Blooming Desert Safari

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Piper Pans is in the north-west of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and has only two campsites, ensuring a very private game viewing experience. Like all campsites in the Central Kalahari there are pit toilets and bucket showers - no water, you must be completely self-sufficient.

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is one of the world’s largest, at nearly 53,000km2. The feeling of space and sheer freedom is magical – a true wilderness experience. Animals such as gemsbok, hartebeest and springbok are common, and predators are frequently seen.

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Piper Pans - CKGR Credit: Drive Botswana Piper Pans - CKGR

Piper Pans - CKGR Credit: Drive Botswana Piper Pans - CKGR

The dramatic desert of legend and home of the San. Tau Pan Camp was the first lodging welcomed to the famous Central Kalahari Game Reserve and an unprecedented opportunity to establish camp in one of the world's largest pristine wildernesses. It occupies unrivalled placement high on a dune ridge, overlooking a waterhole and game-rich plains. The vistas are magnificent — vast skies, tremendous savannah — and the camp design takes every opportunity to exploit this location.

The main area includes an open bar, lounge and dining areas all set around the fireplace, which is the ideal spot for spotting game at the waterhole. 'Tau' means lion in Setswana and the pan is so named for its pride of iconic black-maned Kalahari lions, who are frequent visitors to the camp.

Discover the land of the lion through ancient San eyes. Also known as the Bushmen in Botswana, indigenous trackers provide life-giving insights on surviving in this harsh paradise during a spellbinding nature walk. When you enter this world as a student, it ensures the conservation of their fast-vanishing San culture. Stargazing is astonishing in this remote location and best experienced with a night below the Milky Way on the sleepout deck.

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• Rooms
• Facilities
• Activities and Services

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris View of camp from the waterhole

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris Tau Pan in the evening

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris San Bushman cultural walk

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris Sleepout Deck

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris Sleepout Deck

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris Bedroom

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris Bedroom

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris San Bushman cultural walk

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris San Bushman cultural walk

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris San Bushman cultural walk

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris sleep out deck

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris sleep out deck

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris sleep out deck at night

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris group dining

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris main area

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris main area

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris Family tent - double room

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris Family tent - kids room

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris Sleep out deck at night

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris

Tau Pan Credit: Kwando Safaris tent private deck area

Standard Tent Family Tent Sleep Out Deck

Tau Pan accommodates up to eighteen people in nine environmentally designed units. All are built with materials of minimal environmental impact and additionally maintain a constant and comfortable in-room temperature year-round, while seasonal temperatures vary from below freezing to over 40 degrees Celsius.

The rooms include double wash basins and both indoor and outdoor showers. The rooms are spacious with lounge area and one includes an additional twin bedroom, ideal for family use. All the units are on raised decks and their location on the edge of the ridge means that each viewing deck has truly special and captivating views of the wide open pan and its big beautiful sky.

Family unit includes en-suite double bedroom, separate second twin bedroom, sharing one bathroom.

Minimum age is six years except 1 April – 15 November where there is no min age requirement. Special activities & services are offered for children. (eg. early mealtimes / children's meals). Families travelling with children aged 6–12 years are required to book private activities.

Raised open deck with a large king size double and a flushing toilet and basin at the back.

Property Facilities

Battery Charging Facilities, Communal Dining, Eco Friendly, Internet Access, Pool, Vegetarian

Room Facilities

Balcony / Deck, Electrical Outlets, Fan, Laundry Service (Complimentary), Lounge Area, Outside Shower, Safe, Shower, Verandah

Available Services

Airport Shuttle (Complimentary), Credit Card Facilities, Laundry Service (Complimentary), Meal on Request, Private Vehicle (Available), Room Service

Activities on Site

Big 5, Bird Watching, Game Drives, Game Viewing, Helicopter Scenic Flights, High Tea, Safaris, Sleep Outs, Walks (Guided)

Activities Nearby

Big 5, Bird Watching, Child Friendly Activities, Game Drives, Game Viewing, Safaris, Walks (Guided)

Game Drives - Day only San Bushman Cultural Walks Sleepout Deck

Game drives are undertaken in custom designed Toyota game viewing vehicles seating no more than six guests at a time in two rows of three seats. Guests are guided by a two person team of professional guide and tracker - a special feature of the Kwando Safaris wildlife experience. The two person team enables the guide to communicate points of interest and the complex interrelations that exist throughout the natural world, while the tracker ensures no sightings or tracks are missed. At Tau Pan, the tracker comes from the San Bushman tribe, a tribe that has traditionally lived in the Kalahari desert for generations and is intimately acquainted with the area and wildlife that is endemic to the Kalahari.

Walking with a member of the San Bushman tribe allows guests to appreciate how the tribe used to live off the land through traditions and skills passed from generation to generation. Conducted close to the camp area, the walk is conducted at a slow pace designed to allow engagement and question asking so that guests may better understand the nature of the bushman to the environment around them. Knowledge about how they would hunt, trap animals, and the manner in which they use the flora and fauna in their environment to help them survive are all shared with guests. Questions are always welcome!

Imagine falling asleep while unobstructed views of shooting stars streak across the sky, and counting the twinkling of stars until you drift off to sleep.

Located in a secluded spot at the far end of the camp, the sleep-out deck is an intimate experience for two, who wish to spend a wonderous evening under the impressive Kalahari night sky. The raised deck comprises 2 three-quarter beds, a washbasin and a toilet. Guests will be walked to the deck after dinner to spend the night, and can resume game activities in the morning as usual.

This can only be pre-booked with a minimum 3 night stay. Otherwise it can be booked upon the clients’ arrival in camp, subject to availability, and weather permitting.

The tents are 4 x 3m Sahara style tents with high roof with a 2 x 3m en-suite bathroom and a 2 x 3m covered area in front of the tent. The tents are fitted with solid base camp beds made up with mattresses, sheets, duvets and pillows.

The tents have en-suite long drop toilet facilities and a bucket shower at the rear of the tent. Showers can be ordered as hot, cold or warm and the water is heated in a bucket on the fire. Showers may be taken at any time but on Kalahari safaris the guide withholds the right to limit water use and showering depending upon the availability of water. Both hand towels and bath towels are supplied for the guests’ convenience but please note that guests should bring their own personal items and toiletries.

Each tent has an oil/paraffin lamp on the veranda and in the bathroom and within the tent itself, a LED rechargeable camp light is supplied along with a side table in the sleeping area and in the bathroom.

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• Rooms

Credit: LETAKA

Credit: LETAKA

Credit: LETAKA

Credit: LETAKA

Credit: LETAKA

Credit: LETAKA

Sahara Tent

4m x 3m Sahara tent with 2m patio extension and 2m bush bathroom en-suite

Room Facilities

Bath Towels, Bed Linen, Bucket Shower, Camp Beds, Drinking Water Filtration System, En Suite Bathroom, Oil/Paraffin Lamps, Outside Shower, Sahara Style Tent, Solid Base Camp Beds, Verandah