Quad Biking (seasonal activity)

This is pure desert adventure! Take an exhilarating quad bike across the salt-crusted pans (all pan activity is weather permitting and dependent on the dryness of the pans). You’ll feel total freedom as you trek across this vast and ancient landscape, discovering so much about the remnants of this once super lake. Seasonal: April – October

Fallen Baobab

A visit to the Fallen Baobab – one of the three largest and oldest trees in Africa and reputedly the campsite of Livingstone and Selous.

Zebra and Wildebeest Migration (November – April)

Witness the second largest migration in Africa. A stonking spectacle of black and white stripes as approximately 30,000 zebra and wildebeest migrate across the Makgadikgadi Pans, followed closely by stalking predators, waiting for the rich pickings of tired hooves. This is a wildlife explosion and an experience not to be missed!

Fat Bikes

Grab a fat bike and peddle around the Makgadikgadi Pans. This is a really fun activity for the whole family, and an ideal way to get some exercise. These bikes can easily cruise over the desert terrain, taking you along 4×4 tracks and around the crusty salt flats. Keep a look out for sightings of wildlife, while breathing in the beautiful scenery, alongside the desert silence.

Flamingo Migration

The Makgadikgadi Salt Pans are one of the most important breeding sites in southern Africa for the lesser and greater flamingos. These flying flame birds, arrive in their millions during seasons of good rain, when millions of small shrimp and other crustaceans crack through the salty pan crust to spawn. The result, a pink extravaganza in the heat of the desert. You can also heli to Sua Pan to view the flamingos in Mar – Apr (scenic helicopter flight must be booked at an additional cost).

Scenic Helicopter Flights (additional cost)

This really is an unforgettable experience. Enjoy a helicopter flight over the Makgadikgadi Pans, doors off (or on), to take in the vastness of this desert landscape. You’ll go in search of the zebra and flamingo migrations (if timed correctly), get dropped on an island of baobabs for lunch, do a bit of sunset sky surfing as you follow the palm tree linings.

GIVING BACK

SUPPORTING AND EXPANDING LARGE MAMMAL MIGRATION ROUTES BETWEEN NORTHERN BOTSWANA AND MAKGADIKGADI NATIONAL PARK AND THE KALAHARI DESERT THROUGH INFORMED LAND USE PLANNING AND HUMAN-WILDLIFE COEXISTENCE

Natural Selection have partnered up with Round River Conservation to bring this exciting project to fruition.  The Makgadikgadi properties are well known for the annual migration they host, with visitors eager to witness the charge. This project aims to support large mammal migration routes between Northern Botswana, Makgadikgadi National Park and the Kalahari Desert.

JACKS CAMP IS OPEN ALL YEAR ROUND

THE CAMP WELCOMES FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN OF ALL AGES