On the western edge of the Namibian Kalahari, two hours’ drive south of Windhoek, the desert’s first red dune ridges begin. Camelthorn trees grow in the valleys between the dunes. Flat hardveld savanna stretches away to the west. Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge is built for walking this country, with marked trails for guests to take on foot or by bike.
Camelthorn trees grow in the valleys between the dunes.
The suites and main building are set around a dry vlei. Giraffe and zebra cross the open pan to its waterholes, and wildebeest and oryx come to drink too. In some rainy seasons the whole pan fills to a shallow lake. With Windhoek so close, the lodge is usually the first night of a Namibian journey, and a second night leaves time for the dune trails.
No game on this reserve has been hunted for many years, and a walking party feels the difference at once. Eland and oryx often hold their ground as the walkers close in. Still, a walk here is as much about the land as the game. Walkers come to know the shape of a dune crest and the shade of a camelthorn, and above all the quiet of the valleys.
Eland and oryx often hold their ground as the walkers close in
The Trans Kalahari Walk goes furthest. After a night at the lodge, a guide leads walkers out across the dunes on an overnight route, booked in advance, with stops for breakfast and lunch. Soft sand makes it a proper effort. Along the way lies a remote camp out among the dunes, well away from the lodge, with a plunge pool and a braai fire waiting.
A wooden boardwalk runs out across the vlei to the main building, which stands on the pan itself, so that the waterholes are always in plain view. The restaurant and bar are here, with a pool deck outside and open fireplaces that are lit when the nights turn cold. One lounge is given over to whisky and cigars. The suites are spaced along the edge of the vlei, each a small cluster of tented bedroom and living area, with a shaded deck and a sun terrace. All are screened from their neighbours, yet open to the water.
The sundowner drive climbs to a dune crest and stops there. In the last hour of light the dunes turn from red through orange to a silvery grey. Back at the lodge a gin and tonic appears by the fire. Winter nights in the Namibian Kalahari turn sharply cold, and the fires burn wood from bush cleared to let the land recover. Dinner follows, a set menu with a choice of meat or vegetarian, served indoors or at tables under the stars.
From the bed in the smaller of the two superior suites, the waterhole is in full view
In 2021 the same pan that holds the waterholes filled far enough to flood the lodge. It closed, and was rebuilt with suites that have tented bedrooms and wide windows turned to the water. From the bed in the smaller of the two superior suites, the waterhole is in full view. The larger, with two bedrooms, is reached through a thatched passage and is built at the mouth of a dry riverbed that feeds the vlei only after heavy rain. Here the water is never far, for a permanent waterhole lies close by.
Children are welcome, and the two-bedroom suite sleeps a family of four, and we check which activities each child can join before you travel. The walkways are open and animals wander through the grounds, so younger children stay within arm’s reach of an adult. Mountain bikes and fat bikes, built for soft sand, are kept at the lodge for guests to take out along the marked trails, and runners use the same routes. For country beyond walking range, open 4x4s set out in the morning on a scenic drive through the dunes.
accommodation
Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge has 13 suites, all facing the vlei's waterholes. Eleven pair a tented bedroom with a shaded deck, a sun terrace and an outdoor shower, each screened from its neighbours. Two superior suites add private pools, one for two, the other with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a living room for a family of four.
activities
Guided walks off the paths, marked self-guided trails to sunset viewpoints, trail running, and mountain and fat bikes. The Trans Kalahari Walk is a guided overnight trek by way of a remote dune camp, booked in advance. Morning scenic and sundowner drives run in open 4x4s through the dunes, all within the private reserve.
conservation
Every year since the start, the profits have gone back into the reserves, supporting land returned to wildlife. The reserve creates jobs for local people, and neighbouring farmers are brought into conservation planning. Most of the power and hot water comes from the lodge's own solar plants.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
By road, in about two hours from Windhoek. It lies some 190 kilometres south of the capital, off the B1 just south of the small town of Kalkrand, and the drive is on tar all the way to the reserve, with only the final three kilometres on its sandy track. Hosea Kutako International Airport is about 250 kilometres away, so the lodge works well on the afternoon you land.
The reserve also has its own sand airstrip, Gurus, a short drive from the lodge, and a private charter in a light aircraft can land there from Windhoek or from elsewhere on a Namibian circuit, with the lodge's vehicle meeting the plane. There are no scheduled flights, so most guests come by road with a private driver-guide, which we arrange from the airport or your Windhoek hotel.
Only at a very low level. The lodge lies in Namibia's Hardap region which TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates as very low risk, advising awareness and bite avoidance rather than tablets. The CDC places malaria in nine northern and eastern regions of Namibia, Hardap not among them, and calls it rare elsewhere. Very low risk is not the same as no risk.
We are travel planners, not medical professionals, and we do not make medical recommendations. Whether anything beyond bite avoidance suits you, particularly for a young child, in pregnancy or alongside other medication, is a question for your own doctor or a travel clinic. The practical part is simple: cover arms and legs at dusk and keep repellent to hand.
A guided walk of two or three nights through the lodge's reserve, and the best reason to stay on. The first night is at the lodge. Next morning, before sunrise, a guide leads the way over the red dune ridges and through open grass and tree savanna, stopping to read tracks and plants, and by afternoon the group reaches a remote dune camp set high above the dunes.
Dinner is round a fire on the dune, and the night is spent in a tent or out under the stars. The walk back to the lodge the next day follows the dry riverbeds, and a third night can add a half-day walk through the bush savanna. It is walking on soft sand, so reasonable fitness helps, and we book the walk together with the stay.
Yes, with some planning around the rooms. Children up to three stay free, and children from four to twelve pay a reduced rate when they share with their parents. A standard suite takes two adults and one child of twelve or under, so a family of four is better in the two-bedroom superior suite, which has two en-suite bedrooms, a living area and its own pool.
The guided drives and walks, and the Trans Kalahari Walk above all, are set up for older children and adults. With younger ones the day tends to be built around the pool and the waterholes in front of the suites, where giraffe, zebra and antelope often come to drink. Tell us their ages at enquiry and we will check what each of them can join.
Plains game rather than predators. The private reserve covers about 10,000 hectares where the first red dunes of the Kalahari meet the flat savanna to the west, and it holds giraffe, zebra, blue wildebeest, oryx, springbok, kudu and eland, with ostrich on the open ground. There are no lions or elephants, which is what makes this such good country for exploring on foot with a guide.
The animals have not been hunted for many years, so they tend to be relaxed around walkers and vehicles and often let you closer than you might expect. The two waterholes in the dry pan in front of the lodge draw them in through the day, so a good deal of the watching happens from the deck or your own terrace.
Two if you can. One night works as the first stop of a Namibian journey, because the lodge is close to Windhoek and on the way south towards the Namib and Sossusvlei, and it breaks what would otherwise be a long first day on the road. A single night, though, leaves time for little more than a sundowner and an early start.
A second night allows a morning drive through the dunes, a guided walk or a bicycle ride along the reserve's trails, and an afternoon by the pool before a sundowner drive. If the Trans Kalahari Walk is part of the plan, allow two or three nights for the walk itself, one of them at the dune camp.
rated five stars by our clients
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
