A 1940s-style tented camp on the edge of the Makgadikgadi salt pans, for meerkats, zebra migration and nights out on the crust.
Jack's Camp is the antidote to a Delta safari, and I like to put it at the start or end of one. After the water and the big game, the pans are silence and space: brown hyena, aardvark and bat-eared fox, a habituated meerkat colony, Bushman walks, and in the dry months quad biking out across the salt to sleep under the stars.
The camp itself is part of the pleasure. Nine green canvas tents are dressed with Persian rugs, brass and mahogany campaign furniture, each with a plunge pool on the deck looking out over the pans. The mess tent holds a natural history museum and library, and everyone eats together at a long 19th-century officer's mess table.
Think carefully about the season. From about November to March the rains turn the pans to grassland and tens of thousands of zebra and wildebeest arrive, with flamingos breeding in March and April. From April to October it is the bleached, empty salt of the photographs. Either way, this is not the place for a big-cat checklist, and people who dislike sociable dinners should know the table is shared.
One of seven tents with two extra-length queen beds, a lounge with a day bed, indoor and outdoor showers and a deck with its own plunge pool.
One of two tents with an extra-length king bed, the same lounge, cabinet of curiosities and plunge pool deck facing the salt pans.
Meals are communal, served at a 36-seat vintage table in the mess tent that began life as an officers' mess table in the 1820s. Afternoon brings Persian tea with sweet things, and there is a well-stocked drinks cabinet and an antique pool table.
Spa treatments are available at extra cost, and there is a pool pavilion to escape the desert heat. Each tent also has its own plunge pool.
Ask us about children before booking: activities such as quad biking and sleep-outs have their own requirements, and we will check them with the camp for your dates.
| Tents | Nine: seven twin and two double |
|---|---|
| Tent size | 270 square metres, half indoors and half on the deck |
| Activities | Game drives, meerkats, quad biking, Bushman walks, horse riding, night drives |
| Also on offer | Helicopter flights over the pans |
| Green season | Zebra and wildebeest migration, November to March |
| Power | Solar |
Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana
A few of the things we plan for guests in Botswana.
A mokoro is a shallow dugout, poled by a guide standing at the stern. You sit at water level among lilies and papyrus, watching for painted reed frogs, malachite kingfishers and hippos to give a wide berth. It works best from a water camp between June and September, when the flood is high. Ask for an early outing, when the channels are glassy.
The eastern edge of the Delta, where Moremi Game Reserve meets the Khwai River, is some of the most reliable predator country in Africa: lion, leopard and wild dog, which often den here mid-year. Camps in the Khwai community area can drive at night and off-road, which Moremi itself does not allow.
In the late dry season, elephants come down to the Chobe River in their hundreds each afternoon to drink, swim and cross to the islands. A small boat out of Kasane puts you at eye level. The park is busy, so we favour private boats, and Victoria Falls is a short drive away.
Three camps and one waterfall: Chief's Island for big game, the Duba Plains for lion and buffalo, the Chobe riverfront for elephants, and two nights above the Zambezi to see Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side.
Tell us your dates and who is travelling. We will check availability, suggest the right room and send a price.
