Luxury Safaris to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve made for you

This was the first safari camp to be built in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and remains an institution of authentic African adventure amidst the varied wildlife and game of this pristine wilderness. Overlooking the Tau Pan from which this semi-permanent camp gets its name, the maximum here is just eighteen guests in nine comfortable and classic raised, standalone rooms. Each has an en suite bathroom and private decking to make the most of the stark and impressive views over the sandstone ridge. Your daily expeditions see you exploring Deception Valley, visiting Deception Pan and travelling to the Piper Pan area searching for other intriguing desert species. The property’s top-of-the-range Toyota Landcruisers are extremely comfortable with multiple details that make them perfect for game viewing… roof-top seats, leather bean bags for photography and ponchos to keep one warm on sunrise game drives. Deception Valley hosts huge herds of gemsbok, springbok, wildebeest and hartebeest attracted to the area by the flush of sweet grasses that flourish in the ancient valley following the rains. There is also a good chance of seeing the Kalahari lion, cheetah, brown hyena and meerkats.

Camp Kalahari is nestled amongst the acacias and Mokolwane palms of Brown Hyaena Island, on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. This Camp is a great way to experience the Kalahari and Makgadikgadi in a fresh and adventurous way, without sacrificing comfort and style. With just 10 spacious Meru tents, the camp is brilliant for getting to know other like-minded individuals who are keen to explore remote lands such as this. All tents have en-suite outdoor bathrooms, flush loos, hot and cold running water, along with comfy beds, crunchy cotton sheets, stripy African blankets and hot water bottles in winter. All year round you can get unbelievably up close and personal with a gang of incredibly friendly habituated meerkats, walk with Zu’hoasi Bushmen Trackers for a glimpse into their ancient culture and participate in game drives to experience unique desert wildlife. Horse rides can also be organised and there are quad bike trips out onto the pans during the dry season. During the wet you get to experience the spectacular migration of zebra and wildebeest – the second biggest in Africa, and the last remaining in Southern Africa.

The malaria free Tswalu Reserve, owned by the Oppenheimer family, consists of over 100,000 hectares of the ‘green’ Kalahari grasslands home to eighty mammal species and 340 varieties of bird. Furthermore, the reserve is not further divided up into concessions or reserves and the only accommodation is the Motse Camp and Tarkuni House, which only allow for a maximum of thirty guests at one time in the entire of Tswalu. If you are staying for three nights or more you’ll also get a complimentary private vehicle, guide and tracker to make this your very own private Kalahari. The motto is, if you see another Range Rover on your game drives, complain. And whilst you really couldn’t get any further from a package holiday, the accommodation at Tswalu truly does have it all ‘wrapped up’ as far as a five-star safari lodge goes, with more luxury, authenticity, exclusivity and conscientiousness than any other in Africa. Having won awards for both their spa and conservation work, you just have to see the efforts they make to look after the wildlife and support local communities to know the lengths they go to look after you.