Botswana Classic Luxury Tented Safari

Day notes

Arrive at Jack’s Camp, pitched on a low grassland knoll amongst an oasis of dignified desert palms and Kalahari acacia. The Camp is normally reached by air from Maun (50 minutes) or by light aircraft from other camps.
Your stay is for 3 nights and arrangements include all meals, daily activities, laundry and drinks (excluding premium import brands).

Many Camps in Africa make the claim that they are “authentically 1940s style”, and many are quite successful in achieving this. But to our knowledge, no one gets nearer to the real thing than Jack’s Camp.

It relishes in the unobtrusive luxury which would have been the order of the day; sewn tents, leather furniture, crystal glass, Mozart refrains......and romantic hurricane lamps where today we would have the 220v switches!

Ten green roomy and stylish canvas tents with en-suite bathrooms, indoor and outdoor showers (for those who want to feel the Kalahari breeze on their skin) have been fashioned in classical 1940’s style creating an oasis of civilization in what can be the harshest of stark environments…

Persian rugs underfoot, cool cotton sheets and mahogany and brass campaign-style kit from the family safari stores form a striking contrast with the rugged wilderness viewed from the comfort of one’s own veranda.

The camp's hub is a romantic canvas pavilion of low spires and finials with a fluttering valance beneath its eaves and could be the site for a medieval jousting tourney were it not a deciduous green. Three poles support the main chamber where everyone meets for meals at a long communal dining table.

After settling in to your tent, join your guide for tea before driving into the grasslands and the beautiful evening light. Stop to watch the sun set and listen to an explanation of how the Makgadikgadi pans, the remnants of the world’s largest ever super lake, were formed.

Return to camp for a lavish dinner in the elegant mess tent, a designated national museum of Botswana.

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.

The Camp’s safari vehicles are top-of-the-range Toyota Landcruisers, extremely comfortable and have multiple thoughtful details that make them perfect for game viewing such as roof top seats, leather bean bags for photography and ponchos to keep one warm on sunrise game drives.

Close by is the famous Chapman’s Baobab (Also known as the Seven Sisters) which is acknowledged to be the 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. Jack’s is renowned throughout the industry for menus that emphasise fresh tastes and originality. Three course meals under the stars include such treats as fresh tomato and basil soup, ostrich piccata, roast Botswana beef, delectable orange tarts and impossibly rich, but light, chocolate puddings.

Teas tend to be indulgent affairs with treats like triple layer, banana caramel cake, tangy lemon curd biscuits and the best brownies in the bush! All bread is baked daily, and full cooked English breakfasts are on offer every morning.

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.

Day notes

Early in the morning, comb the edge of the extinct lakeshore 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 satisfying brunch.

After another sumptuous tea, head off to see one of Africa’s rarest carnivores the brown hyena. Due to a PhD research programme on this cleverly adapted desert species, the cubs are habituated and allow us to observe their social behaviour without disturbance.

Back to Jack’s Camp for dinner.

Day notes

Spend the morning walking with Zu/’hoasi Bushmen trackers.

Jack’s has pioneered and passionately supported cultural tourism in Botswana since its inception 13 years ago. It has long been our belief that it is a vitally important tool in terms of preserving this unique, but sadly fast-vanishing, culture. We have been working closely with the Zu/’hoasi people of the Western Kalahari for many years and are privileged to have a small group of these extraordinary men to guide our guests on a morning’s walking safari. Offering a window into the past, they teach us how they have survived in this harshest of environments, using their vast and ancient knowledge of plants, animal behaviour and survival skills.

For those of you who would prefer to spend a little less time exploring and little more time lounging – Jack’s Camp is perfectly adapted…

Time for one more lunch; before you bid farewell to Jack’s Camp in preparation for your onward journey.

Transfer to the airstrip for your 50 minutes light aircraft flight to Jao Camp in the Okavango Delta.

You are met on arrival by your guide and transferred by 4 x 4 vehicle to Jao Camp where you stay for 2 nights in luxury accommodation where arrangements include all meals, daily activities, laundry and drinks (excluding premium import brands)

Jao Camp is located on a large, remote island in a private concession bordering the Moremi Game Reserve in the heart of the Okavango Delta. With varied habitats ranging from waterways and lagoons to dry Kalahari grasslands and open floodplains, Jao can offer both land and water experiences, depending on the current flood levels. This luxurious camp is a tranquil base for a wonderful Okavango experience.

In the central region of the concession, vast open floodplains provide some of the most stunning scenery of the region. Jao Camp lies in the southern side of the plains, an area with beautiful islands fringed with riverine forests.

The camp has nine spacious, beautiful tents, each individually handcrafted. These twin-bedded canvas and thatched rooms are situated beneath a canopy of shady trees and have en-suite facilities, as well as an outdoor shower for the more adventurous. Built on raised decks, each has a private sala for afternoon siestas and offers wonderful views of the surrounding floodplains. In addition to the lounge and dining area, there are two plunge pools and an outdoor boma for dining under the stars, complemented by wines from an excellent wine cellar. Jao also has a salon where a wide range of massage therapies are offered.

Mokoros, boat trips, fishing, nature walks, day and night game drives and birding are usually on offer all year round. There are two platform hides in the concession. During an unusually high flood season, game drives begin by boating out to a nearby Hunda Island where the vehicles are waiting, and the drive begins from there. Huge herds of red lechwe can be seen, followed by their primary predator - prides of lion. Other game includes elephant, buffalo, leopard, tsessebe, zebra and wildebeest, hippo and crocodile. The birdlife is overwhelming. Many bird species are resident such as Meyer's parrot, African harrier hawk, black egret, coppery-tailed coucal, malachite Kingfisher, hamerkop and black crake being some of the avian treasures here.
Activities include:-
30% Game Drives and 70% Water Activities (but very much dependent on flood levels and time of year). In the summer months, activities tend more towards game drives, whereas in the winter months mainly water-based activities are offered.)
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.
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.
Game walks.
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 - on a catch and release basis; basic rods and reels supplied by camp but fly-fishing equipment to be supplied by guest.
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).

Day notes

A full day of wildlife and other activities according to your requirements.

Day notes

During the morning you will be transferred to the airstrip for your 15 minutes light aircraft flight to the Moremi Game Reserve and Vumbura Plains Camp, for 3 nights in luxury accommodation where arrangements include all meals, daily activities, laundry and drinks (excluding premium import brands).

Vumbura Plains comprises two separate seven room satellite camps with a view across the floodplains. Each has its own raised dining and lounge area beneath a shady canopy. The accommodation comprises elevated tented rooms which are very spacious. There has been a clever use of light, wood and space and there is a huge bedroom, a sunken lounge , a “sala” day bed, outdoor shower and plunge pool. Very much designed for outdoor living, but full of comfort inside when you need it.

Vumbura features a wide complement of antelope ( including contrasts such as the water loving red lechwe and the sable of the dry savannah), prolific elephants, buffalo, hippo, giraffe and the large predators; lion, spotted hyena, wild dog, leopard and cheetah. As elsewhere in this region, the birdlife is abundant.

Activities include:-
•Day and night game drives.
•Guided walks.
•Mokoro and boating experiences.
•Fishing.

Day notes

Daily activities according to your requirements

Day notes

Daily activities according to your requirements

Day notes

Transfer to the airstrip for your 25 minutes flight by light aircraft to Maun.

Continue with your homeward arrangements or with further arrangements through dmAFRICA.