Tswalu Kalahari – 3 nights Tswalu Kalahari | 1 night Johannesburg | 3 nights Sabi Sand | 1 night Johannesburg
Overview
Although I typically like to plan all of the details of my vacation, I found this to be the BEST solution for our trip to South Africa where I do not have a lot of knowledge on the area. Anya, was easy to work with, she listened to may inputs and she took care of ALL of the details. I enjoyed working directly with someone who would accept my input to come up with a trip that I knew I would enjoy.
With Anya, you can work with her if you have some strong opinions on your trip (like I did) or let her do all the planning. Since I like to have some control, we talked back and forth throughout the planning process to develop the itinerary and the lodging in the 2 locations. Then she did an excellent job of handling all of the details for transfers, continental flights, extra tours if desired etc.
We could travel worry free on this trip b/c everything was defined and clearly communicated with a full itinerary and all details/contacts noted. In addition, during the trip I was able to communicate with her via WhatsApp and she responded VERY quickly to any question/concern/comment that I had. She also checked in with me just to make sure everything was ok. Thank you for a memorable time Anya!
There is an early start this morning. You are collected from your hotel and transferred to Cape Town airport for your scheduled light aircraft flight to Tswalu Game Reserve. Upon arrival at Tswalu, there is time to check into your lodge before your first game drive.
Transfer time – Cape Town to Cape Town airport: approx. 40 minutes
Flight time – Cape Town to Tswalu: approx. 2 hours
The name Kalahari is derived from the Tswana word “Kgala”, meaning the great thirst, or “Kgalagadi”, meaning the waterless place. It has been inhabited by the Bushman for 20 000 years as hunter-gatherers, who lived in a harmonious relationship with the environment until the influx of African and European man. However, due to its harsh environment, modern day man found its unfavourable conditions unsuitable to develop. Even with the introduction of borehole water, farming of livestock was a difficult pursuit. It is for this reason that man has had almost no impact on the land, and the Kalahari has remained a true wilderness area. The southern Kalahari, due to its location and local climatic conditions, receives somewhat more rain than the central Kalahari, allowing it to support a large diversity of life. It is for this reason that the southern Kalahari is frequently referred to as the “Green Kalahari” – this is the home of Tswalu Kalahari Reserve.
Tswalu Kalahari is South Africa’s largest private game reserve, covering an area of over 100,000 hectares. Owned by the Oppenheimer family, Tswalu takes conservation as its absolute priority; their vision is simply ‘to restore the Kalahari to itself’. No more than thirty guests at a time can discover the beauty of this landscape, its diverse wildlife, and the serenity of what may well be South Africa’s last great wilderness.
After your morning game drive, you are taken to the airstrip to catch your charter flight to Johannesburg. Upon arrival in Johannesburg, you are met by your hotel representative and transferred to The Residence Hotel in the leafy suburb of Houghton. You check in at your hotel, the rest of the afternoon is at leisure.
Johannesburg is South Africa’s largest city and is the financial and commercial capital of Africa. It is in this fast-paced metropolis that the country’s radical political and social transformation is most evident – this is the “Rainbow Nation” at work. You may decide to go on a 3 hour go as you please tour. A driver will take you around Johannesburg city and any other places you wish to see.
Flight time – Tswalu to Johannesburg: approx. 1½ hours
Transfer time – Johannesburg Airport to The Residence Hotel: approx. 40 minutes
This morning you enjoy breakfast at your hotel before you are met by your hotel representative and transferred to OR Tambo International Airport for your light aircraft flight to the Sabi Sand Game Reserve.
Upon arrival in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, you are met by your lodge ranger and taken on a short drive to your lodge. There is time to check in and settle in at your lodge before departing on your first afternoon game drive.
Transfer time – The Residence Hotel to Johannesburg Airport: approx. 40 minutes
Flight time – Johannesburg to Sabi Sands Game Reserve: approx. 1 ½ hours
Forming part of the Greater Kruger National Park, the Sabi Sand Reserve has no fences and the wildlife is able to cross freely between the Sabi Sands and the rest of the Greater Kruger National Park. The safari experience in the Sabi Sand is highly personalised because game drive vehicles have exclusive traversing rights in their area. The Sabi Sand Reserve is a remarkable natural sanctuary known for its exceptionally high concentration of animal and bird life. Close contact encounters are guaranteed as the animals are not threatened by the presence of vehicles thanks to sound conservation management policies. Safaris are led by experienced rangers coupled with local Shangaan trackers. With exceptional sightings of leopard (usually the most elusive of cats), lion, rhino, elephant and buffalo during game drives – visitors are never lacking in exciting photographic content.
