Over 100 000 hectares of unspoilt Kalahari Desert. It is a guide’s dreamland, where a guide must use his years of accumulated experience to traverse, explore and track down what he is looking for. And it is for this reason that Tswalu has attracted an elite team of guides, with over 40 years of collective guiding experience. There are few places left in the world where you can spend the day tracking a Desert Black Rhino, climb a mountain to ancient Rock Art and finish off with a picnic next to a waterhole and not see another person the entire time. Tswalu is one of those places.
There is no rush, no deadlines and definitely no traffic. Instead there is the peace and freedom to explore at the pace that our guests choose in a wilderness that has does not bear the scar of mans presence. Space. Freedom. Wilderness. That is what Tswalu is about.
Involving guests in the tracking of animals makes them feel like part of nature again and gives them the true experience of a wilderness. It is just an amazing reserve… Closer to the land, closer to the people.
Rebirth, Awakening. The essence of the word Tswalu is apt in so many ways. I have been privileged to work and guide in many different environments of South Africa thus far. They all ignite special memories as well as amazing experiences. It must therefore sound very strange to hear that the first time I had ever felt ‘freedom’ was when I drove out into the western duneveld with Marco Tonoli. An incredible feeling of humility, understanding, passion and energy flows throw my veins each and every time I am out here in this vast field…be it on a game-drive, on a bushwalk, or standing on Namakwari dune in the midst of admiring a sunset.
What never ceases to amaze me is that flicker of emotion, that spark of bewilderment that I always see in every guest’s eye at some point during their stay. What I know now is that our lifestyle out here is an incredibly selfish one; many guides will never get to experience this place… And for that I feel truly humbled and privileged.
For me, Tswalu is a place where you reach your peak as a guide. Due to its is sheer size and biodiversity, Tswalu is unlike anywhere else in the country. 28 guests, over 100000 hectares (a quarter of a million acres) – need I say more?
The silence, the views. the vastness and the beauty of Tswalu. The extremes of hot and cold, dry and wet. The opportunity to see a Desert black Rhino or a huge black maned Kalahari lion to the little barking gecko’s. These differences and contrasts in landscape and wild life are the reason I love Tswalu.
Tswalu is one of those unique and exclusive places on earth where you can spend your days tracking down some of the world’s most rare and elusive animals, in complete privacy – very often without seeing another human soul on your outing.
Very little study has been done on the ecosystem here and we have an incredible opportunity to discover new truths about the harsh extremes of the Kalahari and the incredible adaptations of its inhabitants.
Being the largest private game reserve in Southern Africa, the vistas are endless and the feeling of space and freedom is unparalleled anywhere in the world.
It means a soaring spirit and clear mind. Beauty and serenity, peace, space, freedom and privacy.
Being able to watch the world slowly revolve around us and see the Kalahari stay the same, untouched by time and restored back to its pristine best.
Enjoying sunrise and sunset as our only frame of reference for time, and the stars as our only guiding lights home at night.
