Tau Pan Camp stands on an ancient sand dune ridge looking down on the Tau Pan waterhole, inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve — the second-largest protected area on earth. The operator states it is the first and only camp inside the reserve. If you want to sleep in the Central Kalahari rather than visit it, this is the option.
Quick facts
- Area
- Ghanzi and the Kalahari
- Property type
- Safari Camp
- Setting
- Ancient sand dune ridge above Tau Pan waterhole, Central Kalahari Game Reserve
- Nearest park or reserve
- Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Suites at Tau Pan Camp
Eight suites and one family suite, taking about eighteen guests. Power is solar with generator backup, Wi-Fi is limited and laundry is complimentary.
Facilities at Tau Pan Camp
Open-sided dining, lounge and bar under thatch, an elevated fire pit with a spotting scope, a swimming pool, a safari shop and a sleep-out deck.
Who it suits
Travellers who want desert rather than water, and specifically anyone hoping for the black-maned Kalahari lion. Bushman-led walks are a core part of the programme.
Location and access
Fly-in by light aircraft, about 55 minutes from Maun or two hours from Kasane, with the airstrip fifteen minutes from camp. Self-drive by 4×4 takes about seven hours from Maun via Rakops.
How we checked this listing
Suite counts, the sole-camp claim, activities, flight and drive times come from the Kwando Safaris operator page for this camp. We have not stayed here.
Deception Valley is a day trip, not a myth
Deception Valley is the fossil riverbed made famous by Mark and Delia Owens’ years of lion research there, and the camp runs day trips to it. It is a long drive on sand. Go with the expectation of space and silence rather than a dense game drive, and the trip repays itself.
The Central Kalahari peaks after rain
Like Nxai Pan, this reserve inverts the usual Botswana calendar. The pans green up between roughly January and April, springbok and gemsbok concentrate, and the lions follow. In the deep dry season the reserve is beautiful and extremely quiet in every sense. Choose your month by which of those you actually want.
Booking this property
Tau Pan Camp sells through the operator and through safari agents rather than as a nightly-rate hotel room.
Book or compare
We have not been able to confirm a property-level booking route for Tau Pan Camp. Rather than send you to a property that is not this one, the availability button compares stays across Ghanzi and the Kalahari. It does not claim to open this property.
We publish no rate here. Prices move with season, occupancy and cancellation terms, and a figure copied once is a figure that goes stale.
Botswana Travel Guide may earn a commission when you book through selected links, at no additional cost to you. It does not change what we list or what we say about it.
What we publish, and what we do not
We publish no nightly rate, no live availability, no star rating and no review score of our own. Those move with season and occupancy, and a figure copied once is a figure that goes stale. What we publish is what the property is, where it sits, who it suits and how you reach it.
Plan the rest of your trip
Read our guides to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Khutse Game Reserve to its south, or the wider Kalahari.
