6 Best Hotels in The Northern Cape, South Africa

South African National Parks (SANParks) offers clean, self-catering, brick-faced chalets that can sleep two people or a small family and are near the visitor center and the main falls viewing areas. Although they don't take advantage of the setting and aren't aesthetically pleasing, the chalets are functional, with braai (barbecue) areas and fully-equipped kitchens; some have TVs and a few have views from a sit-out area in front. The nearest town with decent shops is Kakamas, 40 km (25 miles) away, and you should definitely stock up on groceries before arriving because the on-site restaurant is only adequate, and the camp's overpriced shop sells more junk food than items with which to prepare decent meals. There are a couple of pools to refresh in, and the camp affords immediate access to hiking routes. Forty campsites are also available.

About 8 km (5 miles) from Springbok, in South Africa's oldest mining town, this hotel is one of the finest places to stay in Namaqualand, not only for the above-average accommodations and dining, but also for the friendly owner, Malcolm Mostert, who has created a homey atmosphere and who is a great source of information about what to see and do in the area. Interiors are done in a pleasing palette of tan, brown and white and decorated with photographs detailing the area's mining history. Guest rooms are simple, tidy, and comfortable. You can lounge in pleasant outdoor areas or beside the pool, a real boon in summer. Homemade curries, stews, and meat dishes such as spareribs and steaks are popular and recommended at the hotel's restaurant, where breakfast is also served. Next door is the Cornish Pumphouse, a fully intact steam-pump engine that's a landmark on Okiep's main road and the only one of its kind remaining in the Southern Hemisphere. Malcolm also offers several self-catering rooms and houses across from the hotel. 

Antelope often wander by Tswalu's exquisite main lodge, where the communal area features a series of terraced indoor and outdoor lounges that spill down to a pair of pools and a floodlit watering hole and where guest quarters consist of beautiful, freestanding, thatch-and-stone suites, known as "legae." The decor is minimalist and infinitely stylish, echoing the landscape in color and texture and incorporating local stone and wood, interesting art and artifacts, and unique light fixtures. The atmosphere, like the magical Kalahari surroundings is enchanting, and the service is intuitive and warm-hearted. The lodge is also resoundingly child-friendly and flexible, allowing you to set your own agenda (for example, having breakfast and lunch served whenever and wherever you wish).

In a private section of Tswalu, this exclusive, self-contained homestead—decorated similarly to the reserve's Motse lodge and offering much the same level of luxury—is perfect for families and other small groups since it sleeps up to 10 people in 5 suites and comes with its own chef, game vehicle, and tracker. The food is almost as memorable as the scenery, and every meal is served in a different location: on a lantern-lighted dune or alongside a crackling fire in the lodge's boma. There's opportunity here for one couple to relinquish their beautiful quarters for a night and sleep under the stars, either on the Molori star bed (where two children can also join), or at Naledi, an even more back-to-nature star bed experience in the mountains.

Tutwa is far flung but far from ordinary, a slice of luxury amid both Kalahari wilderness and Orange River oasis—you can head off on a game drive and return for a paddle on the river, potentially spotting more animals from your canoe. The game-viewing is spare but high-quality, featuring giraffe, wildebeest, eland, ostrich, and oryx by day and aardvark, jackal, aardwolf, and even leopard at night. What's most extraordinary, though, is the rocky terrain, comprised of basalt with rose-quartz shards measuring as much as a meter (3 feet) in both length and width. The lodge also offers opportunities to fly-fish and to learn more about San culture and history. The downstairs verandah suites and the four Annex suites upstairs—with their views—are the most desirable. Babysitting services and three self-catering cottages are also available.

If you can't make it to Kgalagadi, stay a few nights in a three-bedroom chalet or a simple bungalow at this beautiful lodge, owned by the provincial government and situated in the southern Kalahari within the 3,500-hectare (8,650-acre) Witsand Nature Reserve at the foot of the Langberg Mountains. Decent thatch-and-stone accommodations sit in thick bush under large camel-thorn tree, and the lodge blends in well with the reserve, which covers vast white dunes, up to 200 feet high and stretching across an area 9 km (6 miles) long and 4 km (2½ miles) wide. In hot and dry conditions, you can experience "roaring sands"—dunes that produce a deep hum when walked on (as the sand moves, air escapes, producing a vibration). Although not easily seen in their natural state, fulgerites, glassy gray tubes reconstituted from melted silica that was struck by lightning, are on display at the information center, as are 500-year-old ostrich eggs that were buried by Bushmen. The variously sized lodgings sleep between two and six people and have self-catering facilities and outside fire areas; you can rent bicycles and sand dune boards, and there are 4x4 trails to explore, for which a fee is payable.