Jacks Camp
(Kalahari Desert - Botswana)
Jacks Camp - A Botswana Safari Lodge
Jacks Camp, a romantic canvas pavilion of low spires and finials, with a
fluttering valance beneath its eaves, could have come straight from a mediaeval
jousting tourney, were it not a deciduous green. Three poles support the main
chamber where everyone meets for lavish and elegant meals at a long communal
dining table.
Jacks Camp consists of ten green roomy and stylish canvas tents with en-suite bathrooms and indoor
and outdoor showers (for those who want to feel the Kalahari breeze on their
skin) which have been fashioned in classical style and are set into a palm grove
creating an oasis of civilisation in what can be the harshest of stark
environments. Persian rugs underfoot and cool cotton sheets form a striking
contrast with the rugged wilderness viewed from the comfort of one's own
veranda.
Venturing far into the centre of the Makgadikgadi, on 4-wheel-drive quad bikes,
we are able to explore remote archaeological sites, periodically discovering
never-before-documented fossil beds of extinct giant zebra and hippo. The fact
that you can travel across the pans at great speed and still arrive nowhere only
underlines the pan's immensity. There is nothing out here.
A safari to Jacks Camp is also a complete desert experience, focusing on
species unique to the area such as aardvark, gemsbok and springbok. It is the
only place where guests are virtually guaranteed to see the rare and elusive
brown hyaena and are able to walk through the Kalahari with a gang of
habituated, yet wild meerkats (suricates)!
During the wet season the landscape at Jacks Camp transforms. Clouds of flamingo and other
migratory birds descend from the heavens to decorate the watery grasslands.
Herds of zebra and wildebeest materialise, drawn by the lush grass, and for
several months, the desert is teeming with game and predators.
The guides at Jacks Camp are an erudite breed. Often graduate students who combine
research with guiding, they team up with a small group of Zu/'hoasi Bushmen to
guide our guests on the morning's walks and game drives.
The response from those who have been there is always the same. The question,
"Jacks Camp?" is followed by a reflective pause. "It's different." And there
they leave it, the difficulty of describing it hanging in the air like a
half-built bridge.
Mkgadikgadi Pans
The Makgadikgadi pans consist of two major basins, relics of a massive lake
and swampland that existed over much of northern Botswana between about 2
million and 40,000 years ago. On the edge of the western basin, also known as
the Ntetwe Pan are Jack's and San camps.
Jack's is situated on an isolated island filled with tall fan palms and
commiphora trees. Named for the legendary Jack Bousefield, who was a pioneer of
these remote wastes, Jack's Camp remains one of the most intriguing and
mysterious places in the Kalahari or Kgalagadi. Owned and designed by Ralph
Bousefield and Catherine Raphaely, Jack's and nearby San Camp offer guests
access to a completely unique area.
During the summer months (November to April) the focus is on the thousands of
zebra which have migrated from the Boteti River and Makgadikgadi Pans National
Park immediately to the west. During these same months, the pans fill with water
and attract numerous species of birds from flamingos to wattled cranes and
pelicans. During the dry, or winter months, the migrations move westwards to the
water available in the Boteti River but many desert-adapted creatures remain
resident.
This is the domain of the brown hyaena, a shy and elusive creature, as well as
suricates, aardvarks and small bustard species. Ralph Bousefield and his guides
have made many important finds in the field of palaeontology, with stone
implements and other evidence of Stone Age dwellers.
This is an extremely fragile environment filled with fascination and interest.
The management and guides have an approach of maximum care for the environment,
and this is a destination for the true lover of remote experiences.
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