Hyena Pan Tented Camp

Each of the spacious tented rooms at Hyena Pan Camp is finished with comfortable seating that looks out at the sweeping landscape, dotted with mopane trees. Guests can enjoy watching wandering elephants from the comfort of their own bed. The tents feature twin beds which can be made into a double. They also include luggage racks and wardrobes, as well as an electronic safe for storing valuables. The canvas roofs keep the sun at bay, while fans are provided for your comfort. Each of the tents is solar-powered and has battery charging facilities. The rooms lead on to an en-suite bathroom with an indoor shower.

Dine under the shade of the camp’s decked dining area, or dine outside and get close to the elephants while you enjoy your meal. Guests can look forward to three delicious meals a day, all freshly prepared by the camp’s chefs. Enjoy local delicacies against the backdrop of slurping elephants, surrounding by Botswana’s magnificent nature. Hyena Pan Camp can cater for dietary requirements if notified in advance, and local beverages are included. Sit beside the open-air boma with a refreshing drink and connect with your fellow guests as you share exciting stories of your safari adventures.

Enjoy an exciting game drive and explore the landscape around the Hyena Pan in a specialised safari vehicle. Situated in the heart of Botswana’s richest wildlife areas, guests will be able to see huge volumes of game, including elephants, giraffe, zebra, antelope, hippo, buffalo and the endangered wild dog. Drives can be taken through the vast Khwai Private Concession, as well as along the banks of the Khwai River. The camp’s experienced guides will teach you about the extraordinary creatures that live around the borehole, as well as on the Okavango Delta, and show you a range of perfect spots for viewing game.

Venture to the places that safari vehicles cannot reach, and spy on incredible wildlife without the noise of an engine to startle them. Sneak up on herds of elephants, and watch them play and interact naturally and without disruption. Learn from your guide about recognising animal tracks and following clues through the bush to find game. Safari walks focus on the subtle details within nature and reawaken the tracking skills learned by our ancestors.

Climb to the top of the 5-metre elevated viewing platform, close to the camp, and view the reserve from a birds-eye perspective. Capture incredible photographs and relax as elephants and giraffe pass by at an angle you will never have seen them from before.

Hyena Pan Camp is a Natural Selection expedition. Natural Selection supports the vision of the Botswana Community and Conservation Initiative (BCCI), which provides regional conservation and support for rural communities to develop sustainable land-use practices that promote conservation-based economic opportunities, facilitate landscape-scale wildlife movements, and provide for climate change resilience. Natural Selection has also partnered with Coaching Conservation ‘to provide local people with the critical information they need to stay safe and healthy during the pandemic.’

‘Over the last three years, 1.5% of every guest’s stay in [Natural Selection’s] camps has gone towards community and conservation projects. Combined with the direct contributions that [Natural Selection’s] camps make to local community outreach, this amounts to nearly 1 million USD of committed funds.’

The increase in the number of elephants in the Okavango Delta in recent years is a cause for celebration. However, for villagers along the Delta’s panhandle and outskirts, the sudden boost in elephant numbers means that their land is more likely to be trampled, and humans may be at risk of fatal encounters. Natural Selection has recognised that transportation for local communities is a need, and they worked with EcoExist and the Okavango Community Trust to launch the ‘Elephant Express’ in January 2020.  The ‘Elephant Express’ service transports children to schools safely, as well as helping patients get to clinics without the fear of crossing paths with a gigantic elephant.

Natural Selections has been working with the local Khwai Village in order to identify needs within the community and create solutions. Natural Selections have launched a number of projects, such as the Feed A Child programme which provides schoolchildren with a healthy vitamin-rich meal at the start of the school day, setting up a pre-school in Khwai Village and providing an income for the teachers, supporting the village elders and disabled members of the community, and providing homes with electricity using solar power. Natural Selections’ initiatives not only help the local communities but inspires the local villagers to see ecotourism in a positive light, helping to prevent human and animal conflict.

Natural Selection ensures that 1.5% of your expedition fees goes to wildlife conservation. They also work with the local communities, governments and conservation organisations in order to help protect conservation areas, and sustain them. The camps that are built are subtle and blend in with the environment and the habitats that already exist there, causing minimal disruption to the surrounding wildlife.

Hyena Pan Camp is powered by solar energy, helping to reduce the camp’s carbon emissions. Natural Selections also build camps that are designed to work around the environments and habitats that already exist there. They work to make camps that are not too obvious so that they can blend into their surroundings and disrupt the wildlife as little as possible.

Natural Selection started the Etosha Heights Rhino Protection program which is an anti-poaching group that monitor Rhinos, and ensure that poachers are unable to illegally hunt these endangered creatures.

‘We take rhino conservation extremely seriously, and the Etosha Heights team work tirelessly to safeguard the future of these bushveld unicorns and ensure that many more generations can enjoy watching them. Within the reserve we have an anti-poaching camp and team who are dedicated to protecting the rhinos and preventing any illegal hunting from happening along the boundaries of the reserve. Our rangers are on the ground 24 hours a day and have completed an intensive training programme to ensure that they’re the best of the best. Combined with new state of the art anti-poaching surveillance technology, this team is a force to be reckoned with.’