
PROPERTY HIGHLIGHTS:
- This ultra-luxe, award winning safari lodge is part of the prestigious National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World Collection.
- Located in the Northern Cape, Tswalu Kalahari is South Africa’s largest private game reserve. This stark yet beautiful desert region is a textured terrain of vast open savannah, sandy dunes and diverse habitats.
- Meaning ‘great thirst’ or ‘waterless place’, it is home to an incredible wildlife population including zebra, giraffe, oryx, eland, as well as white rhino and the desert black rhino. The reserve is also inhabited by smaller mammals such as the pangolin, aardvark and African wild cats.
- Offering exceptional opportunities for viewing cheetah, and the massive lions of the Kalahari which are well known for their stunning black manes. Safaris offered in jeeps, horseback and on foot.
- At Tswalu, there are only two camps and you’ll be one of just 28 or fewer guests with private game vehicle for each booking.
- Interact with the resident habituated meerkats.
- Contemplate the ancient engravings of the Kalahari’s San people, whose art may be among the oldest on Earth.
- Watch the sun rise and set over the grasslands from your own private deck.
- Take part in activities designed for families and kids, learning to track animals, trying out traditional archery, or taking bushwalks with guides.
EXCLUSIVE LUXE VOYAGER VIP BENEFITS & BEST PRICE
We negotiate rates & benefits for our clients directly with the hotels’ senior management. Our rates match or in many cases are lower than the best online rate for the property. Our clients also enjoy a suite of extra VIP privileges and recognition while staying at a partner hotel.
- Complimentary room upgrade on arrival.
- Daily complimentary buffet breakfast for two.
- Up to $100 dining or spa credit per stay, and or in-house dining / spa discounts.
- Welcome amenities (wine/chocolates/fruit) and card from the GM.
- Complimentary private airport transfers.
- Complimentary roll-away bed if required.
- Early check-in and late check-out.
- Complimentary Wi-Fi.
- Enhanced recognition through VIP status at all touch points in the guest experience.
A complete or partial suite of VIP benefits will be offered, subject to the property T&C, including availability, category of room & length of stay.
ACTIVITIES:
Game drives at Tswalu are a unique experience because guests have their own vehicles, guide and tracker. Our expert Field Guides have been specially trained in Kalahari wildlife and each contributes personally to the constant programme of research and conservation on our reserve. In addition to this, Tswalu is over 100 000 hectares in size. This means that you will not see another vehicle on your game drive. It also means that game drives can be completely tailored to the guests’ interests. As well as discovering many rare and endangered species for the first time, every guest leaves with a deep appreciation of the beauty of this entire eco-system.
Guided bush walks are encouraged at Tswalu. We want people to get even closer to the land. To touch the unique vegetation (and learn about some plants’ extraordinary properties). To inspect nests and burrows. To examine the smallest insect. A morning can begin by walking to a meerkat colony and watching these engaging mammals warm themselves in the sunshine before they scamper off to forage. Night walks are now also possible, offering the chance of exceptional sightings such as aardvark, aardwolf, porcupine or brown hyena at even closer range.
Horseback safaris allow guests to explore the dunes and savannahs on our well-schooled and well-mannered horses, which are suitable for all ages and all levels of experience. There is no better way to get close to nature and the wildlife. On a horse safari in at Tswalu, you become part of the landscape and many of the animals react differently to your presence. No-one who experiences this kind of closeness with wildlife ever forgets it. Our equestrian guides are well trained in the Kalahari ecology, and will lead you on a true safari where you can ride alongside antelope, buffalo, zebra and giraffe, or watch them from a distance without detection.
Children are welcome at Tswalu and the reserve is well equipped to cater for them. Tswalu believes that they too can be part of the conservation vision. The youngsters will be introduced to the Junior Ranger programme and given a backpack with guides and tools to help them learn about the Kalahari. During their stay they will make their own bow and arrow for archery, learn how to identify spoor, and track game on foot.

