The Camp

Location: Makgadikgadi Pans, Eastern Kalahari, Botswana
Number of Tents: 11

Camp Kalahari exudes relaxed ambience and nostalgia for the grand era of African exploration in the 19th century. Ten suite tents including twin or double beds, plus an interconnected family suite, have covered bathrooms with hot and cold running water and flushing toilets. Campaign-style furnishings such as metal four-poster canopy beds, heavy trunks, writing desks, and rich textiles and woods, set the stage for a truly comfortable wilderness experience. Forget cell phones and Internet as you sink into the languid pace of a bygone era. Central areas include a thatch-covered lounge and library with elegant glass display cases exhibiting antiques and artifacts, old wall-hung maps, colorful cushions, and all the fixings of a bar tucked away in wooden boxes with brass details. A pavilion opens to the plunge pool for midday swims.

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Facilities & Amenities

• En suite open-air bathroom with shower
• Family Accommodation: 1 family unit with 2 inter-leading tents connected by a shared bathroom
• Shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion and insect repellent
• 220v charging outlets in room
• Wi-Fi available
• Central plunge pool
• Laundry included (no undergarments)
• Local drinks included (house alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks)
• No air conditioning, hair dryer, telephone or cellular coverage

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Wildlife Viewing & Activities

Camp Kalahari sits at the edge of Makgadikgadi National Park, known for its enormous salt pans, revealed several thousand years ago when an ancient lake the size of Switzerland dried up. While wildlife in the area is more sparse during the dry season, activities involve observing a group of habituated meerkats very closely, walking on the salt flats with traditional Zu/'hoasi Bushmen while learning about their ancient culture, wildlife drives to witness unique creatures of the desert, and a visit to Chapman's baobab, one of the three largest and oldest trees in Africa and the site of Livingstone and Selous's encampment in the 1800s. During the dry season, you can ride quad bikes across the lunar-like salt pans, then watch the sunset as the most incredible stargazing unfolds before you as the sky darkens. In the green season, the landscape shifts from arid desert to a carpet of grass, while a zebra migration passes through the region with predators in pursuit. More large wildlife is on view at this time, though not in the same density as you would expect to see in the Okavango Delta, for instance.

Antelope tend to migrate into the central and eastern Kalahari deserts following water and grasses between December and April, often followed by predators. During the driest months from June to October, the landscape hosts fewer large mammals but the most commonly viewed animals at this time may be gemsbok, springbok, red hartebeest and steenbok and a number of other small mammals, birds and reptiles. Exact sightings will depend on weather and wildlife movements.

Climate