Evolve Back Gham Dhao

Evolve Back Gham Dhao Lodge sits within its own 11,000-hectare private game reserve on the northern boundary of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, one of the largest protected wilderness areas in Africa and home to the vast salt pans, fossil river valleys and grasslands of the Kalahari. The lodge takes its name from the San word “Gham Dhao,” meaning “Tracks of the Lion,” a reference to the black-maned Kalahari lions that roam the surrounding plains alongside cheetah, brown hyena and some of Botswana’s largest herds of springbok, gemsbok and eland.

The lodge is the flagship African property of Evolve Back, an Indian luxury hospitality brand making its first move onto the continent, and blends its Kalahari setting with the brand’s signature emphasis on comfort, craft and design. Six luxury tents are raised on private decks beneath the reserve’s camelthorn trees, comprising three superior tents and one family tent formed by joining two luxury units, each with an en-suite bathroom, shower, tea and coffee facilities and uninterrupted views over the surrounding Kalahari bush.

At the heart of camp, a thatched and timber main lodge houses a lounge, dining room and bar overlooking a swimming pool and sundeck, with an open-air boma used for dinners beneath the desert sky. Because the Central Kalahari’s distances are vast, guests typically fly in on light aircraft to the lodge’s own private airstrip, though the camp lies within reach of the Matswere Gate on the reserve’s northern boundary for those travelling overland from Rakops.

Game drives explore the open grasslands and fossil valleys of the northern Central Kalahari in search of its resident predators and desert-adapted herds, while guided walks and cultural interactions with San trackers reveal the ancient survival skills of the Kalahari’s first people. The lodge’s remote setting and low guest numbers make it a quiet, exclusive base for exploring one of Botswana’s least visited and most starkly beautiful wilderness areas.