Reviews of San Camp

"Overall the experience was outstanding. Our guide Prince was amazing in every way. He was knowledgeable, engaging even with the kids (our 4 year old warmed up to him immediately). We felt safe with his guidance and excited with every drive and activity. We learned so much more than just animals, as he focused on the story behind the track and the history of the land. We were all mesmerized! We can’t say enough about his disposition, so sweet and caring.

Valentine made sure our stay was safe, organized and catered to our needs! The staff in general remembered everyone’s name and preferences. They welcomed us back from each drive personally and made sure we were comfortable between activities.

Afternoon tea on the veranda was a highlight! Food was impressive and personalized (catering to the kids and gluten free diet of one member).

The rooms were beautiful and comfortable. The beds were comfy and warm, as we visited in the winter season.

Overall we loved our stay here and would recommend it! It was a mix of luxuries and wild activities!" See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana

"The only reason we downgraded some of the facilities was because we are in our late seventies and early eighties and the walk from room to meals was particularly challenging for my husband and the high bed was as well. That said we loved San Camp and its small size.

The antiquey furnishings added an old-time feel. The high tea yurt and all the meals were fantastic. Meerkats were on my bucket list and the reason we chose to come here. We loved the complete change in habitat - desert/salt pan with fewer shrubs and trees, more grassland - much more open. We saw a host of new smaller mammals. TH was our excellent guide and shared his vast knowledge of the flora and fauna.

Our encounter with the Bushfolk was very interactive and informative. Our daughter and our 9 year old grandson were able to walk with them but that was not something the old folk could do. TH drove us in the safari vehicle so we could follow them. I loved my morning with the meerkats - sitting beside their burrows as they awoke and got on with their day was sublime. I loved going to bed and listening to the grunts of Wildebeest who hung out nearby.

The highlight of our time at San Camp for TH was seeing the Aardvark which apparently does not happen very often. I saw my first Springbok." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana

"San Camp location was amazing and I have not seen anything like it before, you felt like you were on the moon. Even though there is not much vegetation, we saw lots of animals, more than I thought we would, which was a nice surprise.

Highlight was seeing the Meerkats, the trip to the San People was ok but a bit awkward at times. The trip on the quad bikes was good fun, but they played silly games to waste time before the sun went down to surprise everyone with a meal out on the pans, which was a nice surprise, but what was not a nice surprise was they are expecting you to sleep out over night, which I was not wanting to do, so we got driven back to camp.

The staff here are very lazy and we had to wait for over an hour for breakfast on two mornings, even though they told us we need to be there at a certain time. very disorganised and poor management.

The rooms are very quirky, down side no bedside lamps so you have to get up and cross the room to turn the lights off and walk back in the dark, this could be a bit hazardous at times!

The guide was excellent though and made our stay her pleasant, and even took us on an extra night drive and we saw an Aardvark.

I would not recommend this camp, but if you want to see the Pans then you have limited options and the company owns all three camps and they do the same activities rotating guests.

WiFi is rubbish" See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"San Camp more then meets the stylistic expectation but sometimes more substance would be appreciated. The accommodation is spacious and well furnished but the living area has very poor lighting and some bed side lighting should be provided.
If you prefer choices for your activities avoid this camp as the activities are compulsory! That said we would not have opted for the quad bike activity but we enjoyed the evening and sunset experience. Two other compulsory activities are the Meerkat and Bush people walk and interaction. The Meerkat experience is enjoyable but the Meerkats have been habituated to humans. We cannot comment on the Bush people experience because they failed to turn up due to a communication issue?! Besides the compulsory nature of the activities it also seems to be camp policy to fill the vehicles (7) with guests despite the fact that two other vehicles and the associated guides had no guests. The salt pans and landscape is stunning. Overall we enjoyed our three nights." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana

"Amazing camp and environment. Staff very attentive.
They liked surprising us eg the opportunity to sleep under the stars after our quad bike ride and dinner in the bush. Would have loved it if I had known and come prepared with contact lens paraphernalia." See all these reviews: 16n in Botswana

"This was a different experience as it is a temporary camp and is dismantled after the season. The accommodation is more like a Sahara desert tent camp.

The chef was very accommodating in preparing food for my allergy.

