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Jack’s Camp

Where unreal style, meets real adventure.
Location
Makgadikgadi Salt Pans
No. of rooms
9 Rooms
Price Range
US$ 1,995 — US$ 3,695 per night
Dates Open
Year Round
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Check availability online. Should you need more rooms than are showing available,  contact your Africa Safari travel specialist or reservations@naturalselection.travel, so that we can look at provisional bookings (marked as PROV) and see if we can juggle things around.

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  • Call +27 21 001 1574
Jack’s Camp

The Kalahari Legend

In a world of African safaris, Jack’s Camp is nothing short of an icon. For several decades it has been setting the standard for luxury in the Kalahari. The property’s enduring and much-loved 1940s campaign style offers unfathomable comfort for desert life.

Each guest tent is 270 square metres in size. Their iconic interiors are embellished with rich textiles from around the world, cabinets of curiosities, Persian rugs, hand-carved beds, and on the outside there is an expansive deck with private plunge pool and magnificent views of the shimmering Makgadikgadi Salt Pans.

In this ancient landscape earth and sky dissolve into one. At first sight, the lunar-like land appears devoid of life, but once you crack open the crust and the dust settles, you’ll find yourself in the thick of desert life.

Jack’s Camp is where unreal style, meets real desert adventure. Come see for yourself what makes this a truly legendary Kalahari safari camp.

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Iconic Jack's Camp
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Mess tent Interiors
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36-Seater Vintage dining table
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The Pool Table
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Mess Tent Lounge
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Persian Tea Tent
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Cabinets of Curiosities
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The Pool pavilion
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Hand-crafted four poster bed
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Tent Lounge Interiors
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Tent Day Beds
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Tent Deck with Pool Views
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Ensuite Bathroom
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Outdoor shower
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Expansive Makgadikgadi View
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Sundowners on the Pan
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Bushman Experience
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Game Drive
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Meerkat Experience
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Sundowners
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  • Purpose
  • Location
  • When to Visit
  • Activities
  • Amenities

Restoring ancient migration corridors

Through multi-faceted conservation programmes our Makgadikgadi properties aim to un-restrict migratory movement of large mammals to allow the epic annual migration to flourish. Your stay at our camps (Jack’s Camp, San Camp, Camp Kalahari, Planet Baobab, Meno A Kwena) helps us achieve this.

Click to enlarge map

Makgadikgadi Pans

Jack’s Camp is located in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, the remnants of an enormous super-lake that used to cover most of Southern Africa. Jack Bousfield himself described the area as the “savage beauty of a forgotten Africa”, and truly, the Makgadikgadi is like nowhere on earth. It’s a landscape of space and remoteness, and the spectacular, otherworldly vistas, unique desert wildlife, and old-world glamour of Jack’s Camp all come together to create an experience that is unlike any other on the continent.

Open Year Round

Jack’s Camp is a year-round destination, yet the two seasons couldn’t be more different. The dry season, from April to October, is the desert as you know it: a shimmering whiteness envelops the scorched landscape, like a mirage floating over the crusted salt, and you’ll spot nomadic herds in the distance, as if an illusion. This is the time of year for whizzing across the pans on the back of a quad bike, sleeping under the stars, and enjoying the pans in their most iconic state.

From November onwards, the Makgadikgadi Pans undergo a remarkable transformation as the rains arrive, turning the salt flats into verdant grasslands teeming with wildlife. This green season in the desert is marked by the arrival of migratory birds, pink clouds of flamingos, and Africa’s second largest mammal migration of wildebeest and zebras. The landscape is lush and vibrant, offering a unique and unpredictable spectacle for visitors to witness. Safari activities are still available during this time, allowing for close encounters with the abundant wildlife. The green season lasts until mid-April, coinciding with the off season for tourism in Botswana, making it a more affordable time to visit this magical oasis in the desert.

Signature Experiences

Meerkat Encounters

Bushman Experience

Game Drives

Heli Flights

Guided Quad Biking

Amenities

Pool Pavilion

Wellness & Spa Treatments

Persian Tea Tent

Library

Air-conditioning

Get up close
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Livestream Highlights
A True African Icon

Why you'll Love It

Africa's most iconic Safari camp

As one of the most iconic camps in Africa, with its enduring and much-loved 1940s campaign style, this is a Bousfield family masterpiece and an otherworldly experience.

Style & old-world glamour

Luxury fit for a maharaja & unfathomable comfort for desert life – this is a stylish fusion of Persian rugs, brass fittings, luxuriant textiles and mahogany campaign furniture.

Ultimate in space & exclusivity

Jack’s Camp is one of just three camps in a one million-acre private wildlife reserve. Here you’ll experience unreal style, amongst real desert adventure.

Amazing activities & experiences

From meeting the meerkats, to quad biking over the salty flats, there’s an impressive choice of extraordinary activities to be experienced.

Exceptional guiding

Boasting some of the best guides in the business; trained by the safari legend Ralph Bousfield, Jack’s offers an exceptional guided experience.

Makgadikgadi Large Mammal Migration

Through this multifaceted conservation programme, we aim to un-restrict migratory movement by working alongside local communities and all stakeholders to develop land use plans that benefit all and allow this epic migration to flourish.
Learn more
Style fit for the Maharaja

Accommodations

Jack’s Camp pays homage to the much-loved 1940s campaign style offering 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 adorned 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 curated by Ralph Bousfield himself, an over-bed air-conditioning system to ward off the desert heat and an en-suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers.

