Camp Kalahari

Camp Kalahari lies on the eastern edge of Botswana's Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. This camp - affectionately known as "CK" - is owned by the son of a renowned early 20th century croc hunter who fell in love with the expansive salt pans of central northern Botswana. It shares 4,000sq km of private wilderness with just two other small luxury camps – San and Jack’s. 

Jack's Camp is very old-fashioned, featuring  lots of dark wood and heavy rugs, with skulls and stuffed animals for decoration. If you like vintage safari camps, it might be for you! San Camp is by contrast, more romantic, all billowy light canvas. 

CK was the most simple and contemporary in style of the trio - and roughly half the cost - yet CK guests still enjoyed the same fantastic guides and activities offered at the other two camps.

Photos of San and Jack's camp are below  - just for comparison. All had their own dining tents and swimming pools. 

Our game drives at Camp Kalahari were always accompanied by interesting commentary on wildlife behaviour and there wasn’t a bird or animal our guide Bones didn’t know the name of. Later, he also led us on a walk (similar to the one at Meno a Kwena) with a group of San Bushmen.

On game drives over two days, we encountered some 4,000 plus zebra and over a thousand wildebeest grazing on the sweet yellow grass of Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. The herds were part of the planet’s second-largest land mammal migration (the herds travel between the Boteti River and this part of the park for water and grass). We also saw our first African wild cat and plenty of spring hares.

On our final day, we went to see the meerkats. There are three semi-habituated groups that live in the private reserve and every day, three staff members go out in search of each one. Bones took us to see a group of around six, who allowed us photograph them in close proximity, then we went on to mingle with a separate group of around thirty. One warmed up to our presence so much, it sat on one guest’s head for a few minutes. This unique and enchanting encounter ended our stay at CK on a high.