Reviews of Tau Pan Camp

"Excellent guide (Joe) and Tracker (Voter). Food was disappointing." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana

"What a special place! The staff, the accommodations, the food; all wonderful. Everybody there makes you feel special.

Having been to other Kwara camps, it seems that the welcoming feel is a hallmark of the company. We can't say enough good things about tau pan." See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana

"We were the only guests apart from a National Geographic photographer hunting for honey badgers.

We were made to feel very welcome. Helped by a knowledgeable guide, Vasco, and the eyes of a very good tracker, Custom, we saw a surprisingly large quantity of game in just a couple of days, including 16 lions, a leopard and an elusive aardwolf. They respected the fact that we enjoy spotting birds as much as we do larger game.

The water hole in front of the lodge is a magnet for competing lions. We loved the scenery and quiet of the off-season Kalahari and the simplicity of the camp and could have stayed longer. A terrific start to the holiday." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe

"This was our first camp of the trip and we enjoyed it immensely. It is unique in our experience. This is not a camp for those who want to have maximum game viewings. However for small mammals and birds and the biggest navy blue sky with a million stars it is superb.

We stayed for 2 nights and felt that this length of stay was perfect. We went on all the game drives and also on the 'bushman' walk which was excellent. In summary a fabulous first stop and one we would thoroughly recommend." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"We had a fabulous experience at this camp.

Loved the remoteness of this place, The guide and tracker were excellent and very knowledgeable." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 9n in South Africa

"I would rate it 2.5 stars cheap and cheerful. The rooms were small but clean. The food was adequate but cheap - chicken for dinner 2 nights and pulled beef 3rd night. Breakfast at 0530 consisted of muffins and tea/coffee. The staff were enthusiastic. The guide Vasco was excellent.

A bit like I imagined Butlins - not that I was ever there" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"Excellent camp in beautiful position overlooking the salt pan, lovely staff and superb food. The green season is a wonderful time to visit and although long grass can make game viewing difficult, we saw hundreds of Gemsbok and a considerable number of black-manned Kalahari Lions. In addition to hundreds of Falcons, White Storks appeared on the Pan one morning alongside the Gemsbok, Giraffes and Springboks which was an amazing sight. In addition our guide, Timber, and our tracker, PK, gave us a lot of information about wild foods and how to eat them as well as identifying a considerable number of flowers." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana

"I spent 3 nights at Tau Pan in early December, 2013 and would highly recommend the camp to anyone. You simply must include the Kalahari on your itinerary if at all possible.

The staff at Tau Pan was simply exceptional, striking just the right balance between involved and giving you some breathing space. The guides and trackers were really excellent. Vasco and Scupa were great to spend my days with and I would particularly like to thank Russ, who was simply not willing to accept that I hadn't seen a cheetah yet and hustled me into the safari vehicle at 5:45 on my final morning - we found a cheetah at 6:05! (I know that was pure chance, but still).

I really liked that Tau Pan had Botswanan management - as I was travelling alone, it made for great conversations for me, learning about local culture. The rooms are gorgeous, the setting is amazing (though of course no animals come to the water hole in rainy season - that would be awesome to see) and the staff was fantastic. The game drives were many and frequent and we even did a full day drive - left at 6am and returned at 6pm. Oh yeah, I was the only one in the vehicle, so I had a full day private game drive! The highlight of the whole trip was seeing a pride of 4 lions devouring a recently killed oryx.

One caution for travellers: the game is less dense in the kalahari and even less dense in December, so you can go long stretches of driving seeing only birds and the odd bat eared fox, but given the flat open terrain, when you do find something, it can be awesome. But because you are in a national park, you have to stick to the roads also." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"It was great to have the entire camp just to us (especially after Jack's Camp which was so crowded). The location with its views over the vast landscape of the Kalahari is breathtaking, we particularly enjoyed having our morning tee/coffee at the fire watching the sun rise over the desert, watching animal activities at the waterhole (e.g. kudus and giraffes) from the camp's pool as well as having dinner under the stars.

Wildlife was very good, even though the Kalahari was already very dry for this time of the year (early April). We loved the many bat eared foxes (we often saw them quite close), giraffes, and of course the many lions and one leopard (in the middle of the road!). On our last morning, the lion pack resident at the camp returned after they had been away for several weeks and we had the chance to follow them while they prepared for hunting. Alex, our guide, and Vota, the tracker, were very knowledgeable and created a wonderful safari experience, which was very relaxed , informative and entertaining at the same time.

Service and food at Tau Pan were excellent, all staff was very helpful and friendly. We particularly liked the fact that Kwando is a company based in Botswana which takes great pride in employing local people (also for the management). It was great to see how enthusiastic all staff and management were working for this company. Wonderful experience!" See all these reviews: 16n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"Great location with a wonderful lookout of the Kalahari.

My guide Lucky tried everything to show us as much as possible - great.

I recommend the bush walk with the Bushman Scuba. Absolutely great and very interesting." See all these reviews: 13n in Botswana