Jack's Camp Waterhole
A waterhole on the edge of the Kalahari's salt pans, where elephants and lions come out of the emptiness.
About this view
A live webcam on a waterhole in the grasslands at the edge of the Makgadikgadi, in the Kalahari, a landscape of such flatness and silence that anything arriving is visible long before it gets there. That emptiness is the appeal: the frame can hold nothing at all for an hour, then a line of elephants walks into it.
The regulars are desert-adapted: oryx and springbok that go without standing water for long stretches, brown hyena, meerkats, and the black-maned lions the Kalahari is known for. Zebra pass through in their thousands when the migration reaches the pans.
The rains, roughly December to April, turn the pans to grassland and bring the herds; the long dry season makes water like this the only reason to come (UTC+2, no daylight saving). Nights are when the predators use it.
Nearby cams
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the Jack's Camp Waterhole live cam located?
- The camera looks over Makgadikgadi, Kalahari, in Botswana. Its position is 20.500°S, 25.250°E, which you can open on our world map.
- What time is it at the Jack's Camp Waterhole camera?
- Makgadikgadi, Kalahari runs on UTC+2, and the live clock at the top of this page shows the current local time and whether it is day or night there. It is worth checking before you watch: this view changes completely between the middle of the night and the busiest hours of the day.
- Are there other live cams near Makgadikgadi, Kalahari?
- Yes — the closest ones are Kalahari Salt Pan, Boteti River at Moela and Camelthorn Waterhole. They are listed under "Nearby cams" further down this page, and every camera we carry is plotted on the world map.
- Is this stream really live?
- Yes. This is a real 24/7 live feed broadcast by Africam, played through the official YouTube player — free, no account needed. Every stream in our catalogue is checked automatically before each update to confirm it is still live and watchable.
