Camp Kalahari

The laidback little sister of Jack’s Camp and San Camp, Camp Kalahari is an understated and affordable base in the heart of the great Kalahari. Set amongst the waving palms and acacia trees of Brown Hyena Island, the 12 Meru tents are perfect for families, groups and couples, and are an ideal for discovering the charms of the desert and the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, a landscape that’s as surreal as it is sublime and as mysterious as it is magical.

And if you’re looking for adventure, then look no further! Enjoy quad bike adventures, across the otherworldly salt pans, walks with the Zu’/hoasi bushmen to discover the amazing creatures that somehow manage to survive (and thrive) in this harsh environment, and ‘’Kalahari cool cats,’’ the habituated meerkat family who like nothing more than to use unsuspecting guests as lookout points. Come for a day, and you’ll be wowed by the landscape and the people; stay for a few days and you might never want to leave.

Laidback and understated, nothing is overly elaborate at Camp Kalahari. Instead, you’ll find 12, Meru-style canvas tents filled with fresh textiles, Moroccan kilims and funky four-posters. Shower alfresco in the open-air, ensuite bathrooms, and there’s plenty of hot and cold water available throughout the day. If you’re travelling with your brood, choose one of the interconnecting family tents; with a bathroom linking the space for children and adults, it’s ideal for families and groups.

The common areas include a central library and a living and dining area, festooned with an eclectic mix of original African furniture and colonial antiques. Meals are refreshingly simple and wonderfully tasty, and served, family-style, at the long table. There’s also a thatched swimming pool, providing the perfect place for a refreshing dip on a hot afternoon – keep an eye out for elephants who might pop in for a quick drink too. The camp has kept their use of electricity to a minimum too; there are electric lights in the bedrooms, but when night falls, the majority of the camp is lit by twinkling paraffin lanterns (but camera batteries and other appliances can be charged in the safari vehicles when required).

About the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans

Camp Kalahari sits amongst the acacias and Mokolwane palms of Brown Hyaena Island, on the edge of Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Salt Pans and adjacent to the Makgadikgadi-Nxai Pans National Park. So, what on earth does that mean? It means that you’re surrounded by dry savannah and the semi-arid Kalahari Desert. The salt-baked, sun-scorched pans are clear of vegetation, quite simply because they can’t grow, but around them are glittering grasslands and profusions of enormous baobabs. It doesn’t get much more dramatic than that.

Brown Hyaena Island, the palm-dotted island that Camp Kalahari calls home, took its name from, the brown hyaena. Bashful yet brilliant at foraging and scavenging, this is the third rarest large carnivore in Africa and an animal that’s virtually impossible to see elsewhere on the continent. But that’s just the beginning of what you might see in the Makgadikgadi: look out for bat-eared foxes, aardvark and aardwolves scampering across the salt, elephant plodding through on their nomadic journey, and dazzling numbers of zebra and wildebeest. And where there’s a zebra, a predator will never be far away, so keep an eye out for cheetah and lion, close on the hooves of the herds. Not to be forgotten are the cheeky, habituated meerkats, a constant source of amusement and a regular feature of a safari at Camp Kalahari.