Jacks Camp | Kalahari Desert Lodges

Introduction

Jacks Camp is located deep in the Kalahari Desert on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Pans, the largest saltpans in the world.

While on a trapping expedition in the Makgadikgadi Pans during the 60s, Jack Bousfield stumbled upon a site that so captured his imagination that he set up camp under an acacia tree with the unshakeable expectation that others would feel the same. The choice of such a striking locale owed much to his original taste for the savage beauty of a forgotten Africa, where he lived until his tragic death in an aircraft accident in 1992.

As a homage to the vision of his father, his son, Ralph, with his partner Catherine established Jacks Camp which was refurbished at the beginning of 2003, using a traditional East African 1940s safari style.

Rooms and Suites

Jacks, offers up ten green roomy and stylish canvas tents with en-suite bathrooms and indoor and outdoor showers, for those who want to feel the Kalahari breeze on their skin.

The tented suites have been fashioned in classical style and are set into a palm grove creating an oasis of civilisation in what can be the harshest of stark environments.

Persian rugs underfoot and crisp cotton sheets form a striking contrast with the rugged wilderness viewed from the comfort of one's veranda.

Activities

Venturing far into the centre of the Makgadikgadi, on 4-wheel-drive quad bikes, you will be able to explore remote archaeological sites, periodically discovering never-before-documented fossil beds of extinct giant zebra and hippo.

The fact that you can travel across the pans at great speed and still arrive nowhere only underlines the pan's immensity. There is nothing out here.

A safari to Jacks Camp is also a complete desert experience, focusing on species unique to the area such as aardvark, gemsbok and springbok. It is the only place where guests are virtually guaranteed to see the rare and elusive brown hyaena and are able to walk through the Kalahari with a gang of habituated, yet wild meerkats (suricates)!

During the wet season, the landscape transforms. Clouds of flamingo and other migratory birds descend from the heavens to decorate the watery grasslands. Herds of zebra and wildebeest materialise, drawn by the lush grass, and for several months, the desert is teeming with game and predators.