Jack’s Camp
Jack’s Camp is an exclusive tented lodge located on a private concession bordering Ntwetwe Pan and the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.
Jack’s Camp is a very established property and offers a superb Makgadikgadi Pans experience. It is an expensive camp, which limits its appeal to many, but this does of course make it an exclusive camp to visit. The accommodation is very comfortable and a complete rebuild in 2021 has retained the quirky old world interiors whilst overcoming some of the more impractical elements of the original design. However, it is not the accommodation you visit Jack’s Camp for, it is the wonderful guiding, the varied activities, the superb service, the specialist wildlife experiences and the incredible natural scenery that attract you! Provided you are not expecting a slick hotel or highly luxurious accommodation, Jack’s is a wonderful experience.
The Makgadikgadi Pans are well worth a visit for anyone who enjoys exploring different habitats and landscapes, and who is prepared to compromise a little on the big game experience in favour of geographical diversity and more specialist wildlife viewing. The specialist wildlife is worth a particular mention as it is sometimes the key reason for visiting the area – brown hyaena, aardvark, aardwolf and habituated meerkats.
Rooms
Jack’s Camp caters for 18 guests in nine spacious vintage Bedouin-style tents, seven of which are twin tents with two queen size beds while two tents each have a king size bed (all beds are extra length). Each tent has an overbed cooling system and private ensuite bathroom with toilet and both indoor and outdoor shower. The comfortable living areas have a sofa and day bed with views out over the Kalahari. To the front of each tent is a private deck furnished with safari chairs and sun loungers and with a private plunge pool.
Central Areas
The central mess area comprises a number of adjoining tented areas including a tea tent (where guests gather on low, comfortable Persian style cushions for tea and cake before afternoon activities), a dining tent (including the vintage 36-seater dining table where communal meals are taken), and a reception area which doubles as a mini-museum showcasing curiosities and artefacts found in the area. There is a shaded swimming pool ‘pavilion’ overlooking the grassland and open pans beyond.
Jack’s Private Camp
Around 100 metres from the main camp is ‘Jack’s Private Camp’, a completely private and self-contained camp, built in the same style, with two en suite bedrooms leading off a shared living space with lounge, dining area and kitchen. This leads out onto a private veranda with daybeds, and a private swimming pool. Private Camp comes with a private vehicle and guide, dedicated chef and host.
Facilities
Wi-Fi – Yes
Power for charging – Yes
Swimming pool – Yes
Habitat & Wildlife
The Makgadikgadi Pans are not a mainstream safari destination. Together with the adjacent Nxai Pan, the Makgadikgadi Pans cover an area of nearly 5500 sq. miles. The pans, remnants of a huge inland sea, are largely void of vegetation except for a few areas of open grassland and isolated baobab islands. During the rains, from December to March, the pans fill up and attract large numbers of water birds including flamingos and pelicans. Great herds of wildebeest, gemsbok, springbok and zebra also gather, as do predators such as lion and cheetah who move in during this time of plenty. This is also the time that the zebra migration traverses the plains of the concession and is the second largest migration in African. Even the occasional elephant is seen passing through! However, once the dry season sets in, the water reliant species migrate to leave an empty wilderness with an eerie silence and only specialist species remain in the grassland and scrub bush that fringe the pans. Brown hyaena and meerkats are two of the key species of interest found within the Kalahari ecosystem, whilst others include ostrich, aardvark, aardwolf, spring hare, black-backed jackal, African wild cat and porcupine.
The recent introduction of pumped water holes on the local concession is supporting the resident wildlife and encouraging more game to remain in the area during the long dry season. In particular, elephants are being seen more regularly. However, it is a delicate balance and it will take a few years to discover what the carrying capacity of the area is during the dry season.
Activities
Activities vary according to the season of your visit:
Year round activities include a visit to a habituated meerkat colony, game drives by day and night into the pans around camp (with night game drives being very successful for spotting specialist species such as brown hyaena and aardvark). Game drives into the Makgadikgadi National Park are also offered.
