Jack's Camp

Jack’s Camp is set in a sparse forest of real fan palms, in grassland on the edge of Ntwetwe Pan, overlooking Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.

Jack’s Camp is the original camp out on the Makgadikgadi Pans. It was originally opened in the 60’s by Jack Bousfield when all the other operators were focused on the game viewing areas and he dared to offer something completely different. Over the years the camp has been a great success and demonstrated how fascinating and soul searching this vast area can be.

The whole camp is furnished in a traditional safari style with ten green roomy and stylish canvas tents with en-suite bathrooms and indoor and outdoor showers. Persian rugs underfoot and cool cotton sheets form a striking contrast with the rugged wilderness viewed from the comfort of one’s own verandah.

The central area is a series of grand canvas pavilions, the interior of which is lined with amber printed cottons. The interior design is a collection of local artifacts including stone tools, fossils, prints, maps, historical etchings and a fair size collection of Bushman beadwork.

There is also a bar tent, a library tent, a centralised dining tent and a seperate tea tent with persian rugs and cushions. Close to the tea tent is a small plunge pool where guests can cool off in the afternoon heat.

Activities at Jack’s Camp vary with the season. From May to December, when it’s dry, there is little or no game around so the focus is on exploring the pans by 4×4 Landrover, quad bikes or on foot with a San tracker. These excursions focus on the smaller desert wildlife, history and archaelogy of this incredible area.

When it’s “wet” from January to April, the pans can become quagmires so the drives and quad bike trips stick to the grasslands on the edge of the pans. However at this time there is far more wildlife around with many migrant birds and plains game.

Throughout the year a really fun and fascinating experience is visiting and walking with the local meerkat population which have become habituated by the presence of humans.

This is a fantastic camp that stands out for its unique location, wonderful style and superb guiding. It really is a very cool place.