MindReachGetaways

Kalahari, South Africa

Tswalu Kalahari

South Africa’s largest private reserve, 1,200 square kilometres on the edge of the southern Kalahari. Three ways to stay: Motse, Loapi, Tarkuni.

Book directSee the stay

Feel

The place

The size

1,200 square kilometres. The reserve says it is the largest private reserve in South Africa.

The three

The Motse, Loapi Tented Camp, and Tarkuni Homestead. The form also allows Motse and Loapi together.

The name

Tswalu, a new beginning in Setswana, as the reserve prints it.

The Saturday

Boscia is open to the public for lunch on Saturdays.

The land

Meerkats, rock engravings, horses, the Malori sleep-out, and Dedeben are on the reserve’s own list.

Our read

Tswalu is not a lodge that happens to be in the desert. The reserve is the product: 1,200 square kilometres, the largest private reserve in the country as they print it, with three different ways to sleep and a research centre on the land. Motse, Loapi, and Tarkuni are not interchangeable rooms. Come if you want the Kalahari itself. Skip it if a Kruger checklist is the trip.

Come here for

  • The Motse, Loapi, or Tarkuni, once you know which privacy you want
  • A private guide on 1,200 square kilometres of southern Kalahari
  • Boscia on a Saturday, if you are not even staying the night

Skip it if

  • You wanted Kruger’s Big Five routine. This is the Kalahari.
  • You have not chosen a camp. Motse, Loapi, and Tarkuni are different stays.

We’d rather send you somewhere else than send you somewhere that doesn’t suit you.

Tswalu says the name means a new beginning in Setswana. The reserve page calls it the largest private reserve in South Africa, 1,200 square kilometres, more than 460 square miles, on the edge of the southern Kalahari. The stay is not one lodge. The booking form offers The Motse, Loapi Tented Camp, the two together, or Tarkuni Homestead. Boscia, the restaurant, is open to the public for Saturday lunch. The contact page prints +27 53 781 9331. The map pin is the reserve, not a single camp door. People book the Kalahari as if it were a drier Kruger. Tswalu’s own list of interests is meerkats, rock engravings, horses, a sleep-out called Malori, and the Dedeben Research Centre. The opening pages do not print a nightly rate or a suite count for each camp, so this guide does not invent one. Come if the desert and a private guide are the point. Skip it if you wanted the Big Five at a Kruger gate, or if you have not decided which of the three camps you are actually booking. Reserve with the hotel. MindReach does not take the booking.

03 · Live here

How the days go

  1. Arrive

    Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, Northern Cape. Phone +27 53 781 9331. The map pin is the reserve, not a door at Motse, Loapi, or Tarkuni. Ask the reserve which airstrip applies to the camp you book.

  2. Live here

    The Motse, Loapi, or Tarkuni, once you know which privacy you want

  3. Go

    Book on the hotel site. MindReach does not take the reservation.

04 - Stay

Ways to stay

Choose the camp first

Motse, Loapi, and Tarkuni are different privacies on the same reserve. The site does not print a single nightly rate on the opening page.

Book this package

05 - Know

Before you go

Written from what the property publishes. Not yet checked by hand. Confirm on their site before you book.

Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, Northern Cape. Phone +27 53 781 9331. The map pin is the reserve, not a door at Motse, Loapi, or Tarkuni. Ask the reserve which airstrip applies to the camp you book.

Open in Maps
How big is Tswalu?

1,200 square kilometres, more than 460 square miles, on the reserve page.

Which camp am I booking?

The Motse, Loapi, the two together, or Tarkuni. They are listed separately.

Can I eat there without staying?

Boscia is open to the public for Saturday lunch, as the site prints it.

Is the pin a specific suite?

No. It is the reserve. Ask which camp, and which airstrip, before you travel.

Where do I book?

With Tswalu. MindReach does not take the reservation. Phone +27 53 781 9331.

06 · Go

Tswalu Kalahari

Kalahari, South Africa

Tswalu is not a lodge that happens to be in the desert. The reserve is the product: 1,200 square kilometres, the largest private reserve in the country as they print it, with three different ways to sleep and a research centre on the land. Motse, Loapi, and Tarkuni are not interchangeable rooms. Come if you want the Kalahari itself. Skip it if a Kruger checklist is the trip.

Getting there
Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, Northern Cape.
From where you are
Distance appears once we know where you are.

Tswalu Kalahari

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