Tswalu Kalahari, Motse

Tswalu covers about 1,200 square kilometers on the edge of the southern Kalahari and belongs to the Oppenheimer family's group. Motse is in the west of the reserve, where the Korannaberg mountains meet grass plains and red dunes. It has nine legae, the local word for dwellings, for two or four guests, each with a fireplace and private deck, plus two shared pools, a spa and a waterhole in front of camp.

Every booking comes with a private vehicle, guide and tracker. The animals are different here: meerkats you can sit with, pangolin and aardvark if you are lucky, black-maned lion, cheetah, wild dog and brown hyena. There are also rock art walks, horse riding and nights out under canvas. Tswalu runs scheduled flights to its own airstrip, about 90 minutes from Johannesburg or two hours from Cape Town.

Tswalu suits families, since it is malaria free, welcomes children of all ages and has two-bedroom family legae. It also suits repeat safari travelers chasing rare species. The game is spread out over big country, so it is not the place to tick off the Big Five quickly, and winter mornings and evenings are cold.