Terra Nova Travel

Professional trip designing for the inquisitive, independent and intrepid

Jack's Camp, Makgadikgadi Pan, Botswana

To quote Monty Python, "And now for something completely different ". Jack's Camp is situated south of Okavango Delta in the Kalahari Desert. Just before the November rains arrive the residents dubbed this suicide season as the temperatures can reach a searing 110 degrees in the shade. While I was well aware of the heat, the actual experience was intense. The wet kikoy cloth were our constant companion from our outings to our cooling bedtime swaddling. From the oven, I sought relief in the fridgid pool which I dubbed the "ice bucket". Jack's is all about the romance of adventure. When Jack Bousfield fell in love with the Makgadikgadi Pans of the Kalahari Desert, he decided to create a camp fashioned after a bygone era. All the tents from the mess tent, the tea tent, pool tent and the guests' tents all have the "Out of Africa" vibe. Jack’s had its own exotic charm,

• The diminutive and adorable, yet "mighty" meerkats.

• The desert adapted lion, zebra and jackals.

• The sequoia of Africa, the Chapman’s Baobab, crashed on January 7, 2016, but the collapsed multi-trunk giant still has life in its branches. One of the slowest growing trees on the planet, it took the this baobab over 500 hundred years to attain its 84 foot stature. Over the centuries, this majestic tree served as a travelers’ and explorers’ important landmark. A favorite of elephant, there are efforts being made to protect the prostrate leafy branches from the voracious pachyderms.

Because of Jack’s relationship with the nomadic bushmen, one of the highlights of my trip was visiting the bushpeople and gaining a glimpse of how they survive in the desert. The other magical part of the visit was our quad bike ride at sunset across the desert. Talk about a modern Lawrence of Arabia experience!

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