TOURISM NEWS Jack’s Camp – an icon is reborn. Opening January 2021 The iconic Jack’s Camp in the Makgadikgadi, Botswana has been reimagined and rebuilt and will reopen with a luxurious new look in January 2021 to celebrate the camp’s 25th anniversary. The brand-new Jack’s Camp pays homage to the property’s enduring and much loved 1940s campaign style. The rebuild was overseen by owner and founder, Ralph Bousfield, whose father pioneered safaris into the Makgadikgadi over half a century ago. Bousfield explains his vision for the new camp, “Jack’s has always been a whimsical place, somewhere unconventional where the natural world surprises and delights. The new Jack’s has built on this legacy, and when it reopens in 2021 it will offer an Alice in Wonderland like oasis in the midst of the ethereal Makgadikgadi”.
each one a cabinet of extraordinary curiosities ranging from stone tools to fossils, all collected and curated by Bousfield himself. Landscapeorientated to allow panoramic views of the salt pans ahead, seven twin tents feature two queen size beds and two double tents feature extralength king beds. Each tent can accommodate a child on a third day bed in the living room.
The new look Jack’s features nine spacious safari tents, more than double the size of the former tents, with an interior floor area of 130m2. The tents will retain the same traditional dark green exterior canvas and iconic interior lining.
The furniture and the softs at Jack’s have always been hand-produced by a dedicated team of craftsmen and it is this attention to detail that means the camp’s style has remained inimitable for a quarter of a century. New textiles come from India and Morocco and cushions and bedspreads are all sewn by hand at Ralph’s family home. The guest tents will feature both indoor and outdoor showers and an overhead cooling system for the bed area to ensure a comfortable night’s sleep. Private plunge pools (half outdoor, half indoor) are the perfect place to cool off in the afternoon and the spacious deck is ideal for an al fresco massage.
Furnished with antiques that have been passed down through generations of the Bousfield family, the new larger guest tents will each have their own miniature natural history museum,
The new, larger mess tent of Jack’s Camp, which is a Natural History Museum in Botswana, will retain much of its original look and feel. Framed Peter Beard pictures sit alongside original posters
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