Jack's Camp
Kalahari safari diaries
A man of extraordinary safari pedigree who led aristocrats and film stars to glamping in remotest Africa in the 60s, Jack had a vision to start a safari camp in the Makgadikgadi. The set-up was extremely rustic, attracting guests who came not just to see the magical moonscape...but the character Jack himself, serving to bring one closer to nature in his old-style safaris that emphasized the basic pleasures of the bush. He told the most intriguing tales from his pioneering days - such as when called to train the lions used in the filming of the Born Free story in Kenya. Jack believed that an authentic safari camp experience should be more than just a hotel in the bush; Jack’s Camp is a striking place that celebrates the savage beauty of a forgotten Africa, on the same site where Bousfield once set up his rustic camp in the ‘70s. "We inherited his ethos that the experience that people received through excellent guiding and interpretation of the environment is what they should take with them from Africa. It was real pioneering stuff. The area and the concept were both untried and untested." - Ralph Bousfield
Fireside stories
Get up close with the world-famous burrow of the “Meerkat Manor” which was filmed on location here at Jack's Camp and the Makgadikgadi Pans. Thanks to a special, ongoing habituation program at camp, you can spend time with these captivating Meerkats.
Safari experiences
This sandy desert offers an interesting melody of rare wildlife in an otherwordly landscape. One of the largest salt flats in the world, the Makgadikgadi Pans are all that remain of the former “super lake” that once covered an area larger than Switzerland, but dried up due to continual shifting of the earth’s crust several thousand years ago. Guided game drives offer a chance to explore the 6,200 sq miles of Makgadikgadi Salt pans further to see rare desert species such as Brown Hyaena (third rarest carnivore in the world) and the Kalahari Lion. The Makgadikgadi is also home to southern Africa’s last great migration that occurs in the wet ‘green’ season. Guided nature and anthropology walks in the area seek out ancient stone tools, dated from 2,000 to 500,000 years old.
Watch the San children learn hunting skills and accompany the San women in the gathering of food, herbs and medicinal plants; Experience the magic, ancient song and kinship symbology of the healing trance in African dance.
The iconic and intriguing Makgadikgadi landscape, with its salt-baked earth and haunting desert silence offers adventure around every corner. Ten luxury ‘suites’ offer dramatic old-world safari glamor amidst the shimmery white heat of the Great Kalahari environment: Green Canvas tents with bukhara muslin-draped walls on the interiors; Crisp linens and a cool pool pavillion keep the desert blaze at bay. At night time, warm hot water bottles and persian rugs underfoot warm the mood. Designed to take in the flowing Kalahari breeze, the suites feature romantic outdoor showers, throne-like wooden commodes, cool copper basins and campaign-style collapsible furnishings.
The savage beauty of a forgotten Africa
JACK BOUSFIELD
Jack’s Private Camp
The ultimate safari experience in the Kalahari, known for its unmatched style and adventure. The newly launched Jack's Private Camp provides an exclusive safari retreat tailored for families and close friends. A completely private camp with two large master bedroom suites and open living areas, complete with dedicated house staff. The open lounge area between the bedrooms features a kitchen, dining space and bar that opens onto a private verandah equipped with daybeds. There’s also a spacious swimming pool that offers stunning views of the Makgadikgadi Pans. Additionally, you'll discover a cozy library, a well-stocked drinks chest, and Jack's Camp's renowned 'Cabinet of Curiosities' brimming with fascinating natural history artifacts.
Scenic Quadbiking with experienced guides through the lunar-like and mysterious fossil pansin the Great Kalahari basin. Rev up your ATV and traverse the vast expanse of the sun-scorched Makgadikgadi Pans to reach Kubu Island - a secret gem at Jack's. Spend the night under the star-studded sky in an open-air fly camp; no frills - just immersing yourself in the desert's raw beauty. Journey with our guides through this surreal landscape surrounded by nothing but the endless horizon. The sheer isolation of this experience has you laying on your back looking up at billions of stars - this is stargazing like nowhere else on earth. Waking up to a salt pan sunrise on this lunar-like landscape, the sheer magnitude of where you are, will leave you awestruck. A moment that epitomizes three words: heaven on earth.
Hike to see the iconic Chapman’s Baobab - The Oldest Tree in Africa and a national monument, with a circumference of 25 meters; historically used as a navigation beacon and early “post office” by passing explorers, traders and travelers, many of whom left their inscriptions on its trunk. For longer stays, guests can visit the sacred caves of Tsodilo Hills - a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Experience the art, mythology and spiritual significance of the Tsodilo Hills Bushmen Rock Art site, tracked by the San tribes for 100,000 years. About 4,500 paintings depict legends of half-human hybrids, carvings thought to depict shamans or medicine men and suggest religious metaphors. The Tsodilo hills are believed to be a resting place for ancestral spirits; with "Male" hill, the biggest rock site and a most sacred place, where it is believed the First Spirit knelt and prayed after creating the world with the impression of the knees still embedded in the rock. A secret chamber here has been alleged to be the site of earliest-known ritual. These special sites are visited with some of our most knowldgeable guides for a rewarding interpretive visit.
San Bushmen
A study in Anthropology: Walk with the San Bushmen. A dignified and sensitively-developed Cultural anthropology experience with the San (Basarwa) bushmen trackers. Guests gain ethnographic sense and participation in age-old rituals to observe the San bush culture, their beliefs, art, morals, law and custom of day-to-day living in an authentic state of nature unobtrused by “imported civilization” or the dilutive effects of “farming colonialism” and national agricultural startegies upon Paleolithic traditions. Hunter-gatherer tribes such as these are the last remnants of the previously extensive indigenous San people in Southern Africa; The San are one of 14 known extant "ancestral population clusters" from which all known modern humans descend. In various Y chromosome studies conducted have demonstrated that the San people carry some of the most divergent (oldest) human Y-chromosome haplogroups. In an interview for Live at Radio City, South African musician Dave Matthews told a story about meeting the San, hearing their songs and inquiring with his guide upon the words in the music, to which he received the response: “There are no words to these songs, because these songs, we've been singing since before people had words.”
Derived from age-old know-how, our journeys to Africa are tailored by your imagination. The dream becomes the enchantment of a moment, the joy of a journey, a companion for life.
We’re here to inspire you to dream up your own safari story.