The staff's approach of not letting guests know what activities they are doing creates some issues in guests being prepared for the activity." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe

"A beautiful place to stay - the accommodation is unreal, the staff just lovely and any more food, I wouldn’t have been able to climb into the safari vehicle!

I really loved the friendliness of San Camp - from our guide to all the house staff. The location and views are stunning and we had the most amazing safaris, unbelievably coming across a lioness and her 3 juvenile cubs, and later on a female cheetah and her 2 juvenile cubs all on our first game drive!

Spending time with the meerkats was really special too." See all these reviews: 3n in Botswana; 1n in South Africa

"A magical place to stay" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"This camp, like the others nearby, are unique in their salt pan location. This is not a camp for first timers to Africa who might expect to see "the big five". This is the place to see "the ugly five" and some unique mammals. The air is pristine here and the sky is great for star photography, just not around full moon time, however. San Camp is the destination for friendly, gregarious meerkats for sure and with a little luck, a brown hyena or even an aardvark! We did see one, albeit running for its burrow. That photo will not be an award winner however. Be prepared to stay up late in the search for them i.e. we got back to camp at 1:30 am. The guide, Vasco de Gamma (his real name) was persistent in looking for the unusual mammals!

In late June, the weather was cold at night. We slept in long underwear and the camp has heavy comforters and hot water bottles that make things warm. You will get dressed very quickly in the morning in time for the early game drives. Afternoons were a warm 70 F and the time to shower. The camp provided a sun downer on the salt pan that was accompanied with a full bar as well as a quiet, serene sunset. On another occasion the camp provided a full dinner on the pan with an opportunity to sleep out there for the night! If it weren't so cold we would have done it. None of the guests opted to do this either for the same reason.

A trip to see the bushmen of the Kalahari was excellent and put to shame the "hokey" encounters with other tribes one might see in Africa.

There is electricity for limited room lighting only in the tents but not for any phones, computers or camera battery charging and downloading of images. This must be done near the dining area and even that is limited. We left all of this equipment in the area rather than dragging it back and forth to the tents which are very spread out. The folks at the camp did help and go along with my plan to bring one of the small reading tables next to the electric area to work on. This assuaged the problem a lot. If more folks were doing this it would have been a problem however.

Other animals seen but not on your list included: porcupine and baby; bat eared fox; black backed jackels; spring hares; yellow mongoose; pukus." See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 6n in Zambia; 4n in Zimbabwe; 3n in Botswana; 1n in Kenya

"This was one of the most expensive lodges we had ever stayed at, so expectations were high. Upon arrival we were shown around the communal area, and served delicious sandwiches while the program of the next few days were explained to us. Our first issue was that there was no flexibility with the activities, we were told that we were going on a game drive that afternoon, walking with San People in the morning and Meerkats in the afternoon, leaving no time for the quad bike trip to the pans, which Martin wanted to do. Eventually, when we stood our ground, we squeezed in the quad biking after the morning walk. We just felt that they could at least make it feel as if you were part of the decision making about your activities. I know some of the other guests were "treated" to surprises that we were more than happy to have missed out on. I, for one, would much rather be consulted on what we are to do and when.

We were in the tent furthest away from the main area. It is a very long walk, especially in the heat of the day, and in the dark. It was fine for us, but I think for elderly people or with mobility issues, it might be an issue - you don't want to go back to get something that was forgotten. The tent was as beautiful as the photo's, but proved to be impractical. The bed is extremely high, requiring steps to access it, and without a light next to the bed (only one light at the entrance to the tent and one in the bathroom) it was a bit daunting to have to negotiate your way in the dark. Perhaps a torch next to the bed might help. Also, the bed standing in the middle of the tent, and there being no headboard, meant the pillows fell off the end of the bed, requiring another trip in the dark to retrieve them.

It took us a while to recognize and appreciate what this place is about - the remoteness, the quiet, the desolate beauty - grows on you. I think they are trying too hard to be fancy, or different, making the experience feel contrived. Everybody does not want to have to take off their shoes to lounge around on cushions with strangers having afternoon tea. I think perhaps we would have enjoyed the Makgadigadi pans more in more relaxed, comfortable surroundings." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana