Unsung South Africa

Venture past Cape Town, the Wine Route, and Kruger’s famed Big Five, and you’ll find a vast country little-visited. Discover pioneering rewilding projects bringing new life to the interior and innovative entrepreneurs transforming the townships—this is the South Africa you don’t know, but one that’s slowly beginning to reveal itself

- Amelia Duggan & Heather Richardson

The alternative safari

The Green Kalahari

The little-visited Northern Cape claims a uniquely verdant swathe of the Kalahari. Welcome to South Africa’s largest private game reserve, Tswalu Kalahari, home to thrilling chases and pioneering conservation efforts

The wild dogs are on the move!” Our guide Kosie puts down the radio and hurries towards the den where we find five three-week-old pups abandoned. The alpha female, their mother, had tried to tuck them safely away several times, but the tiny youngsters just wouldn’t stay put. Eventually, the inexperienced mother gave up and left them. Crossing our fingers for the puppies, we set off again to find her and her pack doing what wild dogs do best: hunting.

This is the green Kalahari, a 5,79,365-square-kilometre desert that sprawls across Botswana and Namibia. The southern section spills into South Africa’s Northern Cape, a semi-arid region that receives just enough rain to avoid being classified a desert. Instead it goes by the local name of the ‘green Kalahari’. It’s home to the largest private game reserve in the country: Tswalu Kalahari, my 708-square-kilometer base for the trip. It’s a long way from anywhere, but that’s why it’s so special.