Tongan Beach Resort

The dramatic desert of legend and home of the San. Tau Pan Camp was the first lodging welcomed to the famous Central Kalahari Game Reserve and an unprecedented opportunity to establish camp in one of the world's largest pristine wildernesses. It occupies unrivaled placement high on a dune ridge, overlooking a waterhole and game-rich plains. The vistas are magnificent — vast skies, tremendous savannah — and the camp design takes every opportunity to exploit this location. The main area includes an open bar, lounge and dining areas all set around the fireplace, which is the ideal spot for spotting game at the waterhole. 'Tau' means lion in Setswana and the pan is so named for its pride of iconic black-maned Kalahari lions, who are frequent visitors to the camp. 

Discover the land of the lion through ancient San eyes. Also known as the Bushmen in Botswana, indigenous trackers provide life-giving insights on surviving in this harsh paradise during a spellbinding nature walk. When you enter this world as a student, it ensures the conservation of their fast-vanishing San culture. Stargazing is astonishing in this remote location and best experienced with a night below the Milky Way on the sleep out deck. 

Standard Tent

(8 ROOMS)

Tau Pan accommodates up to eighteen people in nine environmentally designed units. All are built with materials of minimal environmental impact and additionally maintain a constant and comfortable in-room temperature year-round, while seasonal temperatures vary from below freezing to over 40 degrees Celsius.

The rooms include double wash basins and both indoor and outdoor showers. The rooms are spacious with lounge area and one includes an additional twin bedroom, ideal for family use. All the units are on raised decks and their location on the edge of the ridge means that each viewing deck has truly special and captivating views of the wide open pan and its big beautiful sky.

Family Tent

(1 ROOM)

Family unit includes en-suite double bedroom, separate second twin bedroom, sharing one bathroom. Minimum age is six years except 1 April – 15 November where there is no min age requirement. Special activities & services are offered for children. (eg. early mealtimes / children's meals). Families traveling with children aged 6–12 years are required to book private activities.

Game Drives - Day only

Game drives are undertaken in custom designed Toyota game viewing vehicles seating no more than six guests at a time in two rows of three seats. Guests are guided by a two person team of professional guide and tracker - a special feature of the Kwando Safaris wildlife experience. The two person team enables the guide to communicate points of interest and the complex interrelations that exist throughout the natural world, while the tracker ensures no sightings or tracks are missed. At Tau Pan, the tracker comes from the San Bushman tribe, a tribe that has traditionally lived in the Kalahari desert for generations and is intimately acquainted with the area and wildlife that is endemic to the Kalahari.

San Bushman Cultural Walks

Walking with a member of the San Bushman tribe allows guests to appreciate how the tribe used to live off the land through traditions and skills passed from generation to generation. Conducted close to the camp area, the walk is conducted at a slow pace designed to allow engagement and question asking so that guests may better understand the nature of the bushman to the environment around them. Knowledge about how they would hunt, trap animals, and the manner in which they use the flora and fauna in their environment to help them survive are all shared with guests. Questions are always welcome!

Sleep out Deck

Imagine falling asleep while unobstructed views of shooting stars streak across the sky, and counting the twinkling of stars until you drift off to sleep. Located in a secluded spot at the far end of the camp, the sleep-out deck is an intimate experience for two, who wish to spend a wondrous evening under the impressive Kalahari night sky. The raised deck comprises 2 three-quarter beds, a washbasin and a toilet. Guests will be walked to the deck after dinner to spend the night, and can resume game activities in the morning as usual. This can only be pre-booked with a minimum 3 night stay. Otherwise it can be booked upon the clients’ arrival in camp, subject to availability, and weather permitting.

For more information on Tau Pan, click HERE