Best hotels in Central Kalahari

Tau Pan is a simple but comfortable camp perched on the ridge of an ancient sand dune, giving it wonderful views over the limitless plains of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The Kalahari is known as a thirstland because for much of the year there is very little standing water – Tau Pan, however, is built beside a permanent waterhole. The camp has been constructed with the environment in mind, utilising only solar power to generate electricity, pumping water from deep beneath the desert and treating waste water before returning it to the ground.

Bordering the iconic Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Evolve Back Gham Dhao Lodge sits at the threshold of a harsh and storied landscape. The first reserve in Botswana to be set aside for its rich cultural heritage, the Central Kalahari is the historic home to the San Bushmen, a people group expertly adapted to the severe desert environment. Few places on earth allow such an authentic cultural interaction alongside a truly wild game experience. The desert wildlife ranges from the majestic black-maned Kalahari lion to the truly bizarre brown hyena, the black-backed jackal, and the elegant oryx antelope. This totally off-the-grid camp still manages luxury with its back-to-basics approach.

Perfectly positioned in its own 200-square-kilometre game reserve on the northern border of Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Dinaka is where you want to be during the dry season, when the wildlife is easy to see and the permanent waterhole entices all species to drink. This popular camp has acquired new owners, and extensive refurbishments have made, making this an ideal destination for a wild Kalahari experience. Dinaka hosts one of the most unique biodiversities in southern Africa, with its ever-changing desert landscape and varied wildlife. There's so much to love about the Kalahari... It's a place for the soul.