Tau Pan Camp
Tau Pan Camp is built on a typical low rolling sand dune ridge overlooking Tau Pan in the heart of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
Tau Pan Camp is a very comfortable lodge with a commanding position looking out towards Tau Pan and the surrounding Kalahari landscape. It offers the quintessential Kalahari experience complete with black-maned lions at the water hole in front of camp on many days of the year!
The accommodation is very spacious and extremely comfortable and the hospitality and guiding side of things very good. But it is really the Kalahari experience that you would go here for. Unlike most safari regions in Africa, game viewing is best during (and just after) the green season (late November to April).
Rooms
The nine individual rooms, accommodating up to 20 guests, are spread out along the ridge and built on low wooden platforms with thatch roofs and private shaded decks extending to the front, facing the waterhole and Tau Pan. The rooms are spacious, including a writing desk and sitting area, with plumbed bathroom en suite facilities at one end, including toilet, double vanity and both indoor and outdoor showers.
One of the rooms also includes a twin room extension to cater for families (the bathroom is shared). All rooms have 24 hour solar lighting and ceiling fans.
Central Areas
The central dining, lounge and bar area are housed in one open-plan thatched reception area, which leads out to a viewing deck and swimming pool which offer expansive views over the nearby water hole and Tau Pan beyond.
Facilities
Wi-Fi – No
Power for charging – Yes
Swimming pool – Yes
Habitat & Wildlife
The Central Kalahari is an area of semi-desert, where trees, bushes and grass do exist within an otherwise hostile desert environment. This allows a variety of birds and animals to exist in the region, including the rare brown hyaena, lion, cheetah, leopard, wild dog, giraffe, oryx, red hartebeest, eland, kudu, wildebeest, springbok, steenbok, black-backed jackal, meerkat, ostrich and a variety of smaller game including the nocturnal species such as aardwolf, honey badger, bat-eared foxes, serval, caracal, porcupine, African wild cat and genet. There are no elephant, hippo, buffalo or rhino in the region (very occasionally an elephant wanders through, looking a bit out of place). The region is best visited during and just after the ‘green’ season from November to April, when game congregates on the various open ‘pans’ within the reserve. During the dry season, the landscape is harsher and game is more spread out throughout the reserve (especially the late dry season from August to October). However there is a ‘pumped’ waterhole in front of camp which attracts wildlife.
Tau Pan Camp is built on a ridge in the heart of the reserve. Game viewing in the immediate vicinity around camp is very good and the lions are usually the main focus (they often come through camp). Further afield there are numerous pans that can be visited.
Activities
Activities focus around game drives (by day only), though a short guided walk is also available from camp with the emphasis on learning about bushman skills and the culture that is key to their identity. The trackers that conduct the activity are from the San bushman tribe and the older trackers have lived the earlier part of their life nomadically in the Kalahari. A longer day trip exploring various other pans in the park, possibly including the famous Deception Valley, is usually possible for guests staying 3 or 4 nights. It is also possible to sleep under the stars on Tau Pan Camp’s sleep out deck which is offered on a first come first served basis (although pre booking is possible for those staying at the camp for three nights or more).
Seasons
Tau Pan is closed in July each year and in contrast to most of the rest of Africa, game viewing is best during the rainy season from late November through to early April. At this time the game avoids the thicker bush and congregates in the more open areas where they feel safer and there is plentiful grazing. During the dry season when the landscape is more barren, game spreads out.
Tau Pan has a great family unit to cater for families and accepts children of all ages for most of the year, changing to six years and over during the green season. To be honest, it probably isn’t a normal destination for families with children under six years old! However, for families with older children who are comfortable with longer game drives Tau Pan Camp will offer an exclusive and interesting family adventure.
Families with children under 12 years old are required to hire a private vehicle and children must be over the age of 18 years to stay in a room without an adult.
Guests at Tau Pan have the option to contribute to the Lady Khama Charitable Trust (LKCT) which supports several initiatives throughout Botswana with Kwando Safaris (Tau Pan’s parent company) pledging to match each guest’s contribution.
Kwando’s Bucket Project was created for Botswana’s 50th anniversary of independence in 2016 where Kwando staff sourced donations of household supplies and gave the items out in buckets to rural villages. This practice now takes place during every anniversary of independence around the 31st September.
Kwando are also sponsors of Mummy’s Angels, a project which supports and empowers mothers and their new-born babies in Maun who do not have financial or family support. Mummy’s Angels started out donating their children’s clothes and baby essentials and now Tau Pan’s guests are invited to bring some of the requested items with them on holiday. For each item donated, Kwando pledges match with something similar. Along similar lines, Kwando is also a member of Pack for a Purpose where guests may use the empty space in their suitcases for donations of much supplies for Mummy’s Angels.