Tswalu Kalahari is South Africa’s largest private game reserve, protecting a vast area of spectacular grasslands and mountains. We take conservation as our absolute priority; our vision is to “restore the Kalahari to itself.” No more than 30 guests at a time can discover the beauty of this arid savannah, its diverse wildlife and the serenity of what may well be South Africa’s last great wilderness. A huge highlight of a visit to Tswalu are the meerkats. Two colonies can be visited; these meerkats, due to their regular exposure to human presence, are very relaxed when visitors are around. It’s a wonderful sight to visit in the morning, watch the meerkats slowly wake and emerge from their burrows to bask in the sun.
The lodge itself is divided into two parts. The Motse comprises six individual suites, and three family suites which each sleep four. Each has a private sun deck providing the perfect place to enjoy spectacular views. A Jwa Bana (children’s room with child minder) and outdoor heated swimming pool are also available. There is also a mezzanine library equipped with satellite TV (the Motse also has full broadband WiFi access throughout) and museum cases display rare artefacts from the area. Tarkuni sleeps up to 10 guests in five separate suites and is the ideal option for large groups or families.
The Motse and Tarkuni serve as focal points for your Kalahari experience, and as launchpads for your safari adventures. Built from organic materials and outfitted to the highest standards, they manifest the warmth and hospitality of the people of the Kalahari. Designed and sited to make the best of Tswalu’s dramatic and expansive views, The Motse and Tarkuni provide exclusivity, privacy, and unfettered access to one of southern Africa’s last true wildernesses.
The Motse comprises nine individual Legaes, three of which have been specially designed for families. Each has a private sun deck providing the perfect place to enjoy spectacular views. Tarkuni offers five luxurious double suites and sleeps up to 10 guests. All rooms at Tarkuni are beautifully designed and decorated with en-suite bathrooms featuring free standing tubs and both indoor and outdoor showers. The lodge is totally self-contained boasting delightful living and dining areas, a library, pool, chef and its own private game viewing vehicle.



Motse Suite
Motse offers luxury accommodation in authentic stone-walled and thatched-roofed bungalows. Each bungalow is elegantly decorated, combining rustic touches with colonial furniture and tribal artifacts.Each room has a spacious bedroom and lounge area with a cosy firepit, an en suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers plus a private sundeck with beautiful views of a nearby waterhole and the Kalahari landscape.




Motse Family Suite
Families will relish the space provided by the two Family Bungalows, each with two bedrooms, an en suite bathroom and separated by a spacious lounge that leads onto a patio.
Every moment of every meal at Tswalu reflects the culinary heritage of South Africa and is carefully designed to be as inclusive as possible. Sustainability is key: we forage for Kalahari ingredients and work with local suppliers who share our low-impact ethos. We believe that luxury is found in contextual, relevant flavours rather than wasteful over-abundance. Our food offering helps tell the story of Tswalu and it’s inspired by and captures the essence of the Kalahari. Working in partnership with Michelin-starred South African chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, our chefs look to reinterpret the flavours they find around them and create unique taste touchpoints at every turn. Our choice of ingredients is only half the story; the context from which they come and in which they are served completes the picture.
Tswalu offers a number of dining options for guests who can dine indoors or out, in the dining room or at the pool deck, and can enjoy their meals at times that suit them. Motse serves delicious cuisine inspired by South African dishes and local Kalahari ingredients, complemented by the finest wines from Tswalu’s private cellar. The chef at Motse aims to both surprise and delight you with varied and imaginative food served in a variety of inspiring locations. Enjoy your meals in the dining room of the main house, in the privacy of your luxury suite or in the atmospheric boma under the stars. Your meals can be served around the swimming pool overlooking the Kalahari or you can ask for a picnic in the dunes.







Dining at Tswalu
From a late breakfast at the pool, a picnic in the dunes, a feast in the boma, or sundowners and snacks on your private deck, guests will delight in the delicious gourmet meals prepared by our chefs. Tswalu is a top culinary destination and its wine list has been carefully selected from the best South African wines available and guests will enjoy the food and wine pairing menus.


