Description of the Red Dune Route
You will experience white saltpans, black rock koppies which is known as the Lost city, red sand dunes, dry riverbeds, wide open skies and flat-topped acacia trees that symbolise the Kalahari Red Dune Route.
You will stay in lodges each night, no camping, and have the comfort of proper showers and toilets. You will have a feast each evening provided by our hosts while you just sit back and enjoy the sunset from your deck or from a red dune.
You will experience the Kalahari Meerkat, Vulture Restaurants and lots of birdlife and see lots of Game. Optional trips are to enjoy a donkey ride, visit the Nama San museum, visit the traditional Nama San and visit a salt mining project, have the opportunity to feel what the Dead Sea feels like by drifting on the water in the saltpan
It is said that no two visits to the Kalahari are the same. This ancient and beautiful land is not only amazingly rich in diversity; it also reflects an endless variety of moods, making each new encounter refreshingly different from the previous.
This ancient and beautiful land is not only amazingly rich in diversity it also reflects an endless variety of moods, making each new encounter refreshingly different from the previous ones. The Kalahari Red Dune Route extends north of Upington into the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park that forms the shares its borders with Namibia and Botswana and is one of the largest conservation areas in the world.
The colour of the dunes in the southern Kalahari can be attributed to the high iron oxide content of the sand. In areas of higher rainfall and in shallow areas where water collects, the iron oxide is leached out, causing the sand ultimately to turn white. The gradual effect of the leaching transforms the desert into a wonderful variety of colours.
Besides the red dunes, some of the most obvious features of the Kalahari landscape are the nests of the sociable weaver birds. The colonies have up to 50 chambers housing as many as 300 birds.
Since the Kalahari is a desert, daytime temperatures can be extremely high and in winter, night-time temperatures can drop below zero, though the days are usually warm and pleasant. Thunderstorms are common during the rainy season between November and April.
Hiking Tour Information
Each day you will travel to a new destination where we will hike for the day, see the best of that area, have lunch, dinner and breakfast there and experience the best of the Kalahari.
Each venue has its own character, and the routes are planned so that you will experience the best of the Red Dune Route of the Kalahari.
Distances
Day 1: 14 km
Day 2: 12km
Day 3: 8km
Day 4: 12km
Day 5: 7km
Date
6-11 April 2023 | 8-13 April 2024
For Customized Dates (min 7 people), contact Sonja sonja@trisport.co.za
Venues
Molopo Lodge, Askham,
Loch Maree Game Lodge
Kalahari tented centrum, Rietfontein
Dreghorn Game Lodge
Kgalagadi Game Lodge
Costs
R11,950.00 per person sharing
R14,950.00 per person single
Customized Dates : R14,950.00 sharing / R17,950.00 single.
Entries Available
Limited to 18 entries
Entry Fee Includes
- 5 Nights Accommodation in lodges
- 5 Days hiking;
- Branded item
- All meals;
- Visiting of the Kalahari The Lost City;
- Staying on Private Game Reserves
- Hiking over the Salt pans
- Sundowners over the Saltpans
- Game drives
- Vulture Restaurant
- Experience the Camel Milking; and
- All permissions from private land owners.
Entry Fee Excludes
- Drinks;
- Transport to and from Molopo Lodge;
- Tips; and
- Travelling from venue to venue
- Additional night stay at Kgalagadi Lodge after the hike, please make your own arrangements
Highlights of the Tour
- Experience the best of the Red Dunes of the Kalahari while you are hiking,
- Kalahari Meerkats
- Hike over big flat pans of the Kalahari;
- Experience milking of the Camels;
- See The Black rock formation of the Lost City of the Kalahari;
- Stay on Game Reserves and go on Game Drives each day;
- Enjoy the sundowners on a Red Dune or over a Saltpan each night
- Experience the Vulture Restaurant
- Experience the hospitality of the Kalahari people;
- Hike over salt pans;
- Swim/drift on the water in the saltpan
- Donkey cart ride (optional)
- Visiting the Nama San Museum (optional)
- Stay in the middle of the Red Sand Dunes;
- Hike close to the Botswana border; and
- Stay on the Namibia / RSA border
Schedule
DAY 1
14:00 onwards. Check in. Arrive at Molopo Lodge, Askam
18:00 Welcoming in the Bar
19:00 Dinner
DAY 2
7:00 Breakfast
7.30 Drive to 1st hiking venue, Loch Maree Game Lodge,
8:00 to 13H00 Hike, on the Game Reserve, see lots of game, hike over saltpans, lunch at finish overlooking saltpans.
15:00 Optional (own cost): Visit a salt mine project and get the opportunity to drift on the saltpan filled with water, it feels like the Dead Sea
16:00 Game drive and sundowners
18:00 Dinner
DAY 3
7:00 Breakfast
8:00 Drive to Koppieskraal
8.30: Experience the Camel milking and taste the camel milk products
9:00 to 14:00 Hike over salt pan, through the Lost city, Light Lunch in the Lost City overlooking the saltpan
14:00 Drive to Rietfontein, Kalahari tented camp, on the border of Namibia (40km), our overnight stop. Enjoy the traditional food and the atmosphere of the Nama San
16: 00 Optional: Donkey cart riding or collecting eggs with one of the local Nama San people,
18:00 Dinner, see the traditional dancing
Day 4
7:00 Breakfast
8:00 Drive to Dreghorn Game Reserve
9:00 Hike on Dreghorn on top of the sand dunes with amazing views and lots of game
14:00 Lunch at Dreghorn, swim in Dreghorn’s swimming pool overlooking Botswana while you have a cold beer. Chill the rest of the afternoon in your comfortable chalets in the middle of the red sand dunes
17:00 Short walk to the Vulture Restaurant hide and watch the vultures feeding frenzy
18.30 Dinner
Day 5:
7:00 Breakfast
8:00 Drive to Kalaharitrails
9:00 Hike on Kalaharitrails, experience the meerkats, watch their social behaviour and enjoy their interaction with each other, maybe they will come to you, smell you and or hike with us for a while, see gemsbok and many other Game while you hike.
14:00 Drive to Kgalagadi lodge, enjoy a light lunch a cold beer and swim in the pool overlooking Botswana
14:00 onwards Chill, swim or drive into the Kgalagadi Game reserve (on your own account)
19:00 Dinner
Day 6
7:00 Breakfast
7:30 to 10:30 Hike on the single-track hiking trail on Kgalagadi Game Lodge, see lots of Game
11:30 Check out and Good Byes or book an extra night with Kgalagadi lodge