The camps large mess tent houses the renowned Natural History Museum, library, 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.

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 hide away from the desert heat.

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At a Glance

• 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

Amazing Encounters

Wildlife

The desert is never a place of abundance. But we’ve spent many years here (not quite as many as Jack, but a good number!) and it still surprises us. The Makgadikgadi is full of elusive species and desert-adapted animals and the perfect complement to Botswana’s traditionally game-rich areas, like the Khwai Private Reserve and the Okavango Delta.

The brown hyena is a symbol of what’s to come in the Makgadikgadi. There are only 8000 of these special hunters left in the world, and there aren’t many other places you’ll encounter one. Other carnivores that know how to eke out their survival here include aardwolves and bat-eared foxes, honey badgers and black-maned Kalahari lion. Then there’s aardvark, gemsbok, springbok and black-backed jackals to look out for on game drives, and perhaps even an elephant or two. And last, but definitely not least, the meerkats. We’ve been busy pioneering a meerkat habituation project with some of the world’s pre-eminent researchers. The cheeky creatures are still very wild, but they do enjoy coming to say hello.

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Meerkat Colony
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Zebra Migration
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Elephants & Wildebeest
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Zebra Migration
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Meerkats
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Zebra
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Oryx
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Lion
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Black backed jackal
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Flamingo
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Wildebeest
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Meerkat
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Brown hyena
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Aarvark
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Pangolin
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Experiences

What to see and do

Get access to a range of experiences that can be enjoyed during your stay

Game Drives

Spot the desert wildlife on a game drive, your safari guide will uncover a landscape pulsating with life.

Meerkat Encounter

A once in a life time experience! Hang out with our habituated meerkat who live in Makgadikgadi.

Flamingo Migration

A flamingo breeding site – between March & April – the Makgadikgadi Pans turns in to a pink extravaganza.

Zebra Migration

Witness the 2nd largest migration in Africa. Nov-March 30,000 zebra & wildebeest arrive on the Pans.

Guided Quad Biking

Pure desert adventure. Once a super lake, take an exhilarating quad bike across the salt-crusted pans.

Bushman Walks

Discover the secrets of the pans on a fascinating Bushman walk, seeing this desert landscape through their eyes.

Horse Riding Safari

Explore this wild, desert landscape the same way the earliest explorers did – on horseback.

Heli Safari

An unforgettable experience, enjoy a helicopter flight over the Makgadikgadi Pans (doors on or off).

Night Drives

Discover this desert landscape after dark, once the desert crust cools, nocturnals come out to play.
Makgadikgadi Pans Activities PDF
Making a difference

Our impact

When you visit, you will be directly supporting the following Natural Selection conservation initatives:

Aardvark Project

This project uses camera traps and anthill counts to study aardvark distribution in CT11, exploring the link between climate change and aardvark biogeography as part of a larger project.
View project

EFA Elephant Collaring

As part of our commitment to large mammal migration initiatives, we provided funding to Elephants For Africa to gain insights into the movements of elephants across human and wildlife landscapes.
View project

Makgadikgadi Large Mammal Migration

Our goal is to collaborate with local communities and relevant parties to create land use plans that benefit all and free up migratory paths for historic migrations.
View project

Wild Shots Outreach

An immersive experience that gets young adults from underprivileged areas learning to appreciate wildlife and wild environments from the perspective of a camera.
View project

Coaching Conservation

A conservation outreach programme for children in rural areas, which fosters self-respect, respect for each other and respect for wildlife and the environment.
View project

Botswana Community and Conservation Initiatives

Addressing productivity, wildlife decline, poverty, and food insecurity in northern Botswana with BCCI to promote conservation, land-use practices, economic opportunities, and climate resilience.
View project
Get a glimpse

Watch our video

Living the Legacy

Jack’s Camp story

In the 1960s, crocodile catcher and legendary adventurer Jack Bousfield set out on a trapping expedition in the desolate Makgadikgadi Pans. He soon stumbled upon a site that so captured his imagination that he set up a camp in that very spot, with the unshakeable expectation that others would feel the same… That was the first incarnation of Jack’s Camp, a simple, no frills affair in the heart of the desert, visited by guests as much to see Jack as the otherworldly area.

Fast-forward a few years to Jack’s untimely death in 1992, and Ralph, Jack’s son, established the Uncharted Africa Safari Company in homage to his father’s vision. Jack’s Camp was refurbished in the nostalgic 1940s style we know today, but kept as authentic and genuine as possible, guaranteeing every guest ‘Real Adventure in Unreal Style.’ Jack would be proud.

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Special Offers

Explore hidden Gems

Honeymoon Special Offer

We’re feeling the love! Honeymoon with us and one spouse stays for 50% off in participating camps.
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Long Stay Combination Rates

Book now and enjoy incredible savings with our Long Stay Rates in Botswana and Namibia!
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Reservations

  • reservations@naturalselection.travel
  • Tel: +27 21 001 1574

Marketing

  • marketing@naturalselection.travel
  • Tel: +27 21 001 1574
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