A Journey into the Makgadikgadi: Scouting Africam’s Next Wild View

Posted in: The Wild Side

In August, the Africam team set out on a trip to Botswana – a scouting trip into the heart of the Makgadikgadi, in search of the perfect location for our next conservation camera.

Africam already partners with Natural Selection to bring you live views from Meno a Kwena and Jack’s Camp waterholes – both incredible windows into the great zebra migration. But this trip had a new purpose. Together with the Natural Selection Foundation, we wanted to find a camera location that could support ongoing research into the relationship between surface water and the zebra migration and share that story with the world in real time.

The idea came from the Natural Selection team and legendary safari guide and Jack’s Camp owner, Ralph Bousfield. A remote waterhole, deep in the Makgadikgadi, was suggested – a place rich in history and vital for wildlife.

So, off we went. After dropping our bags at Jack’s Camp, we set out to meet Ralph and top safari guide Super Sande, who were waiting for us at the site – about a 45-minute drive from camp. The road unfolded across vast, open salt pans until we reached a quiet clearing that felt far from anywhere. This was the waterhole.

The moment we arrived, we knew this place held stories. Ralph immediately launched into one – a fascinating lesson about the land, its history, and the importance of what lay before us. This waterhole, he explained, sits beside an ancient Bushmen well – one of many dug by the San people generations ago to access fresh water in this harsh environment. These wells, in turn, shaped the very routes of the zebra migration. For over a century, humans and wildlife have relied on the same precious resource – coexisting through the changing seasons.

Today, Ralph and his team continue that legacy. By installing a pumped waterhole alongside these historic wells, they’ve helped restore life to the area, allowing the migration to continue along its traditional pathways.

Super told us how wildlife has flourished here – cheetah numbers are rising, and insectivore species are thriving, using the waterhole as a key part of their nocturnal movements.

Standing there, we felt the weight of the past and the promise of the future. The spot we chose for the new camera looks out across the pumped waterhole, but just below, you can still see the old Bushmen well – a reminder of resilience, adaptation, and our shared connection to this land.

This new camera, a collaboration between Africam, Explore.org, and the Natural Selection Foundation, will go live next week.

We can’t wait to share it with you – another window into wild Botswana, where history and nature flow together beneath the endless Makgadikgadi sky.