6 -
Tswalu, South Africa; Mauritius 6/21/00
-- 6/29/00
June 21 - 24
- Tswalu, Southern Kalahari Desert, South Africa
About 10 years ago, a multi-millionaire from England, transformed a
patchwork of degraded farmland into one of the largest private game
reserves in Southern Africa. This included removing 26 farm
houses, 38 concrete dams and 800 km of wire fencing. Next came
re-introduction of more than 5000 indigenous animals to supplement
the 2000+ existing antelope. The total area is 1000 sq.
kilometers.
We heard this place was
nice, but we still didn't expect what we found. The
Tswalu Private Desert Reserve was by far the most luxurious place we stayed
while on safari. Take a look at these pictures. No, this
isn't the lounge, it's the sitting room in our "hut!" --
if you can really call it a hut. There are 9 huts/suites in
all. Each has a fireplace (far right) which was lit for us
each evening while we were at dinner. It was a little chilly
since it's now their winter. On 2 of the 3 days, we were
the only guests so we had the entire place to ourselves.
WE'RE
TALKING FOOD... On the table at every meal, we found personalized menus,
printed, rolled and sealed with a dot of wax
and stamped. And the chef, James, came
out to talk to us about the dishes and answer any questions we had
in advance. The food was incredible as was the
atmosphere. On the first night, we ate in the main lodge alone
in front of the fireplace (the only guests!). On the second night, we were
surprised by dinner set up in our room, in front of our
fireplace. On the third night, dinner was served in the "boma"
-- an African bbq where we were surrounded by 5 big fires to help
provide light and keep us warm.
GAME.
Although it isn't really the authentic, unfenced,
who-knows-what-you'll-see wild, we saw 25 different mammals on our 5 game drives at Tswalu -- 10 of
which were new for us, including the Black Desert Rhinoceros, Sable
Antelope, Hartebeest and African Wild Cat. On our last day, we
spotted a cheetah with a distended stomach -- it was clear it had
recently eaten. Given that, we were confident that we could
approach it without worry. Of course, Rian, our guide, had his
rifle drawn just in case... and we got the photo at left! Okay, we're just kidding...Tswalu also
has a breeding program for endangered species. This King Cheetah was raised here with his brother since they were
infants and their mother was killed.
Overall
it was a great place and a terrific ending to our game viewing.
We heard this place was
nice, but we still didn't expect what we found. The
Tswalu Private Desert Reserve was by far the most luxurious place we stayed
while on safari. Take a look at these pictures. No, this
isn't the lounge, it's the sitting room in our "hut!" --
if you can really call it a hut. There are 9 huts/suites in
all. Each has a fireplace (far right) which was lit for us
each evening while we were at dinner. It was a little chilly
since it's now their winter. On 2 of the 3 days, we were
the only guests so we had the entire place to ourselves. 
GAME.
Although it isn't really the authentic, unfenced,
who-knows-what-you'll-see wild, we saw 25 different mammals on our 5 game drives at Tswalu -- 10 of
which were new for us, including the Black Desert Rhinoceros, Sable
Antelope, Hartebeest and African Wild Cat. On our last day, we
spotted a cheetah with a distended stomach -- it was clear it had
recently eaten. Given that, we were confident that we could
approach it without worry. Of course, Rian, our guide, had his
rifle drawn just in case... and we got the photo at left! Okay, we're just kidding...Tswalu also
has a breeding program for endangered species. This King Cheetah was raised here with his brother since they were
infants and their mother was killed.