Highly recommended by Lonely Planet, Kalahari Trails is a 3 500ha private reserve situated 35km south of Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The setting is a nature-lover’s paradise. Given over exclusively to game, it offers a wide range of habitats to explore. Various accommodation options are available. All are self-catering, though typical Kalahari meals can be provided by arrangement.
Accommodation:
The guesthouse has five rooms with two to four beds in each. Two of the rooms have en-suite bathrooms; the others share a bathroom.
Other facilities include a large lounge, communal kitchen and spacious veranda with braai (barbeque) facilities. The guesthouse is ideal for groups and has covered parking. A small shop in the guesthouse sells a variety of meats, drinks, snacks, firewood and basic foodstuffs. For those seeking privacy, a four bed chalet with fully equipped kitchen and en-suite bathroom is situated away from the guesthouse near a waterhole.
A dune side bush camp is also available with four permanent two bed tents, ablution facilities and kitchen. A sheltered campsite with ablutions block, kitchen, lapa and braai (barbeque) is located close to the guesthouse.
Guests are welcome to explore the farm on foot. A variety of guided activities are also offered, such as morning walks, dune game-drives interspersed with tracking walks, spot-lit night drives, night walks (in summer) and sundowners (a game drive to a remote dune for drinks, followed by a night drive). Prof Anne Rasa, owner of the reserve and a desert ecologist, will share her extensive knowledge of the dune plants and animals.
Some 47 mammal and 207 bird species have been recorded on the reserve. A small botanical garden on the property allows visitors to identify species they have seen in the wild. A large insect collection is also available for easy reference.
The Kalahari portion of the Biota-Africa project – a chain of 1km2 plots stretching from the Western Cape in South Africa to the Okavango Delta in Namibia – is located on the farm. As a result, Anne regularly hosts a variety of visiting researchers such as geologists, socio-economists, botanists and geographers. A number of researchers involved with PhD projects reside on the farm.
Also see our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/kalaharitrails
