San Camp is seasonal, and operates during Botswana’s dry season from mid-April to mid-October. These months are the only time that the Ntwetwe Pan is accessible. When the rains begin to fall, the pans morph in to a totally different place, and although they are magnificent to look at, the rain makes for rather a dangerous adventure! If you would like to travel during the green season (November to March), consider Jack’s Camp, a year-round property also on the Makgadikgadi Pans.

Ntwetwe Pan changes softly and subtly as the dry season rolls on. Pools evaporate, whiteness dominates, and the baobabs seem even more striking. The predictable weather allows us to offer our activities on an unpredictable land, and you can quad bike across the lunar-like expanse, meet the meerkats, interact with a group of Zu/’hoasi Bushmen, and lie out on the pans and count the stars from horizon to horizon. As the land becomes drier, the permanent water sources and waterholes around San Camp are an important refuge for wildlife and although it can seem like a landscape of nothingness, the wildlife is never far away.

Seasonality

• 01 April – 15 October

• Enjoy up-close encounters with our habituated meerkats.
• Join the Zu/’hoasi Bushmen on a bush walk.
• Take game drives and night drives in custom built 4x4s to see the unique desert wildlife.
• Embark on an adventurous two-hour horseback safari (for all levels of riders; additional charge). Multi-day riding safaris are also available for experienced riders – please contact us for more information.
• Feel the wind in your hair as you quad bike across the immense salt pans (all pan activity is weather permitting).
• Enjoy game drives in the Makgadikgadi National Park during longer stays.
• Give your mind a holiday and spend some time in the yoga and meditation pavilion.
• Take a radical sabbatical and quad bike across the salt-crusted pans to Kubu Island (2 night expedition; additional charge. Please enquire with us for more details or have a look at the Quad Bike to Kubu Island Safari here). All pan activity is weather permitting.

Landscape

The real allure of San Camp is in its minimalism, and this extends to the surroundings. San sits at the edge of the mysterious Makgadikgadi Salt Pans (overlooking Nwetwe Pan to be precise), in the heart of the Kalahari Desert and adjoining the Makgadikgadi National Park. The pans were once a super lake covering most of Botswana, and they shimmer seemingly never-ending all the way to the horizon, interrupted only by scattering of desert palms and baobabs. The beautiful nothingness brings with it a cathartic sense of silence, and there is truly nowhere on earth like this magical corner of Botswana.

Wildlife

San Camp’s great appeal is the nothingness, but that certainly doesn’t mean there’s nothing to see. You’ll find wildebeest and zebra roaming in straggled herds, standing out like sore thumbs against the pristine whiteness of the earth, and ostrich bobbing on the horizon. Stay for a few days and there’s a good chance of spotting lion and elephant on a game drive, and even brown hyena, one of the continent’s most rare and elusive mammals that’s pretty much impossible to see anywhere else. If you’re looking to tick a few species off your bird list, then sharpen your pencil for the pan is home to Kori bustards and northern black korhaan, chestnut-backed finch larks and capped wheatears. And we couldn’t talk about the Makgadikgadi without mention of our meerkats. We’ve worked with researchers to habituate a whole mob of them, and the cheeky fellows aren’t afraid to come and find out exactly who you are.

A long time ago, there was a dream to create an oasis of civilisation in one of the world’s most bizarre landscapes. The dream wasn’t about conquering or taming, but rather about finding a way to connect with the pans. Memories should come from the excesses of nature, not from modern frills and furnishings. And, most importantly, the beautifully austere desert setting should be left just the way it was. The result of this dream? San Camp: the embodiment of timeless elegance and romantic style, and an uninterrupted window onto the shimmering pans.

San Camp wouldn’t (couldn’t!) have happened without the knowledge passed down by the local Zu/’hoasi Bushmen. Now part of the family at San, the bushmen will take you into the wild for a morning of culture, history and insight. And who could forget the wildlife. Without disturbing the ecosystems, we’ve constructed artificial waterholes for our four-legged companions (the water comes from below the pans, we’ve just helped it emerge). Nothing is permanent and the camp can be completely dismantled, leaving Nwetwe almost exactly as it was before we arrived.