Deception Valley Lodge

Deception Valley Lodge (DVL) in a Nutshell

The name of this lodge is a bit misleading as the real “Deception Valley” is located some distance away, well inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. They just borrowed this famous name. DVL is located on a massive private game farm, bordering the northern fence of the park. This “game farm” has been well stocked and complimented by natural populations and movements of Kalahari antelope. Game densities are in fact higher than in the park and predators (especially lions) take advantage of this. The highlight is to be able to track predators with bushman trackers and guides!

Fast Facts

6 standard thatched chalets + 1 family suite
16 guests Maximum
Price range from USD510 – USD635 pppn
Borders the Central Kalahari GR (ckgr)
Game drives in open 4×4 vehicles
Day trips into the CKGR
Cultural walks with bushmen
Access by road or light aircraft
Private waterhole in front of the lodge

How to Get There

You can fly into the DVL from any bush airstrip . We like this camp because it is also accessible by road on a self drive safari or as part of your itinerary on a mobile safari.

Game Viewing and Activities

The activities on offer here are game drives and cultural activities with Bushmen. This lodge is located outside of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, on fenced private land. This “game farm” is immense in size so it is unlikely that the fence will interfere with your game viewing. The Bushmen that work here are genuine trackers – it is amazing to watch them follow spoor and locate animals for you. This is the highlight of a stay here. These Bushmen also explain and demonstrate how their families survived in such a harsh environment, long before tourists came. There are excellent predator sightings here as the lodge has at least 2 resident prides of lions and many habituated leopards.

Guides also take guests out on night drives to look for nocturnal Kalahari animals such as aardvark, brown hyena and maybe even leopard.

The best time to visit this lodge (and most other desert camps) is during the wet season (December to March).

Game viewing from the lodge itself is also productive as they pump a private waterhole in front of camp.

Camp Environment

This is a classic style camp with en-suite Meru tents.