The Motse - Tswalu Kalahari Luxury Private Game Reserve

WOW! We were blown away by our experience at the Loapi. This you cannot call a ‘tent’: it is a vast villa with some canvas roofing on top. All 6 stars quality. Showering outside with a view of the stunning Kalahari and a passing giraffe, having a glass of red wine at your own private campfire under the milky way while your private chef prepares a wonderful dinner. Thanks Linda and Jimmy for taking such good care of us! The game drives were utterly relaxing and exciting at the same time. I think we once passed another vehicle. We loved the wildlife viewings from meercat to oryx to lions, white rhino’s and cheeta’s and many giraffes but also simply cruising around in the beautiful and insanely large reserve with our great guide Andries and dito tracker MC. A night in the Malory sleep out is a must; the most unforgettable experience ever! It comes at a price, but we do recommend to stay 4 nights. We will try to save up and come back as soon as we can!

My husband and I recently spent four nights at the Tswalu Loapi tented residences. It was one of the best experiences of our lives and we cannot wait to come back. The reserve itself is spectacular - more on that soon. But what really took the experience to the next level for us was the people. Our butler Mo was an absolute delight, incredibly friendly and warm and made us feel immediately at home, and our private chef Quentin was SO talented and lovely and just a wonderful guy. (Yes, every Loapi residence gets a butler and private chef!) We had the best time hanging out with them at the end of the day after our game drives, and they were incredibly good at their jobs. Also incredibly good at their jobs: our safari guide Kallie (“Kalamari”) and his tracker David. Oh my gosh, what a team. Kallie knows EVERYTHING. Every animal, every bush, every bird - he knows the English name, Afrikaans name, Setswana name and scientific name. He answered my one hundred million questions with not only patience but humour and enthusiasm. His nicknames for the animals are legendary: my husband and I still point at steenbok and shout “BUSH BISCUIT!” as Kallie calls them (because they are small and good snacks for the predators). When you’re in a safari vehicle with a guide for 8 hours a day, you want it to be someone you can connect with - and Kallie is one of the most brilliant, most fun, most interesting people I have ever encountered in my life. David, the tracker, we didn’t get to know quite as well, but he was really lovely and EXCELLENT at his job. We saw so many rare and interesting animals, including lion cubs, cheetah cubs, a zorilla, and the elusive pangolin! Tswalu itself is utterly stunning. The tented villas are luxe and perfect (though do bring very warm clothes if you go in winter). The park is a gorgeous landscape of red soil and silvery-blonde grasses and shepherd’s trees and thorn bushes, with more than a dozen types of antelopes and giraffes and rhinos and lions and wild dogs and just so very many animals. It gets into your soul, it really does. We also got to visit KleinJan (I’ll review it separately but it was super cool) and I went horseback riding with Warren, the chief instructor who is also a stunt person in films (!!). Horseback riding here is only for intermediate riders and up, and I highly recommend you follow this caution as their horses are NOT for beginners - but if you’re an experienced rider, there is nothing like it. Warren is awesome and the ride was incredible. If you’re considering a trip here, don’t hesitate any more. Just book it. And request Mo, Quentin, Kallie and David as your dream team. You can thank me later, once you’ve shaken the red dust from your shoes and vowed to return.

We stayed at Loapi Camp which was incredible. Our house was so comfortable, spacious and very relaxing. Each house comes with your own guide and tracker and personal butler and chef. Tswalu is a beautiful park, not full with the big 5 but with enough animals to satisfy. We came here not because of wanting the big 5 experience but because we were interested in their conservation program and the research they do as well as the luxury you get when staying here. This was the perfect place to end our trip in Africa. When staying here your dinner at KleinJan is included and what an absolutely incredible experience that was which I won’t review here because I don’t want to spoil the surprise that you get when going there. Our guide Kalie and tracker Ben were phenomenal, not only were they wonderful people but they were excellent at their job and did everything they could to get us to see what we wanted which was cheetah, the meerkat experience and fortunately for us a sighting of a pangolin. Kalie has a wealth of information which he shared with is, I only hope I can remember it all, he was just amazing. I generally don’t like returning to the same place when I travel as there are so many other places to visit, however, I will definitely return to Tswalu, it really is a wonderful place to go.