This morning you enjoy your last game drive before bidding farewell to this African wonderland. Your lodge ranger will transfer you to the Singita Airstrip for your light aircraft transfer to OR Tambo International Airport.
Upon arrival at OR Tambo International Airport, you are met by your hotel representative and transferred to The Residence Hotel for you final evening in sunny South Africa. The rest of the day is at leisure.
Flight time – Sabi Sands to Johannesburg: approx. 1½ hours
Transfer time – Johannesburg Airport to The Residence Hotel: approx. 40 minutes
Today is at leisure until you are met by your hotel representative and transferred to OR Tambo International Airport for your flight home.
Transfer time – The Residence Hotel to Johannesburg Airport: approx. 40 minutes
Accommodation
The Kalahari: Tswalu Kalahari Private Game Reserve
Tswalu Kalahari is South Africa’s largest private game reserve, covering an area of over 100,000 hectares in the Northern Cape Province. Owned by the Oppenheimer family, Tswalu takes conservation as its absolute priority.
The Motse nestles at the foot of the Korannaberg Mountains, facing westwards across the grasslands of the Kalahari. Motse means “village” in Tswana and this village consists of just nine spacious and secluded “legae” (another Tswana word, for “little house”) or suites. These legaes are built of local stone, rich red clay and traditional Kalahari thatch. Each suite comprises a spacious bedroom with an open fire, a sumptuous en-suite bathroom with both indoor and outdoor shower, and a large dressing and study area. Your private sun deck overlooks a waterhole and the changing Kalahari animals it attracts. Three legae have been designed especially for families. Each offers two separate bedroom suites with their own en-suite bathrooms, separated by an expansive living room again leading on to a shady, private terrace. These legae are each over 170 square metres in size and create the perfect environment for any family group.
The Motse accommodates no more than 24 guests at any one time to make for a truly intimate Kalahari safari experience. The main house is a spectacular space in which to meet, with its elevated decks and elegant lounges. An infinity pool offers an endless view over the savannahs and a secluded spa is designed to complete your total relaxation. The mezzanine library is equipped with satellite TV (the Motse also has full broadband Wi-Fi access throughout) and its museum cases display rare artefacts from the area.
Cuisine at Tswalu is dedicated to creating exceptional and unique dining experiences for guests with a variety of exciting menus to enjoy at different venues on the reserve. As experienced fine-dining specialists, the Tswalu chefs use global food influences and the best available seasonal ingredients, locally sourced wherever possible, to create constantly changing and evolving menus.
Johannesburg: The Residence Hotel
The Residence is an extraordinary boutique hotel that is truly one of a kind. A warm, hospitable welcome awaits you at The Residence, located in the historic suburb of Houghton, which is also home to many famous residents including former president Nelson Mandela. The Residence exudes a charming air of quiet dignity, with an abundance of bougainvillea blossoms cascading down the terraced gardens. This is a blissful oasis where guests are treated with personalised service and are invited to make themselves at home. No effort has been spared in creating the most sublime surroundings to surpass your greatest expectations. Take a stroll through the manicured gardens and enjoy a game of tennis or swim a few lengths in the outdoor pools. Guests can work out in the fitness room.
The entrance hall leads through to the sumptuous lounge and sitting room with doors opening onto the long, spacious veranda offer a cool respite from the warm African sun. The air-conditioned suites are generously proportioned and designed for ultimate comfort and privacy, leading out to spacious balconies with tables, chairs and sun loungers shaded by large sun umbrellas. Here you can sit back and take in the views of the garden, tennis court and pool.
The Sky Bar on the top floor offers spectacular views over the surrounding suburbs and Johannesburg’s renowned urban forest towards the city skyline beyond. What better place to enjoy sundowners while taking in the spectacular African sunsets, or sipping stylish pre-dinner cocktails. The comfortable relaxation areas invite you to lounge away a few hours, interspersed with socializing in the Jacuzzi or cooling off with a refreshing dip in the swimming pools. Fine dining is offered throughout the day.
Sabi Sand Game Reserve: Singita Boulders Lodge
Resting on the banks of the Sand River in the game-rich Sabi Sands Game Reserve is the luxurious, Singita Boulders Lodge. Built around an enormous boulder, hence its name, Singita Boulders offers magnificent wrap around views of the rich bushveld and Sand River wildlife activity.
