Loch Maree Guest Farm and Field Camp

Shared between South Africa and Botswana and split by the Auob river, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is an hour and 15 minutes away by car and, like the surrounding area, it demands a better word than desert. Dunes of all hues, from Martian red to orange and pink, are interspersed with acacia thorns and riverbeds, silent and then suddenly in uproar as herds of blue wildebeest and red haartebeest hurtle through. For a wilderness that’s walkable, and populated by meerkats, it’s a 50-minute trip to the Kalahari Trails Nature Reserve, specialising in smaller creatures best seen close up, with a watering hole that attracts flocks of feeding and preening birds at sunset. To see the landscape as the locals do, call in on the Khomani San Living Museum half an hour away, for walks with experienced trackers, demonstrations of traditional crafts and skills and the telling of timeless stories through word, dance and song. Round off the cultural experience with a culinary one at Aunt Koera’s Farm Kitchen (40 minutes) where traditional Khomani San treats like ash bread, venison potjie and Kalahari lamb chops are prepared over fires and in three-legged pots.