There are also opportunities for authentic interaction with the Bushmen. The ‘Wisdom Academy Village’ is the name given to the place where a community of Ju/‘hoansi Bushmen are now residing traditionally in the area. The aim of the village is to empower Bushmen to continue their traditions and pass on their knowledge to younger generations whilst at the same time earning a living in their rapidly changing world – sustainable conservation for a culture under threat. The length of your stay will largely dictate how immersive your time with the Bushmen can be, from short and insightful Bushman-guided walks, to more in depth half or full days spent at the village learning about daily life. Beading, wood carving, rope making, preparing bush medicine, getting ready for a tracking mission or elders holding knowledge circles are just some of the activities that may be encountered during a visit.
In the dry season (April to October), quad bikes can be used more often to explore the salt-crusted pans and it’s possible to hunt for stone tools in the salt flats of the Sowa Pan.
In the green season (November to March), the use of quad bikes is more limited, but game drives will focus on the zebra and wildebeest migrations which come into the area at this time of year.
A two hour horse-ride and scenic helicopter flights over the Makgadikgadi Pans can also be arranged at an extra cost year round.
For adventurous guests who would like to explore deeper into the Kalahari, it is possible to combine three nights at camp with a two night quad bike expedition journeying to Kubu Island in the south west of Sua Pan where you will stay in a fly camp. Expeditions can cover anything from 400 to 600 kilometres and are only available between June and September. This is an off the grid experience, sleeping under the stars on comfortable bed rolls with shared bucket shower, bush loo and a tented changing area. This needs to be prebooked and additional costs apply.
Seasons
Jack’s Camp is open all year round and there are pros and cons at any time of year. Quad biking is only possible during the dry season, but traditional wildlife viewing is better during the rainy season.
Jack’s Camp welcomes children of all ages and is very suitable for families who are looking for an exclusive bush adventure and a varied program of activities. There is currently no dedicated family tent in the main camp, but it is possible for one child to sleep on a bed roll on the ground which can be added to normal tents if needed. The swimming pool is a welcome relief from the heat during the summer months, but the water is a bit cold during the cold winter months! Families with children under 12 years of age need to book a private vehicle. Alternatively, Jack’s Private Camp offers an exclusive space for families wanting a private stay, with plenty of space, internally adjoining accommodation and a full team to tailor your activities and meals to suit.
Jack’s Camp is managed by the Natural Selection group of safari camps and by staying here, guests automatically contribute to the Natural Selection Foundation which is part of the Botswana Community and Conservation Initiative. This initiative provides for regional conservation and supports rural communities to develop sustainable land-use practices that promote conservation-based economic opportunities, resilient to climate change.
Jack’s Camp supports the Makgadikgadi-Nxai Pans Conservation Initiative which promotes the expansion of large mammal migration routes between northern Botswana (Chobe and the Okavango) and the Kalahari Desert (specifically the Makgadikgadi National Park) which have been cut short by the implementation of mass fencing. The aim is to stop the restriction of this movement by working alongside local communities to develop land use that benefits everyone and yet allows the migrating animals, mostly zebra and wildebeest but also elephants and other plains game, to move freely.
Another initiative they support is leopard population dynamics and conservation in the Khwai area of Botswana (eastern Okavango) through the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust. The Trust aims to establish territory locations, sizes and threats to leopards which reside inside the private reserve compared to those whose territories are closer to villages. This information enables them to learn about the survival strategies and intra-species interactions of leopards so they can therefore focus on the areas in need of human-predator conflict alleviation.
Coaching for Conservation’s programme Connecting Conservation Classrooms is all about educating Botswana’s children on the value of wildlife and respect of their environment and uses Natural Selection lodges as visitor classrooms.
Natural Selection also works closely with the Wild Shots Outreach initiative. Every year they run workshops at some of their camps, including Jack’s Camp. The initiative is aimed at young adults from disadvantaged communities, particularly unemployed youth, and teaches them about conservation and nature through photography. Apart from a better understanding and appreciation of wildlife and conservation, the objective of this initiative is to develop self-confidence, self-esteem, life skills and, of course, photographic skills.