The whole space is a celebration of the tranquillity, space, and light which flows throughout this vast area where the surrounding landscape and animals can be seen and enjoyed from every angle.
Singita Boulders boasts twelve magnificent, glass fronted suites with two double suites available for families. Sophisticated interiors in this contemporary lodge include earthy colours, textured fabrics, wooden furniture and natural stone. The luxury suites are air-conditioned; consist of sumptuous bathrooms, indoor and outdoor showers, an expansive living area with double-sided fireplace, minibar and fridge and private wooden leisure decks with a heated plunge pool.
At the main lodge, guest can enjoy Singita’s very own Boutique & Gallery. Not your regular curio shop, you will find original treasures that have been gathered from all corners of the African continent.
Singita is recognised as one of Africa’s most influential collectors of wine, with an extensive cellar showcasing a premium selection of wines, including some of the continent’s most sought-after private reserves.
Experiences
Tswalu Kalahari Private Game Reserve: Daily Safari Programme at Tswalu
Tswalu has superlative game viewing and offers sightings of some of South Africa’s rarest and most extraordinary wildlife, including the desert black rhino (Diceros bicornis). Tswalu’s population represents one third of South Africa’s entire remaining desert black rhino. Tswalu is also home to black-maned Kalahari lions, Meerkats, cheetah and rare antelope such as roan, sable and tsessebe. There are over 70 species of mammal and 230 species of birds (including endangered raptors). Other sightings may include the elusive aardvark, aardwolf, pangolin and porcupine.
Tswalu offers unrivalled privacy in a vast, pristine wilderness. They have a maximum of six vehicles in over 100,000 hectares. The expert Field Guides have been specially trained in Kalahari wildlife and each contributes personally to the constant programme of research and conservation on the reserve. Game drives at Tswalu Kalahari will be completely tailored to your own interests. As well as discovering many rare and endangered species for the first time, every guest leaves with a deep appreciation of the beauty of this entire eco-system.
Bush walks are encouraged at Tswalu as they want people to get even closer to the land: to touch the unique vegetation (and learn about some plants’ extraordinary properties), to inspect nests and burrows, to examine the smallest insect. A morning can begin by walking to a meerkat colony and watching these engaging mammals warm themselves in the sunshine before they scamper off to forage. Night walks are now also possible, offering the chance of exceptional sightings such as aardvark, aardwolf, porcupine or brown hyena at even closer range. And for a Kalahari safari experience unlike any other, guests can explore the dunes and savannahs on horseback. Few moments can rival gently walking through a herd of sable antelope on horseback, sharing the magical stillness that defines the Kalahari.
Sabi Sand Game Reserve: Daily Safari Programme at Singita Boulders Lodge
Singita Boulders Lodge is situated in the world-renowned 65,000 hectare Sabi Sand Wildtuin in the South-Western section of the Kruger National Park. It is a wildlife oasis, where you can observe at close quarters the age-old natural relationship between predator and prey. The diverse habitat is home to spectacular wildlife including the Big 5 – lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo and elephant – as well as cheetah, wild dog and some 200 other animal species indigenous to the area. There is nothing quite as stirring as the sight of a lion, elephant or rhino roaming free in the bush; as haunting as the sound of a hyaena laughing in the dead of night; as electrifying as the tension one feels when following spoor along a dry riverbed. Singita Boulders Lodge is also home to a remarkable 350 species of birds. On a single summer’s day, a visitor from the Northern Hemisphere will probably see more bird species than he is likely to see in a lifetime in his home country.
Day and night safaris in open Land Rovers, led by highly trained Game Rangers and qualified Trackers, follow the animals on and off-road, deep into the heart of the wild African Bushveld. The morning safari starts at first light, when the bush is already alive, the air filled with birdsong as the rising sunlight dances off beads of dew on spiders’ webs. The tracker will watch the road for spoor, leaning forward intently to find any print left by a predator during its hunt in the dark. You return to the lodge for a grand brunch. After brunch walking safaris allow guests to feel the pulse of untamed Africa through the soles of their feet. As evening falls you depart on the night safari. As the fierce heat of the day cools, the inhabitants of the bush become restless, and the animals move out of the shade of the trees. As the sun dips behind the horizon your Ranger will choose a spot where you can stretch your legs and enjoy sundowners alongside the vehicle. There is a lull as the animals sense the transition into a time of increased danger. It is during evening safaris that the nocturnal hunters start stirring, and their prey needs to be alert for survival through the night. You return to the lodge for a safari cuisine supper.
