Thakadu Bush Camp sits about 3 km from Ghanzi, built around a floodlit waterhole in Kalahari bush. It runs chalets, tented rooms and campsites together, and its restaurant — trading as The Rampant Aardvark — is the reason a good many people who could stay in town come out here instead.
Quick facts
- Area
- Ghanzi and the Kalahari
- Property type
- Campsite
- Setting
- Kalahari bush around a floodlit waterhole, 3 km from Ghanzi
- Nearest park or reserve
- Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Chalets, tents and camping
Thatched en-suite chalets, en-suite Meru tents and family rooms. Campsites are set around ancient leadwood trees with running water, electricity, power points, lighting and a braai area each, plus a secluded site 200 m from the lodge and larger combined sites sized for overland groups. Two hot-water ablution blocks serve the campers.
Facilities at Thakadu Bush Camp
A swimming pool, a bar, and The Rampant Aardvark restaurant with a daily-changing farm-to-table menu overlooking the waterhole. Complimentary firewood and the loan of cooking equipment for campers, Wi-Fi, a craft and gift shop, and game-viewing, walking and trail-bike routes on the property.
Who it suits
Self-drivers and overlanders on the Trans-Kalahari who want bush rather than a town hotel, and anyone who would rather eat well than eat conveniently.
Location and access
Just off the Trans-Kalahari route between Windhoek and Maun, tar to the vicinity of Ghanzi then a short unsurfaced final approach. Reachable in a standard vehicle; the camp caters for overlanding and 4×4 tour groups as well. GPS −21.7391, 21.6787.
How we checked this listing
Accommodation types, campsite facilities and the restaurant come from the camp’s own website, which publishes rate sheets running into 2027. We have not stayed here.
Three kilometres changes the night
Ghanzi is a working cattle town and the hotel in the middle of it is a good, functional place to sleep. Three kilometres out, with a floodlit waterhole and leadwood trees over the pitches, is a different experience for very little extra driving — and you are still close enough to resupply in the morning.
For anyone doing the Trans-Kalahari as a drive rather than a transfer, that is a worthwhile trade. Our Kalahari guide covers the wider region and what is reachable from Ghanzi.
Camping here is properly equipped
Individual power, water, lighting and a braai area per pitch is a considerably better standard than most Botswana campsites offer, and the loan of cooking equipment is unusual anywhere. That combination is aimed squarely at people arriving off a long drive who do not want to unpack everything.
The larger combined sites and the overland provision mean it can be busy when a truck is in. If you want solitude, ask for the secluded site 200 m out.
Who Thakadu Bush Camp suits
- Self-drivers on the Trans-Kalahari who want a bush stop rather than a town one.
- Campers, for powered pitches under leadwoods with equipment on loan.
- Anyone who cares about dinner, which on this road is not a given.
It suits you less if you need to walk to a bank, or want a conventional hotel room with air conditioning as standard.
Booking this property
Thakadu takes reservations by email and WhatsApp. There is no online booking engine, so we have not published a booking button. Contact details are on the camp’s own site, linked below.
Book or compare
We have not been able to confirm a booking route for Thakadu Bush Camp specifically. 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.
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What we publish, and what we do not
We publish no rates, no availability, no star ratings and no review scores of our own.
If anything here is out of date, tell us through our contact page and we will check it against the source and correct it.
