ENQUIRY

Restoring the Kalahari through sustainable conservation, supported by nature-based tourism

 

Tswalu offers a true wilderness experience on the southernmost edge of the Kalahari, and privileged access to the largest privately protected area in South Africa. From the landmark Korannaberg mountains to the southern Kalahari’s typical arid savannah and iconic ochre dunes rippling away to the horizon, days on safari are unscripted and unhurried.

 

With guaranteed access to a private safari vehicle, our guests have the freedom and flexibility to explore the remote reaches of the reserve in their own time and at their own pace. Besides game drives, safari activities include habituated meerkat encounters, nature walks, tracking, horse riding, stargazing, star-bed experiences, and meeting visiting scientific researchers and resident artists.

 

Tswalu is first and foremost an ambitious conservation project, sustainably safeguarding vital habitat and the restoring biodiversity. Offering a private and exclusive safari experience for a maximum of 40 guests in one of three luxury safari camps, the ratio of guests to wilderness space is one of the lowest in South Africa. This low footprint, sustainable model of nature-based tourism is vital to supporting the conservation work that is at the heart of Tswalu’s purpose to leave the world better than how it was found.

 

Choosing Tswalu for your safari not only contributes significantly to our conservation vision but positively impacts our sustainability journey. Tswalu releases an annual impact statement, a tool developed in collaboration with our sustainability partner, The Long Run, to calculate the cost of conservation and the positive contribution to nature and people. By staying with us, guests help conserve 114,000 hectares and impact the lives of 282 residents. In 2021, this equated to a US$ 5.8 million investment in nature and people. In addition, nature-based tourism helped provide essential health care to approximately 1000 people through the Tswalu Health Care Centre, a free community service for anyone living within a 100-kilometre radius of the reserve.

 

 

Tswalu Camps

SAFARI CAMPS

Your African adventure begins in one of three luxury safari camps, overlooking the wide, open spaces of the southern Kalahari. Whether you choose the Motse, Tarkuni or Loapi, luxury accommodation and generous South African hospitality set the scene for a deeply private wilderness experience. With the lowest guest footprint in South Africa, at Tswalu there is space to breathe out and reconnect with nature.

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SAFARI EXPERIENCES

With wildlife conservation at its core, Tswalu offers privileged access to unique safari experiences in South Africa’s biggest privately protected wildlife reserve. A private safari vehicle, field guide and experienced tracker are guaranteed with every accommodation booking. With this comes the exclusivity to plan deeply immersive days on safari, both on and off the safari vehicle.

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WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS

From iconic Kalahari wildlife sightings of black-maned lions, cheetah, black rhino, oryx and wild dog to tracking the elusive, nocturnal creatures, such as pangolin, aardvark and brown hyena, extraordinary and unusual encounters add a thrilling dimension to game drives. Tswalu is also one of the only places in South Africa to experience habituated meerkats up close.

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SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION

Tswalu’s sustainable conservation journey to restore the Kalahari is supported by a high-value, low-impact ecotourism model of nature-based tourism with community and culture at its core. Staying in one of our small, luxury safari camps contributes to the sustainability of the entire reserve as well as the Tswalu Foundation, which is dedicated to scientific research.

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As South Africa’s biggest wildlife reserve, Tswalu is a bold conservation project supported by a sustainable model of ecotourism. Choosing to stay in one Tswalu’s small, luxury safari camps contributes to our vision to leave the world better than how we found it. As a member of The Long Run, Tswalu is committed to a continuous journey of sustainability guided by the four key benchmarks of conservation, community, culture and commerce.
The Long Run

Tswalu Kalahari is a member of Oppenheimer Generations, a diverse community of commercial ventures and not-for-profit organisations representing the global interests of the Nicky and Jonathan Oppenheimer family.

