Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge and the Trans Kalahari Walk

I love a good hike and being at one with the wilderness. However, I also need to maintain a certain minimum standard of living (read: warm bed, hot shower, wine). I’m pleased to report there’s several great hiking trails in Namibia, both the ‘carry your own gear and set up camp’ type, and the glamping type. The Trans Kalahari Walk at the Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge in Namibia falls squarely into the glamping-hike box. 

Read More: Love glamping style hikes? Tok Tokkie Trails is three day guided hike through Namibia’s beautiful NamibRand Nature Reserve, complete with sleeping under the stars and three course meals. The Trans Kalahari Walk and the Tok Tokkie Trails were highlights of our Namibia itinerary!

Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge

Location and Activities

The Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge in Namibia’s Kalahari Desert is home to the Trans Kalahari Walk. Even better, it’s is only a two hour drive from Windhoek. This makes it a great way to start or end your trip around Namibia, or to break up longer driving distances.

We stayed at the Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge for two nights and spent one of those nights on the Trans Kalahari Walk. The Trans Kalahari Hike is without a doubt the highlight of the lodge, and was one of our favourite Namibia hiking adventures.

However, the lodge also has many other activities to keep you entertained before and after the walk, or during your entire stay if you’re not a hiker. These include game drives, sundowner drives and hiking and biking trails.

The Kalahari is not wildlife central, but is home to several desert animals and is certainly a very relaxing spot to ease into your Namibian safari. We spent the first day relaxing at the lodge before the Trans Kalahari Walk. We also took a short and easy cycle down one of the trails where we spotted various antelope and zebra.

Later at the lodge we were entertained by a band of merry meerkat gamely making their way across the plain outside the dining area, ducking occasionally into the grass before the duty sentry gave them the ‘all clear’ to keep moving. Cuteness overload! 

The Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge also has a friendly resident meerkat named Timon who comes and goes during the day and loves pats and snuggles. For me, this is probably reason enough in itself to overnight at the lodge!

Lodge, Rooms and Food (plus an extra special resident!)

Like many Namibian lodges, the Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge has a main lodge area for dining and relaxing with a pool (freezing water in winter!) and individual huts. The huts are centered around a small plain with a little waterhole, all the better for whiling away the afternoon with a book (and maybe a beer!) with the glimpse of the odd animal.  The rooms are very comfortable with large beds, nice bathrooms and lovely decks overlooking the waterhole.

The food at the lodge is also pretty top notch. At the end of the day we were then treated to a delicious four course dinner at the lodge, with well priced wine. This was our first lodge and the food exceeded our expectations, but we were happy to see that this was the start of a trend in Namibia! 

The Trans Kalahari Walk

On our second day, we rose early for coffee and set off at around 7am for the overnight Trans Kalahari Walk. The hike takes a maximum of 4 guests plus a guide and private chef. We were lucky enough to be the only guests that day.

The day started off very chilly (take pants, a jacket, layers and a beanie in winter!) but quickly warmed up when the sun came out. The temperature was in the late 20s Celsius for most of the day.

How long is the Trans Kalahari Walk?

Sweet spot for a lunch break after 15km hiking in the heat!

The Trans Kalahari Walk is a good distance, around 24km all up. You hike around 18km on the first day and 6km on the second day. It’s long enough to feel the leg muscles working, but not so long that you’re dragging your feet at the end. 

As much as I’m not a morning person (please don’t talk to me pre-coffee), it certainly pays to be up with the birds in Africa. Leaving at 7am meant that we could do the bulk of the hike (around 15km) in the morning while the sun is cooler. We then had the mental benefit of knowing we only had a few km to go post lunch.

On Day 1, we stopped after a few km for a packed breakfast with views of the valley and the curious local giraffes. After breakfast, we did our longest leg of around another 10km to our lunch spot.

We were pretty pumped to find a tasty lunch set up at a bush dining hut on the top of a dune. Here we enjoyed a couple of hours respite from the midday heat (and maybe a sneaky nap…) before dusting off our walking shoes. Happily, it was only a few kilometers further to our overnight camp.

