Reviews of Tau Pan Camp

"The camp facilities and staff are excellent. Service was friendly and good.

The camp was very crowded when we were there and the communal dining experience with 20 strangers is not optimum for a relaxed holiday.

Our guide Vasco and tracker Zimbo were very good and well-informed about birds and animals and plants. The rainy season was an interesting time to visit - animals are dispersed and harder to find but there were plenty of Oryx and Wildebeest and many displaying birds." See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana; 1n in Namibia

"Tau Pan is perfect for starting the adventure. It is a lower game-dense area than most, so you have to temper your expectations. We were looking to ease into safari life, while absorbing a 9 hour time difference, and we found the sunsets, the sunrises, the stargazing, the people and the service to be amazingly helpful.

We also found more animals than we were expecting. A lone male lion on our first game drive, and the rest of the Tau Pan pride was located each day as well. Really appreciated our guide/tracking team of PK and Jakes. Jakes stopped at everything we wanted to see. He also automatically placed the vehicle in the right light, and correct angle for a photographer. We found the most insects of our entire trip here (surprisingly), so do not skimp on the repellant.

Because of the dry conditions/age of the flooring, there were many spots for insects/spiders to enter the chalets. Simple mosquito netting might solve this, if they wanted to make a slight improvement. Dinners were wonderful, cheerful evenings with stories and wine flowing. We loved our Bushman walk, and found it to be fun and informative.

The lions roared in camp 2 out of the 3 nights. And the resident lone bull elephant walked behind our chalet these same 2 nights as well. (making quite a bit of noise as he munched on bushes during his trek to the water hole). The last morning, I wanted to take pictures of his tracks, and discovered a leopard print on top of the elephant print. OP (the camp manager) was nearly always present, and when she wasn't, Florence (her 2IC) was. All the staff went out of their way to make sure you wanted for nothing.

It was an amazing start to the adventure." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"definitely our favorite camp. an amazing view from our chalet, down to a water hole and beyond. when we arrived, the rains had just begun and you could instantly see a change in the environment. this experience was more about the environment and the little things rather than big game. we identified 40 species of birds...most of our previous guides did not emphasize that aspect. vasco was a font of knowledge. a leopard tortoise, 2 deadly snakes, and a double rainbow made this a completely different experience.

the camp itself was delightful, well equipped and great food and service. but it was the all day trip to a distant pan and an interpretative walk with a bushman/san guide which were the most memorable experiences. cannot say enough good things about this fabulous camp which rounded out our experiences in botswana. unfortunately this camp was seemingly not as popular as those in the delta. however, for us and those with whom we shared the experience, it was the best." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana

"We slept one night under the stars on the Sky Deck, it gave us an unbeatable experience of Africa at night. The lions roared, the planets shone and there is no light pollution!

The ladies singing us to dinner was another terrific experience. Pro, the manager, was great to talk with and magnificent in retrieving an article of clothing left at Splash.

The wildlife seen was again a brilliant experience, getting up close to a large pride of lions cannot be bettered. On the last morning our first sighting of a leopard, drinking at the waterhole. Vasco and KP were attentive guides and ensured we recorded all the wildlife we saw in our booklets.

Saw lots of Kudu, a Hartebeest, Springboks and Kori Bustards. The 'making fire' experience with KP was really interesting.

The bird life was amazing." See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe

"A well established camp with the friendliest staff, guides and trackers who always had smiles on their faces. Our first drive to the camp waterhole when we arrived gave us a male lion crouched drinking with a wonderful reflection in the water.

Vasco our guide and tracker Mishak were founts of knowledge on where the animals were likely to be found and Mishak's game walk describing how people lived in the Kalahari, found food and medicine and made fire was impressive.

The evening meal was announced in song by the waiters and kitchen staff, a truly amazing touch. The food itself was fantastic and we were never hungry - quite amazing for a bush camp.

Early morning game drive at 06.30am it was only 3C and with wind chill on the vehicles, it was COLD to say the least but by 2.00pm it was 31C. Bush babies were very much appreciated on one's lap.

A fantastic visit to Tau Pan" See all these reviews: 17n in Kenya; 9n in Zimbabwe; 6n in Tanzania; 5n in Botswana; 5n in Zambia

"Our first camp which was a good thing since there wasn't a lot of game to be seen on the pan.

Plus it was freezing cold on the game drives, much colder than we had anticipated and colder than any of the other camps. But we were well-supplied with blankets and bush-babies and deserts are cold at night!

We hit pay-dirt on our first outing, seeing a lion kill at the water-hole, and the lions stayed for a couple of days so we had lots of excitement. Also found a leopard which was brilliant." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana

"Just as good as other two

Bit bothered by leopard next to our veranda 3 ft" See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe

"This was our first visit to the Kalahari and we hoped to see animals that we hadn’t seen before.

Tau Pan was a very friendly and comfortable camp. The rooms were spacious and clean. We enjoyed watching animals at the water hole each day. The food was excellent and my unusual diet was catered for. We found our guide and tracker very knowledgable and they worked very well together.

We did see the animals we hoped for along with a rare sighting of a wild cat. Sunsets were incredibly beautiful and enjoyed with our sundowners.The only disappointment was that the nearness of the lion pride did not enable us to do a walking safari." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"This is luxury in the desert. Comfort in a spacious private chalet with a million dollar view of the Tau Pan, and having a cool swimming pool in a desert are just a terrific experience.

Naturally, there is not the profusion of wildlife that there is in wetter areas, but we saw numerous gemsbock (oryx), lions, springbok, steenbok and red haartebeast. There is a great variety of birdlife, including vultures and raptors. We had a fleeting glimpse of the legendary honey badger. Leopard tracks abounded and sightings occured immediately before and after our visit, guaranteeing a return in the future.

As this camp is located in a national park, safari drives are restricted by the necessity to keep to the road, but still plenty of new and different landscape to enjoy." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe

"The location on the top of the dune overseeing the whole area including both, sunrise on the left and sunset on the right was really beautiful. There was a waterhole was placed down the dune visible from the common area and from our chalet as well. We felt so well here, welcomed and treated nicely.

The rules of the National park were followed carefully by our experienced guide Patrick and his tracker Skupa (he had unbelievably sharp eyes and philosophical approach to life). We enjoyed our full day trip to Deception Valley. The countryside was marvelous and animals were waiting for us. On our way back we went through Passarge Valley to a Passarge waterhole.

Next day we visited San Pan and Tau Pan. We experienced a storm (twice) with a full rainbow arc earth to earth. One night three lions decided to fight for a lioness vigorously in the camp. After the fight, they slept in front of our chalet and so we were promptly given another one to sleep in. Also, an elephant wandered freely through the camp and once it chased lions from the waterhole. We felt totally safe, all the animals respected us.

This place and programme exceeded our expectations. Food and drinks were carefully chosen, served and very tasty." See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana