Namibia & Botswana Scenery & Wildlife

Day notes

Day at leisure to enjoy all the activities the camp has to offer:

- Nature drives into the desert in 3 x 8-seater vehicles
- Walking Trails, including the Black Mountain Trail
- Visit to Sossusvlei and Sesriem
- Balloon safaris (additional cost, closed 15 January to 15 February)
- The Sundowner tour is one of the best scenic safaris in the Namib
- Private vehicles can be booked at an additional cost, subject to availability
- Scorpion Walks

Day notes

Day at leisure to enjoy all the activities the camp has to offer:

- Rhino tracking on foot and by vehicle
- Nature walks with a guide. The guide is not armed as we do not place guests in any dangerous or compromising positions on walks and we have a zero disturbance policy where we will not go closer to rhino for a better photograph etc - the rhino are not to be disturbed at all by guests on the walks.
- Full day outings with picnic lunch

Day notes

Day at leisure to enjoy all the activities the camp has to offer:

- Nature drives in Hartmann's Valley in open Land Rovers.
- Boating trips on the Kunene River
- Nature walks in the valleys and at the waterfalls
- Visit to a working Himba village (should the nomadic people be in the area)
- Optional full day outing to Marienfluss Valley with a packed picnic lunch

Day notes

Day at leisure to enjoy all the activities the camp has to offer:

- Game drives in Etosha National Park and Ongava Game Reserve
- Guided walks (white rhino can be tracked on foot, for adults over 16 years)
- Full day excursions into Etosha National Park (subject to availability of vehicles)
- Guests at Little Ongava share a dedicated guide and Land Rover ensuring the optimum nature experience.

Day notes

Day at leisure to enjoy all the activities the camp has to offer:

- Land game drives in 5 x 10 seater open 4x4 Land Rovers each accommodating a maximum of 7 guests, allowing all guests an outside seat (each vehicle is equipped with a tree book, a bird book, a mammal book, a pair of binoculars and insect repellent in a centre consol on each row of seats)
- Full day game drives and picnics on Hunda Island - a 45min boat ride away from Jao Camp.
- Night drives with spotlights.
- Private activities available on request.
- Water game viewing in 2 x 2-seater glass-bottomed mokoro (dug-out canoe), and 12 x 2 seater mokoro
- 2 x 12-seater boat used in the waterways to the east of camp.
- Fishing with a limited supply of basic equipment is on offer seasonally - catch and release basis
- A raised hide located about 20 minutes from camp (which can be used for sleep-outs - maximum 4 people at a time - and is equipped with a long-drop loo).
- At the spa we offer a full menu of therapies ranging from Clarins' facials to manicures, pedicures and a range of massage options.
- Gym, equipped with a cross trainer, rowing machine, stationary bike, yoga mats, exercise ball and free weights.
- Entertainment room, furnished as a lounge and dining area. It is suitable for private dining, children's entertainment, watching wildlife documentaries and conducting lectures etc.

Day notes

Set off in the morning to visit some of the Kalahari’s sexiest meerkats. (‘Suricate’ to science-minded people and ‘Timon’ to Lion King fans.) Get up close and personal with these captivating creatures.

On chilly mornings, you might well find a meerkat snuggling up to you for warmth. Or, in the absence of a termite mound or tree, using your head as a sentry lookout post. By spending quality time with these incredibly social, superbly adapted animals, you will be able to see how they interact with each other and their environment.

You also get the chance to see the desert through the eyes of a meerkat – which, despite the fact that it’s only a foot off the ground, is a pretty spectacular vantage point, and definitely one of the most special and memorable game experiences you will encounter in Botswana.

After a picnic breakfast, visit a remote cattle-post to learn about the traditional culture of the Batswana people. Close by is the famous Chapman’s Baobab
(Also known as the Seven Sisters) which is acknowledged to be the third largest tree in Africa, and was the campsite of early explorers like Livingstone and Selous when they pioneered the area. This gives you an opportunity to gain a fascinating insight into the history of the early explorers.

Return to camp for a rest and refreshing lunch.

After tea, travel down to the pans where you will be given a brief safety talk before mounting your trusty quad bike to head off across the pans. Watch the sun set and the stars rise. This is one of the only places in the world where the silence is so complete you can hear the blood circulating through your ears. There is not one visual landmark to be seen and one swiftly loses one’s sense of perspective.

Day notes

Early in the morning, comb the edge of the extinct lake shore to find some of the many stone tools and fossils that litter the pan surface and learn of the origins of early man. Return to camp for a huge brunch.

After tea, head off in search of some unique desert species such as aardvark,
bat eared foxes, aardwolves, and the elusive brown hyaena, which is the third
rarest large carnivore in Africa, with only about 8,000 in the wild. Brown Hyaenas are the consummate desert specialists, surviving in arid areas where both food and water are scarce. A timid, nocturnal species rarely seen by humans, but in spite of being solitary foragers; they are very social animals, living in clans of up to 10-12 hyaenas.

Back to Jack’s Camp for dinner.