DRIFT Travel Magazine Spring 2024

AFRICA
JACK’S CAMP
DRIFT TRAVEL
45
BY ALLISON FOAT
At first glance, the Makgadikgadi
salt pans may appear a little
underwhelming, a seemingly lifeless
sprawl that stretches before you
like a primordial world without end.
But once your urban self begins
to decompress and your spirit is
brought to heel, an illuminating shift
takes place and you see it for what
it truly is - one of the most beguiling
wild places on earth.
It was the late Jack Bousfield,
a trailblazing hunter-turnedconservationist
who clocked the
Makgadikgadi’s raw magnificence
and succinctly declared it to be ‘the
perfect nothing.’ Its remoteness
resonated deeply and swift to
identify the destination potential,
he began curating expeditions
and welcoming the curious to a
no-frills situation in the middle of
nowhere. The year was 1962 and
that unsophisticated set up marked
the first iteration of legendary
Jack’s Camp. Suffice to say dubious
naysayers were silenced, seduced
by the divine isolation and an
irresistible promise of adventure.
The Jack’s Camp backstory is well
documented and not without
tragedy, which struck when Jack
lost his life in a plane crash, his
seventh and the one that proved
fatal. His son Ralph, who survived
the accident, decided to pursue
his father’s dream to create a
full service safari camp in the
Makgadikgadi. He picked up the
baton and ran with it and in 1992
Jack’s Camp version two was born,
settled in the exact same spot on
the north side of the Ntwetwe Pan
in a one million acre private reserve.
It was and still is, a lavish oasis
celebrated for its alluring locale,
timeless elegance and high caliber
guiding. Whatever your raison
d’être, Jack’s is a coveted sojourn for
nature enthusiasts, eco-conscious
travelers and anyone simply seeking
immersion in a microcosm of
untrammeled Africa.
Three decades and one pandemic
later and Ralph felt it was time
for a thorough rebuild, and the
global travel ban presented an
unexpected opportunity to do so.
Jack’s reopened in 2021, a plush reimagining
with a significantly more
sybaritic offering under canvas.
At 270 square meters, the tents
stand almost triple the size of their
forerunners, ensconced between
thickets and aerial palms, peaceful
and private. Raised high off the
ground in a rectangular shape, each
suite– there are seven twin and two
doubles- comprises three rooms,
not unlike a nomadic Bedouin tent
arrangement, with the walls and
ceiling bedecked and draped in
luxuriant textiles. When you first
unzip your ‘door’ and step into the
coolness, a small hallway greets
you, opening into an expansive
lounge that in turn leads to the
IT IS ARID AND
UNFORGIVING
FOR MOST OF THE
YEAR BUT ONCE
THE SEASONAL
RAINS BEGIN TO
FALL... THE LAND
IS TRANSFORMED
main bedroom and bathroom.
Mesh netting protects the various
entrances to deter unwanted
crawling visitors, transparent so that
you can always have eyes on the
view. A wooden deck, complete with
daybeds that swing like hammocks
and your own plunge pool, runs all
the way round culminating in an
outdoor shower under the trees.
The main bedroom has two four
poster double beds hung with
crisp, white mosquito nets and with
gratifying air cooling systems. In
one corner a writing desk invites a
bout of journaling while in the other
stands a wood-burning fireplace,
a wonderful addition guaranteed
to ramp up the cozy factor come