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Tswalu Kalahari

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Hotel overview

At over 100,000 hectares, Tswalu Kalahari private game reserve is vast, the largest private reserve in South Africa; and yet there will only ever be a maximum of 30 guests staying there – this translates to 33 square kilometres of prime Kalahari landscape per guest! Amidst the red sand dunes and low-lying scrub, you’ll find black-maned lions, inquisitive meerkat families, majestic oryx, rare sable antelope, black rhino and cheetah. The main lodge is called The Motse, and has eight suites built from local stone and packed red earth. At the heart of each suite is a cast fireplace (Kalahari nights can be cold), surrounded by contemporary, stylish furniture and with a private deck that enjoys unspoilt views over the reserve. For families and small groups, there is the Tarkuni homestead, personal home of the Oppenheimers (who own the reserve) and available for exclusive use.

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Quirky excursions

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Excursion

Kalahari Bush Walks

In the period around lunchtime between the two usual daily game drives, Tswalu offers guests the chance to go on a short bush walk. The focus on these is not the game you’d see on drive. Instead you’ll concentrate on learning about the trees and plants, including their various uses in bush medicine and bush craft. You’ll also have the chance to look at the much, much smaller animals like spiders and millipedes, no less worthy of your attention than the bigger animals in the reserve! At the public restcamps at Augrabies and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, daily bush walks are operated by the parks board and can be booked on to when you arrive.

Excursion

Meerkats

Tswalu Kalahari reserve has a population of meerkats that have become accustomed to human company, and so you are able to spend protracted amounts of time with them, just watching them go about their daily routines and getting up to their usual tricks, without paying you the slightest bit of notice, except possibly to climb on you to get a better view of the surrounding area. As long as the other guests in your game drive vehicle are in agreement, your ranger will be happy to take you to see these engaging creatures.

Excursion

Bushman Interaction

All of the Central Kalahari camps we recommend offer outstanding Bushman activities. Guests can interact with the unique San-Bushman people and learn more about their customs, history and challenges. The San Bushmen are an indigenous Southern African people whose territory has traditionally spanned numerous countries, mainly concentrated in the Kalahari areas of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Their self-sufficient lifestyles were unchanged for centuries, surviving amidst the harshest desert conditions until a gradual incorporation of farming in the mid-20th century, meaning their communities have been of endless fascination to anthropologists. Bushman excursions combine nature walks with the opportunity to learn about their culture, history and relationship with the desert. Many staff at these camps are Bushman people, with guides who will explain survival techniques, language, family units, hunting, tracking, traditional dress and social mores.

Excursion

Kalahari Self-Drive Safari

For those staying either at the Augrabies Falls National Park or the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park, self-driving is an interesting alternative to a guided safari. Unless you really know a lot about safari, it should never replace the experience of guided game drives and walks in the company of an expert who can not only find the animals but also explain them to you. However to complement guided game drives, or for those who feel they know their way around their African wildlife, it makes an exciting and rewarding way to see game. The parks are laced with a network of roads, predominantly dirt tracks (exclusively so in the Kalagadi, and appropriate only for 4x4 vehicles) There is a real thrill in setting off into the park, under your own steam, equipped with a map showing roads, waterholes and notable features, a pair of binoculars, a bird and mammal guide, and perhaps a packed lunch. You can then do whatever takes your fancy: spend half an hour with a herd of zebra or impala (which would never happen on a guided game drive), or head for a waterhole and sit with your bird book trying to identify as many species as possible, or simply to drive slowly around, taking in the amazing scenery and hoping to spot some big game. More so than other national parks, the emphasis at both Augrabies and Kalagadi is as much on scenery as wildlife, and on the chance to get so far away from daily civilization, a very rare pleasure in this day and age.

Excursion

Kalahari Game Drives

When staying at Tswalu Kalahari private reserve, the bulk of your game viewing will be done on game drives. These take place in the early morning and late afternoon, as many of the animals everyone wants to see (notably the predators) are most active around dawn and dusk. In the morning you’ll be wakened by a call from your ranger, who will then be waiting for you with coffee or tea before you get into the game drive vehicle. You may stop during the morning drive for more coffee! After a drive of around three hours, you’ll be returned to the lodge for a massive breakfast. Your time is then yours to do as you please until mid/late afternoon. Usually lunch will be served (although sometimes not during their winter) and you may have the chance to go on a bush walk. Then you meet your ranger again for afternoon tea before heading off on your evening drive. You’ll stop for sundowner drinks, and the last hour or so of your drive will be in the dark, using a spotlight to try and spot some of the nocturnal creatures. Upon your return its time for a gorgeous dinner before retiring to bed in order to be as fresh as possible when that morning call comes! Drive times are determined by dawn and dusk. So in their summer, morning drive starts very early and the evening drive starts quite late, allowing for a big chunk of free time in the middle of the day. In their winter, these times get compressed as the day is shorter – hence some lodges skipping lunch during the winter months. When out on drive your ranger (and his tracker in those reserves where they are used) will use his skills and experience of the bush, plus information from other rangers out on game drives, to pinpoint the best game viewing. He (or she!) will also provide a running commentary on the animals you are seeing – it is truly amazing how much information they are able to pass on. If you particularly want to see certain animals, do let your ranger know and he’ll try to oblige wherever possible, although much is dependent on the animals cooperating, and of course the wishes of the other guests in your game drive vehicle (unless you have paid for a private vehicle). When staying in one of the parks board public restcamps, game drives are operated by the parks board twice a day and can be booked on to when you arrive.

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