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In an enigmatic landscape of perfect silence, discover a haven of peace, privacy and desert opulence. Jack’s Private Camp promises a new interpretation of an iconic experience in the world of luxury African safaris. This private retreat combines the signature style of Jack’s Camp with exclusivity and flexibility unmatched in this extraordinary corner of Africa.
Created to cater for the unique demands of discerning multi-generational travellers, adventurous families, privately-guided small groups – and those simply seeking a desert safari out of the spotlight – Jack’s Private Camp offers an oasis of exclusivity amid one of the world’s most remarkable desert landscapes.
With a private guide, and full staff complement on hand to curate each day, guests at Jack’s Private Camp can expect a truly bespoke discovery of the otherworldly Makgadikgadi Pans.
Through multi-faceted conservation programmes our Makgadikgadi properties aim to un-restrict migratory movement of large mammals and allow the epic annual migration to flourish. Your stay at Jack’s Private Camp helps us do this – because every visitors trip counts!
Jack’s Private 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.
A safari at Jack’s Private Camp will always be a one-of-a-kind experience. Here you’ll shape your stay to your own rhythm, from when you arrive, when and where you dine, to what time you head out on safari. With a private guide and vehicle on hand there are no set schedules. While your private guide will suggest ways to spend your days amid the remarkable Kalahari landscape of the Makgadikgadi Pans, the hours are yours to fill as you choose.
The Makgadikgadi transforms throughout the year, with the dry season from April to October offering a classic desert experience and the green season from November to mid-April turning the landscape into a lush oasis teeming with wildlife. During the dry season, you can enjoy iconic activities like quad biking across the salt flats, while the green season brings an abundance of wildlife, including thousands of zebra and wildebeest as they migrate across the pans. Both seasons offer unique and unforgettable experiences – it’s up to you when you want to come and what you want to do.
Jack’s Private Camp is a stand-alone under-canvas villa, set apart from the main Jack’s Camp to ensure absolute privacy for guests.
The central lounge and dining area is flanked by two expansive bedroom suites; each offering a private veranda with endless views across the Makgadikgadi Pans. One bedroom features a king-size bed, while the other has two extra-length queen size beds. Both bedrooms include an additional day bed.
Each bedroom offers indulgent en-suite facilities, with a central chaise lounge, two indoor showers and private outdoor shower. And after a day of desert adventure, settle in for a soak in the deep freestanding bath of shimmering brass.
The central area includes a lounge, dining and library space, facing out onto an expansive deck with a private swimming pool.
Throughout Jack’s Private Camp the aesthetic pays tribute to the timeless charm and 1940’s campaign style that has long defined Jack’s Camp. Expect a colourful blend of unabashed majesty and casual luxury, from Persian and North African rugs to the shimmering abundance of brass, and luxuriant hand-woven African textiles.
You’ll also find Jack’s Camp’s famous ‘cabinet of curiosities’ in your private abode; a mahogany cabinet filled with treasures of natural history drawn from the main museum hosted at Jack’s Camp.
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.
Get access to a range of experiences that can be enjoyed during your stay
When you visit, you will be directly supporting the following Natural Selection conservation initatives:
In the 1960s, crocodile catcher and legendary hunter 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.
