Jack’s Private Camp is a two-bedroom canvas villa on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Pans, taken by one party at a time with its own guide, vehicle, chef and host. It shares its name with the far larger camp nearby, close enough to borrow its meerkats and its museum collection.
Habituated meerkats climb onto shoulders for a better view.
The pans are the reason to come, a salt-crusted floor left by a prehistoric lake, flat to the horizon and silent enough that breathing becomes audible. Habituated meerkats climb onto shoulders for a better view. In the dry months quad bikes run out onto the crust, and behind camp the Zu/’hoasi trackers walk the grassland, reading plants and tracks and teaching bushcraft.
Jack Bousfield was a hunter turned safari pioneer who put a rough camp on this site in the 1960s. He died in a plane crash in 1992. The following year his son Ralph rebuilt it in his memory, in the 1940s campaign style that still sets the look here: Persian rugs, mahogany chests, burnished brass and crimson-lined canvas. Ralph leads Uncharted Africa Safari Company today, training the camp’s guides himself.
Nothing outside the villa keeps time except the light on the pan.
Exclusive use here means the days belong to whoever books the place. Nothing outside the villa keeps time except the light on the pan. Breakfast at ten, meerkats until lunch, dinner on the pool deck at nine: the chef and guide work to one group’s rhythm, not a camp timetable. Two couples have the lounge and pool to themselves; a family skips the main camp’s communal table.
From roughly May to October the pans bake dry and pale, firm enough to drive across, and the camp’s guided quad bikes run out onto a crust where distance stops meaning much. Rain changes it completely. Between November and April the salt greens over into grassland and tens of thousands of zebra and wildebeest move through, trailed by black-maned Kalahari lions and cheetah. In March and April flamingos gather on the flooded shallows and the pans turn pink. Quad biking pauses when the crust softens.
The villa’s private concession borders Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, which is why night drives and off-road tracking are permitted here. Much of what lives on these salt plains only moves after dark, and spotlights find it. Brown hyena, aardwolf and bat-eared fox turn up on evening drives, with honey badger too, while gemsbok and springbok hold the open ground through the heat of the day. With a vehicle to themselves, guests can follow a set of tracks for as long as they choose, and turn back for nobody.
Much of what lives on these salt plains only moves after dark, and spotlights find it
Days end at the pool on the deck, looking out at nothing but pan. Meals arrive wherever they are asked for, a picnic set out on the salt, a barbecue by the fire, a wine-paired dinner in the dining tent, or pizza for children who have had enough of grown-up food. Mornings begin with tea on a silver tray under a velvet cosy. The villa keeps its own mahogany cabinet of curiosities, holding fossils, Stone Age tools and mineral specimens from the basin.
Light aircraft from Maun reach the nearest airstrip, and a short drive brings guests in from there. Helicopters can land on site, and scenic flights over the pans can be arranged with the doors off. Guests keep the run of the neighbouring camp whenever they want it, including afternoon tea on Persian rugs in its tea tent. Otherwise the two bedrooms, the pool and the quiet belong to one group alone. Children of any age are welcome, and horse riding across the desert plains suits confident riders.
accommodation
Two bedroom suites flank the central lounge, dining and library tent. One has a king bed, the other two extra-length queen-size beds, each with a day bed and over-bed cooling. Bathrooms hold twin indoor showers, an outdoor shower and a deep freestanding brass bath. A private pool opens off the deck, and solar power runs day and night.
activities
Private day and night game drives in the villa's own 4x4, time with habituated meerkats, guided quad biking onto the dry salt pans from around May to October, walks with Zu/'hoasi trackers, horse riding, and helicopter flights over the pans. Off-road driving and spotlighting are permitted within the private concession.
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conservation
Stays support Elephants for Africa's collaring work and its elephant-proof fencing programme with farming communities, plus the Aardvark Project's camera-trap surveys and the Makgadikgadi Large Mammal Migration land-use programme. Wild Shots Outreach teaches photography to young people from the surrounding area; Zu/'hoasi families guide and teach at camp.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
By light aircraft from Maun to the airstrip at Tsigaro on the edge of the salt pans, roughly forty five minutes to an hour, then a short drive across to the villa. We build that flight into the itinerary and time it to the arrival into Maun. Seats on the shared charter are confirmed the day before and luggage is soft bags only, around twenty kilograms a person.
Because the villa is taken by one party at a time, a private charter often makes better sense here, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, which leaves when the group is ready rather than on a fixed schedule. The airstrip transfers at the far end are part of the rate.
Yes, and the guidance is seasonal. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, places northern Botswana at high risk from October to May and low risk from June to September, and recommends antimalarial tablets for the high risk months. The US CDC lists the Boteti district, which covers this part of the pans, as a malaria transmission area and applies no seasonal exemption to it. Low risk is not the same as no risk.
We do not give medical advice. We are travel planners rather than doctors, so the choice of tablets, and whether they suit everyone in the party, belongs in a conversation between you and your own doctor or a travel clinic. What we can be useful on is the non-medical part: cover up once the light goes, and carry repellent.
The villa has two en-suite bedroom suites and takes six at most, usually four adults and two children. One suite has an extra length king bed, the other two extra length queens, and both have daybeds.
Children of any age are welcome, which is unusual for this part of Botswana. Most camps on the pans set a minimum age because vehicles and mealtimes are shared, but here the party has the villa, the guide and the vehicle to itself, so that restriction falls away. A few activities keep their own age limits, riding and quad biking among them, and we check those against the children's ages when we plan the days.
There is wifi in the bedrooms and the living areas, running off the camp's solar system, and it is included in the rate. It handles messages, email and sending photographs rather than video calls.
Mobile signal is a different matter. This is remote country and there is no reliable cellular coverage at the villa, so the wifi is the practical way to stay in touch while you are there.
Two nights is the minimum the camp accepts. Three is the better answer and it is what we usually build in.
The reason is the shape of the days rather than a sales point. The habituated meerkats, a walk with the Zu/'hoasi trackers and a full day out on the pan do not fit comfortably into one middle day, and the light that makes this place worth photographing comes at dawn and dusk. Two nights gives one full day, three gives two, with room to lose a morning to weather or a late flight and still see everything.
The rate covers the villa, all meals, local drinks, daily laundry, the airstrip transfers and the park and concession fees, along with a private guide, a private vehicle, a chef and a host who work for the one party only. Activities are included as well: day and night drives, the habituated meerkats, cultural walks with the Zu/'hoasi trackers and, in the dry months, quad bikes and fat bikes out on the crust.
Charged separately are premium wines and champagne, spa treatments, helicopter flights, gratuities and the community and conservation levy. We list those in the costings so nothing appears for the first time on the final bill.
rated five stars by our clients
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
