Tau Pan

• Only permanent camp inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), one of the largest reserves in the world at ~52,800 km²
• Perched on a sand ridge overlooking Tau Pan and a waterhole
• 9 custom-built rooms, thatched, raised on elevated platforms with viewing decks
• Run by Kwando Safaris; fully solar-powered
• Best game viewing roughly December–May during summer rains; species like springbok and gemsbok found here but not in the Okavango or Linyanti
• “Tau” means lion in Setswana — black-maned Kalahari lion sightings at the waterhole are a signature draw
• Activities: 4×4 game drives and guided walks with San Bushmen trackers

Firstly the name. Tau is Setswana for lion, and unlike some camps that borrow a grand name and hope the wildlife plays along, Tau Pan actually delivers on it. Perched on a sand ridge overlooking the pan and its waterhole, deep inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, it’s not unusual to watch the black-maned Kalahari lion amble past camp or drink right there below the deck. Few camps can claim their name is quite this literal, quite this earned.

Being the only permanent camp inside a reserve as vast as the CKGR gives Tau Pan a real sense of remoteness that’s increasingly hard to find in Botswana. It’s owned and operated by Kwando Safaris, a 100% citizen owned company. The nine rooms, raised on platforms under thatch with those extended viewing decks, feel built specifically for watching the pan rather than just sleeping near it. And the wildlife itself is different here — springbok, gemsbok, species you simply don’t get in the Okavango or the Linyanti — which makes Tau Pan less of an add-on and more of a genuinely distinct chapter in a Botswana itinerary. I like this camp a great deal. And the new sleep out deck option makes this a very worthwhile lodge to visit.