Jack's Camp

Jack's Camp is one of Africa's most storied safari properties, founded in the 1960s by crocodile-catcher and adventurer Jack Bousfield after he was captivated by this stretch of the Makgadikgadi during a trapping expedition. Following his death in 1992, his son Ralph Bousfield founded Uncharted Africa Safari Company and rebuilt the camp in its now-signature nostalgic 1940s style, guided by the ethos "Real Adventure in Unreal Style." The setting — the fossil bed of a prehistoric super-lake — transforms from a bone-dry lunar landscape (April-October) to lush, migration-filled grassland after the November rains.

Nine tents (7 twin, 2 double), each 270m² of indoor/outdoor space, are furnished with Persian rugs, hand-carved four-poster beds, brass fittings and campaign furniture, each with a private deck and plunge pool. The mess tent is a showpiece: a curated Natural History Museum of curiosities, a 36-seat antique dining table (an 1820s officer's mess table), a well-stocked bar, an antique pool table and the camp's famous nomadic Persian tea tent, plus a pool pavilion reportedly the only one of its kind in Africa.

Activities trade the Delta's water-based safaris for desert-driven experiences unique to this portfolio: guided quad-biking across the salt flats, encounters with a habituated meerkat colony, guided walks with local San Bushmen, horseback safaris, helicopter flights, and game drives turning up desert specialists like brown hyena, aardvark and black-maned Kalahari lion, alongside the seasonal zebra/wildebeest migration (Africa's second largest, Nov-March). The camp has won Condé Nast Traveler's inaugural "Triple Crown" award.

Rooms: 9 tents (7 twin, 2 double), 270m² each incl. private plunge pool. Facilities: pool pavilion, spa, Persian tea tent, on-site Natural History Museum, library. Solar-powered, 24-hour electricity.