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Jack's Camp

Our rating

9/10

Price guide

Highlights

- Incredible location
- Good facilities
- Unique game
- Family Friendly

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Overview

A traditional 1940s East African safari-styled living space situated on the verge of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, the vestige of one of the largest super-lakes to have ever existed, Jack’s Camp is a high quality trip back to a colonial age defined by comfort, astounding views, and intimacy in which guests can become immersed in the indigenous cultures of Botswana’s ancient bushmen.

Jack’s Camp comes as close to offering the complete wilderness experience as luxury will allow. It is made up of ten spacious canvas tents set among a mokolwane palm grove. Each tent has an en-suite bathroom, is decorated with Persian rugs, and has cool and crunchy cotton bedsheets. There are also indoor and outdoor showers. All of these look out onto the immense plains of the Salt Pans. The Camp’s living quarters strike the perfect balance between a rugged desert aesthetic and a reflective relaxing atmosphere. An elegant green mess tent contains a museum and library to consolidate the first-hand education guests can obtain outside. During the day, the Camp also has a pavilion pool that offers spectacular views of the dry plains. At night, guests can lay out under the clear and starry skies in complete silence.

Activities at Jack’s Camp are suitable for all. Its guides are often graduates who combine guiding with research and work with San trackers from the Zu/’hoasi bushmen tribe. The San are one of 14 known extant ancestral population clusters from which all known modern humans descend. You have the chance to watch San children learn hunting skills and immerse yourself in a rich indigenous culture. The guides lead morning walks to explore fossil beds of extinct giant zebra and hippo and game drives. Do not expect to see big 5 game, but instead to learn about unique local animals during your exploration of the 6,200 square miles of Salt Pans.

During wet season, the plains become a luscious bed of green on which flamingos descend to adorn the wildernesses, and 35-75,000 zebra and wildebeest migrate to run free across the flat expanse. During dry season, you can experience the Makgadikgadi plains on quad bikes. You can see animals unique to the area, such as aardvark, gemsbuck, and springbuck, and have a fantastic chance of spotting the third rarest carnivore in the world, the brown hyena, and the Kalahari Lion. Above all these game-spotting opportunities is the fun to be had by interacting with gangs of wild but habituated meerkats at Meerkat Manor. It is said that if a meerkat cannot be found to be standing on the ground, they can be seen casually perched on top of your giggling child’s head.

Jack's Camp is part of the renowned Unchartered Africa portfolio of remote camps along with Camp Kalahari and San Camp. Like its sister camps, Jack's Camp is very accommodating towards families. Children of all ages are welcome although families with under8s will need to take a private vehicle and guide at extra cost. Children are able to do all the activities, such as quad-biking and visiting the Camp’s natural history museum. However, those under 12 years of age will have to share a quad bike with an adult driver whilst children 12 years and older are allowed to drive a quad bike but only at the Guide / Camp Manager discretion. Children using the swimming pool must be accompanied by an adult. There are no family tents, a family of three can share one tent with a bed roll for the child, whilst a family of four will have to split across two tents with one parent in each tent.

Suggested Itineraries for Jack's Camp

What customers are saying after travelling with Tourdust

Average Rating

based on 534 reviews

(5.00/5)

  • I was also just about to email you to thank you and the team for arranging yet again, another wonderful experience.

    Mount Kenya was spectacular and wild - I think I prefer it to Kili in many ways. The entire support team was professional, friendly and all round fantastic in making sure that we were safe, well fed and well looked after. In particular, we would commend Peter the guide as well as Paul one of the porters who doubled-up as his deputy on summit day. Our route was often shrouded in mist and rain that rapidly gathered in the valleys and moorlands, and we were very impressed at how Peter managed to navigate us safely through all of that notwithstanding. In addition, we loved learning about the history of Mount Kenya from him in the evenings. And ofcourse, I was blown away by the lovely birthday surprise at the end complete with balloons and a delicious cake that had journeyed with us from day 1. One thing we might recommend because of the sudden change in weather (it would sometimes get extremely cold and wet) is for the equipment list to be a little bit more detailed in terms of its recommendations e.g. layers to be moisture-wicking, walking boots be waterproof, doubling up on socks to avoid blisters etc.

    El Karama is a beautiful conservancy and the lodge a true labour of love. Great hospitality in a relaxed environment. Delicious, fresh food. We enjoyed the drives, even if we didn't see much wildlife as the heavens opened on us for the last two outings. However, since it was very much geared towards families, I am not sure if I would stay again without kids. That said, I think it was perfect for a 3d/2n stay post mountain, and a much better choice than flying to the masai mara given the limited time we had.

    Our transits were smooth. Samuel the driver was always on time, drove safely and kept the vehicle clean.

    So it was a brilliant experience and one which I certainly will cherish for some time to come. It was great to work with you for a third time, and I certainly hope it won't be the last

    MissingJuhae C reviewing Mount Kenya Sirimon Naro Moru Trek on 01 March 2024

  • Thank you, we had an absolute wonderful time, and everything was well-planned and as described. Carla was crying on the day of our departure from Ants Nest, she didn’t want to go home and for it all to end, and when I asked how much longer she would want to stay, she responded “four weeks”

    MissingLars B reviewing Best of South Africa for Families on 01 March 2024

  • We had the most amazing time. It exceeded all my hopes of what the trip would be. The guides, the hotels - everything was of such a wonderful quality. Thank you for organizing everything. I will absolutely recommend Tourdust and use you again.

    MissingClaudia L reviewing Luxury Desert Holiday on 11 January 2024

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