Hemingway would have loved this place. Set up for safari romantics, the whole aesthetic, complete with a classic maroon and dark-khaki colour scheme, is East African–style safaris c1940s. Regal linens, heavy wood furnishings, four-poster beds and big wooden chests furnish the canvas tents, which are romantically lit by paraffin lanterns by night (no electricity).
Inhabiting its own, oasis-like palm island that rises gently above the surrounding salt pans, Jack's Camp also has a central ‘mess tent’ that operates as a field museum where local guides and world-renowned experts deliver lectures and lead discussions on the area’s flora and fauna against a backdrop of museum-standard exhibits (including stuffed lion and aardvark, historic paintings and bookshelves that owe far more to hard-to-find Africana and serious tomes than books left behind by travellers). There’s also a separate tea tent where you can indulge in high tea while relaxing on oriental rugs and cushions.
Dry-season wildlife is scarce but you've a front-row seat for the rainy-season zebra migration. Other major highlights include a nearby brown hyena den, a couple of families of human-habituated meerkats (if you're lucky, one might use your head as a lookout post, for that ultimate safari photo opp), and there are usually lions in the area; we even saw an aardvark on one of our night drives.
In addition to wildlife drives, activities include quad biking, sundowners out on the pans, one of the more authentic 'Bushman nature walk' experiences we encountered anywhere in Botswana, and horse-riding safaris.
Rates include full board and all activities.
