The Motse - Tswalu Kalahari Luxury Private Game Reserve

This is our third stop on my 28th African Safari. This is my 4th stay at Tswalu and 1st stay at the amazing Loapi camp We love Loapi. Stunning in every aspect. Our butler T was a gracious hostess. We really felt welcome when we returned to our “home”. The layout is amazing. Private residence area. The main area has a living room with stunning views of the Kalahari Our private Chef OB is a rising star. Excellent palette and skill to match. We had 3 memorable braai s near our fire pit. What an experience to cook a meal in the middle of this majestic area. Sticks did a great job managing the food and drinks for the vehicle. I did a couple of all day adventures - amazing to experience the sun rise and set and not spend any time inside. Super Star Freddy came from Motse and conducted an excellent blind tasting of South African wines. Thank you. The game drives were epic. Veteran guide Kalahari and Tracker MC led the journey. 5 complete hunts in 5 days. Including a hunt where a Kudu jumped into the Motse pool for safety. The painted dogs surrounded the pool and an epic stand off ensued. I lost track of the failed chases we watched. Lions setting up on hartebeest getting foiled by a shift in the wind. We tend to see a lot of action because we ask our guides for this experience. Most guest likely saw 1 complete hunt at the most. We were the only truck on 3 of the hunts. The guest have complete say in the direction of their experiences. Then what happens - happens. I will continue to visit Tswalu for as long as I can. Tswalu is a magical place. We

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.

The new one bedroom loapi villas are beautiful, comfortable, have amazing views and staff. The private chef and butler were fabulous, non intrusive and the food was delicious. I would recommend this camp for people that have done some more traditional safaris. What I loved about this experience is being left alone and being able to do exactly what we wanted and when, with our private guide and vehicle. Thank you to Linda, Reese, Rey and Ben! Fabulous all around, I’ll be back.

Such a unique and pleasant experience. Saving this place is critical and the owners have made this available to the greater community. Awesome sightings. Food was amazing, can't remember out cook (young and from SA), but he continuously did wonders.

We stayed at numerous beautiful lodges in South Africa, including Singita Lebombo, Castleton Camp and Abu Camp. We needed a reset to take a break from our hectic schedules, and this was definitely the place to do it! From the ultimate luxurious lodging where attention is paid to every detail, amazing staff (shout out to Brandon and Amber!), the best trackers (William is #1!!!) unique wildlife (meerkat experience!), having plenty of peaceful and relaxing time to ourselves, delicious food prepared by our private chef, and the ultimate dining experience at the Michelin star Klein Jan restaurant. As others have said about the restaurant, don’t look it up and be blown away by the surprise and experience! My advice, though, is to moderate your expectations on wildlife viewing because you can’t and won’t see all the highlighted rare animals advertised (pangolin, aardvark) due to the reserve’s vastness and many other factors, or all of the Big Five. However, been there done that, and we were looking for something else more unique, and Tswalu nailed it! Two reserves with two different wildlife experiences, and the safari drive itself was positively exhilarating! Also, there were plenty of cheetahs, lions, many rare types of antelopes, giraffes, zebras, white and black horn rhinos, hyenas, wild dogs, etc. It’s a perfect getaway for honeymooners (very private and romantic), families, and those coming back to Africa who want a more authentic experience for 3-4 days. Conservation is the main reason for bringing tourism to Tswalu, and we are very thankful and grateful to the Oppenheimer family who are at the forefront of restoring the Kalahari desert back to its original pristine state!

We stayed at Tswalu’s new Loapi tented camp, which is simply extraordinary and a unique experience from any other camp in Africa in that you have your own home —bedroom suite, living room, kitchen, study etc—but are not forced into artificial frivolity with other safari goers, as you never see anyone other than your support team of guide/tracker/butler/chef. You design your own experience, your own schedule, drives/walking, etc, and your team is happy to customize your trip. Your chef/butler are around as little or much as you’d like, always on call. (One very minor piece of advice on this—make sure to think through your preferences in advance and share them with the lodge to ensure staff are able to accommodate them. While our stay was perfect, we got a sense that the generic “intake form” doesn’t adequately capture this information for the staff to help maximize your stay.) Tswalu is a special place and perfect for those who’ve been on safari before and appreciate its different environment. It’s not Kruger so don’t expect to see animals on command. It is more challenging here to locate them but that’s the fun of discovery. And mind you we saw A LOT—many rhinos (black and white), lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, hyenas, caracal, pangolin, aardvark, meerkats and the list goes on. There are of course the other experiences that can be enjoyed but we were too happy on our search for animals to bother with them. And very importantly, our team was absolutely incredible—Matt, Jonas, Andy, De’ne. Extraordinary professionals. Tsawlu is lucky to have them.