Day 2 of the Trans-Kalahari Walk is much shorter. The walk takes around 6km, which can be cut short if you need to hit the road early.

(Note: There’s no bathrooms or toilets on the hike. You’ll have to go bush or hold on until the overnight camp. Not that there’s much bush … find a low scrub or dip in the dunes.)

How Hard is the Trans Kalahari Hike and What Will You See?

The Trans Kalahari Walk was fairly easy. The hiking conditions are mostly flat with a few low undulating dunes and hard or soft sand tracks. You’ll be fine with regular sports shoes, although hiking boots may help with ankle support and to reduce the level of unwanted sand / twigs / other visitors in your shoes.

My husband collected half the desert as he walked, and we took regular stops to empty the mini sand dunes out of his shoes. An extra pair of socks and some tape around the perforations did the trick for Day 2.

We spotted plenty of animals along the Trans Kalahari Walk including giraffes, zebra, various antelope, bat eared foxes and a snake. Our guide Frankie was excellent. He was very knowledgeable and natural, and not on a pre-prepared spiel that you sometimes get. Frankie took his cues from us to set the walking pace and the number and length of stops.

The Trans Kalahari Hike did have a couple of slight downsides. These wouldn’t put me off doing the hike but did mean that 1.5 days was plenty. First, the scenery is pretty consistent (small dunes and scrubby brush). While beautiful, the scenery was not as varied as other desert areas we visited.

Secondly, the hike crisscrossed across the reserve. This meant you felt like you were covering some of the same ground, rather than going from A to B which feels both more satisfying and more wild.

Now to the overnight camp … wow!

After 18km hiking, we arrived at the Trans Kalahari Walk overnight camp. The camp was AMAZING and totally exceeded my expectations. For some reason, I was expecting a dinky little tent and campfire right up until the moment the ‘camp’ slowly materialized like a mirage in the distance. What a site for sore eyes (and legs!).

The camp is more like a mini-lodge. There’s two standalone huts with bathrooms, a dining platform with a dining area and a (cold) pool and deck chairs. There’s even a small waterhole, a campfire area, and a little hill for sundowner drinks. Oh so comfortable after a long and hot day hiking! Let me tell you, do not underestimate the luxury of a shower when you’re pretty much head to toe in red dust.

We arrived at the camp at around 3:30pm. This left plenty of time to chillax, try not to gorge on the pre-dinner snacks, and enjoy a sundowner vino. To top it off, our private chef arrived and made us a delicious small buffet of grilled meats and salads with dessert. We then had a few campfire drinks before hitting the hay early. Being on holiday is tiring!

Day Two of the Trans Kalahari Walk

The next morning, the chef treated us to a classic big breakie cook up. With our bellies full, we set off at 8am for the hike back to the main lodge. We cut this walk a little short and took a more direct route (only a few km) because we needed to get on the road for our next stop.

You can also choose to stay at the hiking camp for another night and do some drives and general chillaxing. This would have been great if we had another night to spare … next time!

I’d also love to see the Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge add a second overnight camp in a different area of the reserve and offer a three day Trans Kalahari Walk. I hope that the lodge will continue to increase their range of animals (wild dogs please!).

Survey Says? (Clueless reference for you non-90s kids)

So, should you do the Trans Kalahari Walk? For me, I vote a hell yes if you’re looking for a good-but-not-too-challenging flashpacker style hike, especially if you’re new to overnight hiking.

Read to book? Click here to book the Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge.

However, if you’re a hardcore hiker who prefers to suffer push through tough terrain and the hardship satisfaction of fending for yourself, then perhaps check out the Fish River Canyon hike. Looking for something in between? Read the AF’s review of the Tok Tokkie Trails! 

If you’re more an armchair hiker than an actual hiker, there’s plenty of destinations in Namibia that can be seen from the comfort of your jeep.

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