Tswalu Gourmet Dining
Enjoy a 6 course tasting menu under the stars.

Bush Picnics
Enjoy a 6 course tasting menu under the stars.
Main House: Outdoor swimming pool. Sanctuary Spa & Gym. Walk-in wine cellar stocked with South African wines. Mezzanine library with satellite TV, literature & artefacts. Tswalu Foundation gallery. Facilities at the Motse include a mezzanine library equipped with satellite TV and WiFi access throughout the camp. Around the property are museum cases which display rare artefacts from the area; a curio shop, swimming pool and gym are also oh hand. The spa features indoor and outdoor treatment areas offering authentic signature massages by local therapists. Dining can be enjoyed at the lodge, in the privacy of your own viewing deck, on the dunes or in the open air boma. Tarkuni features two lounge areas with cosy fireplaces, a pool and boma.




Pool
Just spend some time around the infinity swimming pool with a good book.

Spa
Our award-winning spa offers a welcome lounge, two beautiful therapy suites with adjacent sensation showers with a private garden. In keeping with Tswalu’s philosophy, the spa is crafted from natural materials with reed ceilings and dry-stone walls in the indoor and outdoor showers.

Gym
The new gym with its outdoor shower and panoramic views of the Tswalu landscapes is just a short walk away.

Wine Cellar
Walk-in wine cellar stocked with South African wines.
Area & Location
Area, Country
Van Zylrus, South Africa
Nearest Airport
Johannesburg International Airport, Johannesburg
Local Currency
South African Rand (ZAR)
Time Change
GMT +2:00
Language
Afrikaans, English
Best time to go
Best visited between October through April
Related Hotels
- Set amongst the dappled shade of 500-year-old ebony trees, Pioneer Camp is the culmination of five decades of design experience in the safari industry. Pioneer…
- Home to sweeping views of the surrounding bushveld and Sand River, warm and cosy interiors, as well as the MalaMala game, the intimate MalaMala Sable…
- Birkenhead House sets the standard for luxury hotels in Hermanus. With its exhilarating cliff-top position overlooking the whale watching paradise of Walker Bay, Birkenhead House…
- Located in a remote and untouched part of the Kariega wilderness, Settlers Drift offers a unique tented safari combined with 5-star luxury. The lodge consists…
- Less than an hour’s drive from Cape Town in the heart of the Cape Winelands lies one of the oldest Cape Dutch farms, Babylonstoren. A…
- Kruger Shalati is a unique, luxury lodge hotel set in a restored train parked atop the historic Selati Bridge above the Sabie River in Kruger…
- AM Lodge is a 5 star, luxury safari lodge set in the Klaserie, Hoedspruit region of the Greater Kruger National Park of South Africa. With…
- Nestled within a natural amphitheatre shaped by the vertical cliffs of Devil's Peak and Lion's Head sits Cape Town in all of its coastal glory.…
- In a remote valley overlooking the Bushman’s River in the Eastern Cape, Settlers Drift is the newest luxe heavenly retreat in Kariega Game Reserve, which…
- Nestled between mountain and sea, the Grootbos Private Nature Reserve is a luxury eco-paradise showcasing the incredible flora and marine life of Walker Bay, located…
- As the original Singita lodge, Ebony stands steadfast amongst enormous trees on the banks of the Sand River in the heart of South Africa’s big…
- The ultimate Cape Winelands experience, Delaire Graff is dedicated to beauty in its many forms. Much like polishing a diamond to reveal its brilliance, jeweller…
- This exclusive lodge recaptures the romantic mystique of authentic safaris from centuries past. Experience the breathtaking natural world of Africa merged with colonial nostalgia and…
- Set within 75 000 hectares of safari park, Madikwe Hills Private Game Lodge is situated on a rocky outcrop in the heart of the malaria-free…
- Leeu Estates, an exclusive five-star boutique hotel, wine resort & spa with 17 luxuriously appointed rooms and suites, takes central position on 68 hectares of…