Loapi Tented Camp

Loapi Tented Camp sits within Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa’s largest privately protected conservation area. It’s the sister property to Motse and Tarkuni camps, whose guests are the only people permitted to stay on the whole reserve. The word loapi means ‘space below the clouds’ in the Setswana language – fitting for a camp surrounded by the Kalahari’s red dunes, arid savannah and the distant Korannaberg Mountains. Unlike a traditional safari lodge, Loapi safari camp consists of six private homes, each operating independently with no shared guest spaces. The camp’s modular design combines canvas, steel and glass, with the rounded forms intended to echo both the Kalahari landscape and the nomadic spirit of camping.

There are both one- and two-bedroom homes well-spaced for complete privacy, each with a full kitchen, private study, shaded decks, firepits and plunge pools. The bedrooms are covered by cocoon-like canvas canopies, while showers open onto the landscape. Every home comes with a dedicated homathi (house manager), a private chef and its own safari vehicle with a personal guide and tracker. The chef will prepare meals in your kitchen or outside over the fire, and there is a pantry and a wine fridge that will be pre-stocked with your preferences.

A luxury Kalahari safari here in Tswalu specialises in rare wildlife, while highly flexible activities and a malaria-free safari experience make it ideal for family trips. Beyond day and night game drives, you can track elusive pangolins, photograph wildlife from underground hides, ride horses across the reserve or spend a night beneath the stars at Malori, Tswalu’s luxury sleep-out deck. Loapi guests also have access to wellness treatments using Terres D’Afrique botanicals, including Kalahari melon, buchu and manketti, and can be arranged indoors or outside on your deck overlooking the savannah.