Our Stories

Restaurant Klein JAN was recently named International Hidden Gem in the La Liste 2022 Awards, putting Tswalu Kalahari Reserve and the Northern Cape province of South Africa on the global culinary map.

The Motse's pastry chefs recently played around with new dessert ideas using these fresh, local pistachios. The result, pistachio frangipane tart, is served as a dessert with Chantilly cream.

Bread baking is taken seriously in Tswalu’s kitchens, and around 10 different types of bread are produced daily, from breakfast through to dinner. Potbrood, baked in a cast-iron pot over the coals, is a boma dinner favourite.

In the Northern Cape town of Upington is the third-generation family business, Upington Slaghuis, or butchery, which supplies the kitchens of the Motse, Tarkuni and Restaurant Klein JAN with local, ethically sourced, quality meat.

Over the past year, Tswalu has sought to enhance its sustainable usage of all resources while reducing the production of waste. Overseeing the sustainability journey on the ground are our Sustainability Champions.

Cheese, like any craft worth pursuing, is a commitment, but it can be an extremely rewarding one when approached with a patient enthusiasm.

At Tswalu, food is part of almost every experience – whether out on a game drive, having a picnic, enjoying lunch on your private veranda or dune dining under the stars.

South Africa’s melting pot of cultures finds perfect expression in these bobotie-filled spring rolls, a delicious twist on a traditional recipe that is always a popular choice when it appears on the Motse’s lunch menu.

Arriving in the Kalahari for the first time, it’s not uncommon to expect scarcity, but where life finds a challenge, it finds a way, and the Kalahari is anything but a barren wasteland. Quite the opposite. It is a place of cultural and culinary abundance!