!XAUS LODGE - Redefining Peace in the Kalahari Desert
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If a place could be an exhale, I think !Xaus Lodge would be it.
After our epic 5‑day self‑drive safari in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, I had the absolute honour of staying at !Xaus (pronounced “Kaus,” or with a click if you can manage it in the local tongue — the exclamation mark represents a click in Nama). It’s one of the few full‑board lodges in the park — and a lodge unlike any other. Owned by the Khomani San and Mier communities, staying here is supporting the local community while enjoying a fully serviced, full board, immersive desert experience — with a chance of some WILD wildlife sightings, as we learned!!!!
To get to !Xaus, we met our guide at the Kamqua picnic stop in the park, then journeyed about an hour down a red-dune road to arrive at this tranquil desert paradise.
Pulling up, we knew this was somewhere extremely special. Its own breed of peace. The chalets are the same fiery red as the surrounding dunes, glowing even brighter in the African sunset. The atmosphere is unmatched, knowing you’re in the habitat of incredibly rare wildlife, and in the middle of nowhere, in the vast African wild.
Our 2-night itinerary included a night drive, a morning walk, a bush craftsmen visit (we opted out to soak in the peace of the view and pool), and a sundowner drive, which took us to the most magical red-dune sunset spot.
The view of the salt pan is insane and such a unique view and I was awestuck the entire time — and loved seeing the visits by parched red hartebeest and oryx coming by for a drink.
The wildlife sightings didn’t stop there, as on our night drive, we were cruising through the dunes, looking at little night critters like owls and some antelope, when we stopped in our tracks and our guide signalled a creature in the middle of the road.
It was a freaking AARDWOLF! One of those mega rare elusive sightings you dream about in the Kalahari. Should definitely be in the “Secret 7” but isn’t. (Fun safari fact: Secret 7 = aardvark, African wildcat, civet, large-spotted genet, pangolin, porcupine, and serval). A distant cousin of the hyena, the aardwolf feeds almost exclusively on termites and is completely nocturnal. This is like, the REASON you GO on night drives. We were lucky enough to watch it for several minutes as it scampered along the dune face before disappearing over the hill.
But the grand finale had to be on our last night, when we woke up to a lion roaring RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR CHALET and barely slept a wink. His name is Curly, and he was roaring into my literal eardrums every hour on the hour from 12 midnight-4:30am, when we finally got up to see him in all his golden hour glory.
Our stay at !Xaus was the perfect relaxing end to a whirlwind self-drive safari week. We were able to be SO present, soak in the moment, listen to the sounds of the gentle breeze and the grass swaying. We were able to actually open our books and READ (!!), and reflect on the incredible adventure we’d just experienced. I really feel so lucky to have been here, a place where so few people get to visit in their lifetime.
There truly could be no better grand finale to our week in the Kalahari. 🧡✨
