The Motse - Tswalu Kalahari Luxury Private Game Reserve

From start to finish a 5 star resort. From the fire blade lounge before u get there u feel like a rockstar. Arrival and met by your guide and tracker u feel welcome. The accommodation at Motse is unbelievable - family suite I could actually live in forever. Staff can’t do enough for you. Trackers and guides - I thought this would be a bit much and just a way to extract a few more tips. How wrong I was. Without our tracker we would not have seen many animals as they work in pairs - the tracker is dropped and walks miles with the guide covering around till u find the animal in a pincer like movement. We have spent 2 days looking for the painted dogs at the previous resort - without finding. The tracker ran up and down a mountain and then found them and the guide off-roaded till we were sat with them. Also no time pressure - we could spend all day with the animals. Again on leaving a seamless service!

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.