Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tent, a drinks tent and a separate tea tent where you can indulge in high tea while relaxing
on Oriental rugs and cushions. Safari expeditions put you in touch with local meerkats,
rare brown hyenas and San culture. Rates include full board, wildlife drives, bushwalks
and a range of activities including quad bikes and horse-riding safaris.
Air fares cost around US$150 per person one way from Maun. Road transfer from
Gweta costs around US$110 per person one way, and escorts (with your own 4WD) from
Gweta cost US$165 per vehicle.
TENTED CAMP
Camp Kalahari $$$
Offline map
( in South Africa 011-447 1605;
www.unchartedafrica.com
; s/d US$704/1122; )
TENTED CAMP
San Camp $$$
Offline map
( in South Africa 011-447 1605;
www.unchartedafrica.com
; s/d US$1425/2200; )
One of the most luxurious tented camps in Africa.
Jack's Camp $$$
Offline map
( in South Africa 011-447 1605;
www.unchartedafrica.com
; s/d US$1596/2500; )
If
you've got some serious cash to burn, the highly recommended Jack's Camp is one of the
most luxurious lodges in the whole of Africa.
TENTED CAMP
SEASONS ON THE PANS
As everywhere in Botswana, seasons play an important role in determining what sort of experience you're likely
to have here. In the dry season, from May to October, the great salt pans are long, low and white, curtained by an
electric-blue sky and pulsing with an unstoppable glare. During the sizzling heat of the late winter (August), the
stark pans take on a disorienting and ethereal austerity. Heat mirages destroy the senses as imaginary lakes shim-
mer and disappear, ostriches take flight, and stones turn to mountains and float in midair. But as the annual rains
begin to fall in the late spring, depressions in the pans form temporary lakes and fringing grasses turn green with
life. Herd animals arrive to partake of the bounty, while waterbirds flock to feed on algae and tiny crustaceans. A
word of warning: wet pans make for difficult driving at this time.
