Rooipan Guesthouse is located on the sheep farm Rooipan, named after the striking red colour of the main pan on the farm near where the original farmhouse was built.
Guests are welcome to cater for themselves, but home-cooked local food is also served in the farmhouse. True Kalahari lamb, nabbas, roosterkoek and tsama melons are well worth trying, and milktart is a speciality. Be sure to ask the Knoetze family about the history of the farm and of farming in the Kalahari.
Guests may use of the swimming pool and braai (barbeque) area, and are welcome to wander around the farm. A two-hour walking trail is a recent addition. The trail passes a former Bushmen dwelling. Ostrich eggs used to store water and presumed to be some 100 years old, were found in the area and are now on display in the farmhouse.
Stargazing is a must in the Kalahari. Other nocturnal activities include mini-expeditions led by Lizette Knoetze in search of the amazing barking gecko.
Birding is a favourite pastime in the Kalahari, but at Rooipan you won’t even have to walk very far. ‘Paul’, the tame Kori Bustard, will be pleased if you offer him some tsamma melons. Kori Bustards are the largest flying birds in Southern Africa, weighing up to 19kg. Paul prefers walking sedately through the gardens at Rooipan though, so you are sure to see him.
