- Type: Lodge
- Summary: South Africa's largest private game reserve
- Feature: Award-winning safari spa
- Rooms: 8 suites at The Motse & 5 suites at Tarkuni Private Villa
- Nearest airport: Cape Town Airport
Amenities
Location and transfer
Two hours from Cape Town International Airport by light aircraft transfer.
Family
With no malaria in this part of the Kalahari, Tswalu is a great family destination. At The Motse, there are two specially designed Family Suites that will easily accommodate large families or families with older children, while both properties offer an ideal environment for leisure, with pools located close to the main public areas. Upon arrival, every child is welcomed with a backpack full of guides and tools and an opportunity to chat with the hospitality staff about what they would like to see and do. Tswalu's Junior Ranger programme offers activities, including archery, spoor identification and casting and tracking on foot. The hugely popular bush walks are educational and adults are welcome too.
Safari
Activities centre around the guests' preferences and bush walks, 4x4 safaris, star-gazing, sleeping beneath the stars, photography and walks to archaeological sites can all be arranged. During the winter (June to August), the grasses and bushes dry out, so there are more opportunities to see smaller mammals and the shyer nocturnal creatures, such as the aardvark, aardwolf and pangolin, emerge in daylight.
Many of the antelopes calf in the early summer (November to March) and signs of new life abound. Migrant birds arrive, such as cuckoos and Lanner Falcons, making bird-watching particularly exciting.
Romance
Sleep beneath infinite skies ablaze with a trillion diamond stars at Tswalu's sleep-out deck, known as Malori. Translating to 'dreamer', this is the ultimate location for romance in this vast African wilderness. Set apart from the two main camps, the accommodation comprises a cushioned seating area and fire-pit, a raised platform with table and chairs, as well as a sleeping area with a thatched roof, open to views all around. Imagine dinner and vintage wine, a telescope for starry-eyed star-gazing and a sumptuous bed, the sounds of the bush all around.
Spa & Wellness
A place of peace and tranquillity, the award-winning Tswalu Kalahari Spa features reed ceilings, dry-stone walls and wooden frames and doors; colours are cool and neutral throughout, providing a soothing respite from the Kalahari sun. The spa boasts a welcoming lounge, two beautiful therapy suites with en-suite sensation showers featuring overhead colour therapy lights and a private garden complete with a labyrinth, outdoor treatment areas and a yoga tsala. Treatments and authentic signature experiences are inspired by the endless blue skies and unique vegetation of the Green Kalahari.
Hotel Experiences
Tswalu's team of horses (suited to absolute beginners and advanced equestrians, alike) provide a unique way to experience this natural wilderness. Nobody who encounters this kind of closeness with wildlife ever forgets it.