RECENT INSTAGRAM POSTS

Loapi Tented Camp is the ultimate private wilderness retreat, offering privileged access to Tswalu's epic landscapes and exclusive wildlife sightings. Here, time seems to stand still.⁠
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🔗 At the link in bio discover the quiet luxury and comfort that awaits you in one of these private tented safari homes.⁠
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Image @ZhenyaSwan⁠
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Tswalu Kalahari Reserve is vast. You can head out in a different direction every day and drive for hours without seeing another vehicle. Nothing beats a day trip to one of the natural pans that attracts plenty of wildlife. Like everything we do at Tswalu, this is a privately guided experience enjoyed at a relaxed pace - plenty of time to observe the comings and goings, take epic photos, and sit down to a picnic lunch. With a view like this, what could be better?⁠
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Image @AndrewMorganPhoto ⁠
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To see a cheetah crouched low on its haunches is to get a sense of just how vulnerable predators are when they need to drink - even these big, beautiful cats. ⁠
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As a privately protected area, Tswalu plays a pivotal role in the conservation of cheetahs by safeguarding vast tracts of arid savannah and ensuring a balanced, holistic ecosystem which enables all species indigenous to the Kalahari equal opportunity to survive and thrive. ⁠
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Image @MarcusWestbergPhotography⁠
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To witness a thunderstorm rolling in across Tswalu Kalahari Reserve's grassy dunes is something you will never forget. ⁠Here, on the southernmost edge of the Kalahari, rainfall is unpredictable. The absence or presence of water triggers radical transformations in the environment. Summer rain not only greens this parched land but replenishes vital underground water stores. ⁠
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Rock art sites on Tswalu reserve are evidence of the long occupation of the Kalahari by the San. The eland is a commonly depicted antelope engraved on flat rock faces. Visiting one of these sacred sites adds another dimension to your safari and a deeper understanding of the Kalahari. 

Image @MarcusWesterbergPhotography

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Just hanging out or ready to pounce on one of his siblings? The newest cubs belonging to the Southern Pride are providing great entertainment for our guests at the moment. Cuteness overload! 🥺⁠
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Image @Trevor_Kleyn ⁠
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Expect the unexpected as you embark on a gourmet journey like no other in Restaurant Klein JAN's theatrical dining space designed to ignite all the senses. Imagine an authentic South African story told through local ingredients sourced from the Kalahari. ⁠
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🔗 Foodies, follow the link in bio. ⁠
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Day's end ... what could be more peaceful? ⁠
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The Southern Pride's newest cubs are growing up, figuring things out through feisty play-fighting. ⁠“All's fair in love and war”, as they say. ⁠
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Video @Trevor_Kleyn ⁠
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One of the female cheetahs donated by Tswalu Kalahari Reserve to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, India, has given birth to five cubs. The introduction of two females and two males from Tswalu formed part of an ambitious translocation initiative in early 2023 in which a total of 12 cheetahs from South African reserves were sent to India to help increase the metapopulation.
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Free-roaming cheetahs used to occur naturally in India but were wiped out in the late 1950s. For decades, there were none to view in the wild. We are proud to have played a part in the success of this conservation story.
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By helping subpopulations of the metapopulation to become established, we hope that sightings of these magnificent cats will be possible for future generations. ⁠
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Cheetah cubs photographed at Tswalu by @MarcusWestbergPhotography⁠
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The only thing to do on a hot summer's day? Rest. Take your cue from a young Cape fox, conserving his energy in a field of devil's thorn. ⁠
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Our guests often describe the Motse camp as a home from home: comfortably luxurious, yet comfortingly familiar. Nowhere is this more evident than in the bedroom of each ‘legae’, a Setswana word for these dreamy, nature-inspired suites meaning ‘home’ or ‘dwelling’. The focal point is this gorgeous canopied bed, a ‘room within a room’, draped in mosquito netting that is both romantic and practical. The canvas canopy features a hand-drawn sepia ink and pen topographic map of Tswalu Kalahari Reserve. You’ll drift off to sleep dreaming about landmarks on the reserve you’ve already discovered or are yet to explore, extending the adventure of being on safari.⁠
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🔗 At the link in bio find out what makes the Motse a good choice for couples or families. ⁠
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A meerkat is not one to be caught napping. It may be small in size, but a meerkat's fierce attitude more than compensates for it. Those razor-sharp teeth are made for chomping with ease through any prey, from beetles to scorpions. ⁠
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Image @Barry_Peiser⁠
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Check out this close up of Tswalu's Northern Pride feeding on an oryx (or a gemsbok, as we call it in South Africa). The group dynamics among feeding lions are fascinating to observe - it's pretty wild to see them in action like this. 

Thanks to @MattyHollandWildlife for capturing the moment.

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