Site of the famous book „cry of the kalahari“ we chose deception valley for our one week kalahari experience.
Lucky choice! With elephant, leopard and lion we saw all three... read more out of the big 5 present there, both cats even at a kill. Of small cats we got genet, civet, wildcat and even a caracal ! honeybadger one couple, jackals, bat-eared fox, different kind of mongoose are present, as of course is the brown hyena. It is patronizing the watering holes in front of the lodge – as it should in the place where the first research on this species was carried out.
This is also a birders‘ paradise from the small colourful ones up to the big raptors and owls. then there is the shere beauty of the scenery from thick shrub to wide open plains.
Many relaxing hours can be enjoyed on the porch directly in front of the main watering hole. A seemingly endless procession of animals pass by during lunchtime when the predators are supposed to sleep somewhere in the shade. Lion tracking with tracker Tisee and guide Rapha a lifetime experience !
Other than wildlife mealtimes are also a treat here, often inspired by international cuisine. Especially tasty the savoury bites that are served for high tea or later with your sundowner. Wines are excellent. Giorginah of guest relations is the soul of the house.
Many thx to the happy crew of deception valley lodge who made it all happen. This is a very remote, peaceful and special place, we will always remember it as such.

  Our family of 5, 2 adults and 3 teens from the USA had an amazing time at Deception Valley Lodge (DVL). Our stay was impeccably planned by Anton and Rebecca... read more at Lelobu, a local Botswana travel agency. We flew in from Maun on a 7 seater plane. It was a great, safe and scenic flight! The dirt landing strip landing was super cool and very smooth. My daughter who is prone to motion sickness actually loved the flight and felt fine the whole time. The DVL lodge is beautiful and very clean. We were greeted by Georgina who explained to us how the lodge works, our schedule, answered questions, etc. She was always around to help us. Rafa and Tisseh took us out every morning and late afternoon on game drives. Thanks to their hard work, persistence and skills we saw lions, leopards, kudu, steenbucks, deer, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, squirrels, eagles, tons of birds, etc. DVL has these 2 watering holes near the lodge that Also attract animals. One night a family of lions came to drink water. So cool!! We also did the bushman walk one day which our kids really enjoyed. 2 men from the local tribe came out and showed us how they used to survive in this area, their traditional huts, clothing, weapons and dances. It was Very interesting. Our meals at DVL were all delicious. One night they did a BBQ by the fire and... Our family of 5, 2 adults and 3 teens from the USA had an amazing time at Deception Valley Lodge (DVL). Our stay was impeccably planned by Anton and Rebecca at Lelobu, a local Botswana travel agency. We flew in from Maun on a 7 seater plane. It was a great, safe and scenic flight! The dirt landing strip landing was super cool and very smooth. My daughter who is prone to motion sickness actually loved the flight and felt fine the whole time. The DVL lodge is beautiful and very clean. We were greeted by Georgina who explained to us how the lodge works, our schedule, answered questions, etc. She was always around to help us. Rafa and Tisseh took us out every morning and late afternoon on game drives. Thanks to their hard work, persistence and skills we saw lions, leopards, kudu, steenbucks, deer, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, squirrels, eagles, tons of birds, etc. DVL has these 2 watering holes near the lodge that Also attract animals. One night a family of lions came to drink water. So cool!! We also did the bushman walk one day which our kids really enjoyed. 2 men from the local tribe came out and showed us how they used to survive in this area, their traditional huts, clothing, weapons and dances. It was Very interesting. Our meals at DVL were all delicious. One night they did a BBQ by the fire and we ate outside. It was so delicious and beautifully presented. I also want to point out a few more people. Janie is the local lodge manager. She was super helpful and informative. Emily, the chef, was a great cook and so sweet. Fifi was fantastic always helping us out and serving us great coffee and tea. We stayed in the family chalet. The 3 kids were in one room in 3 single beds. There’s a door dividing the 2 rooms. My husband and I had a king bed. Beds were very comfortable. We all slept very well. Each room has its own full bath. The showers were great. My husband took an outside shower which he said he loved. It’s private but I was too scared to do it knowing all those animals were around. There is good but slow wifi in the lobby and eating area. Good enough to send texts and emails. But not good enough to stream or watch Netflix which was perfectly fine w us. No wifi in your room. They have universal plugs and usb outlets in the rooms. So it’s really easy to charge your phones, laptops, cameras etc. We could not have asked for a better stay in Botswana. Deception Valley Lodge is a no brainer. Totally awesome. Everyone and everything was great. No complaints at all. Feel free to DM me on TripAdvisor if you have any questions but you really can’t go wrong w DVL. Just do it!! More

  When we arrived at the lodge we were immediatly blown away by the stunning location and the kindness of the staff. After a delicious dinner we sat down in front... read more of the cabin and were fascinated by the quietness and the sight of thousands of stars in the sky. The gamedrives under surveillance of our very friendly guide conveniently nicknamed ‘knowledge’ were astonishing. Since the lodge is located in the middle of the premises the animals were all around us. While sitting in the various comfortable chairs and couches on the deck next to the main lodgebuilding, where we had dinner and breakfast every day, we could observe a waterhole where the animals were able to drink. Everyday there was different wildlife there; giraffes, a lonely elephant, 100+ wildebeasts, lions, zebras, gemsboks, The icing on top of the cake was watching the sundown at the end of every gamedrive. The guide and the spotter brought some drinks and snacks which, combined with their amaible personalities, made for an evening filled with animalfacts, humour and relaxation. In short, we had a great time and wish we could have stayed longer!

- Noah & Petra More

  Luxuary accomodation, fresh food expertly prepared by Chief Jack, Game Drives with expert guide Knowlege (animals NOT surrounded by circle of vechicles of noisy tourists) , every staff member... read more mets your every need ... efficient friendly service with great humour. The waterhole near lounge sports a miriad of animals coming to drink. Truely magical experience BEST HOLIDAY EVER Thank you

  The lodge is in a private fence 40'000 ha game reserve North of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The lodge as such and the staff were excellent, and... read more their services left nothing to desire. The lodge has been newly rebuilt during the Covid pause and its buildings are appealing as well as very comfortable. Guide Knowledge (Kitso) was very experienced and helpful, particularly for excellent birding. Game viewing from the lodge's porches near the water hole is very interesting. a particular asset were the night drives where we saw porcupine, African wild cat, caracal and sleepy chamaeleons. The main problem (quite beyong the control of the helpful staff) is the dense vegetation (Kalahari bushveld) throughout most areas of the reserve. This and the fact that most antelopes are excessively shy and run away from cars is a distinct disadvantage to safari travellers. The elephants are virtually never seen! The web page of the lodge promises that there should be "chances to see Kalahari lion (we did), cheetah, leopard and wild dog (we saw none of these species, and the guide made it quite clear that such sightings would be very unusual). the web page also states that there aer "often" sightings of the elusive brown hyaena, pangolin, aardvark or aardwolf. This is simply not true. We did not see any of these animals quite in contrast e.g. to SA Tswalu lodge. We were accordingly informed by the guide that indeed... The lodge is in a private fence 40'000 ha game reserve North of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

The lodge as such and the staff were excellent, and their services left nothing to desire. The lodge has been newly rebuilt during the Covid pause and its buildings are appealing as well as very comfortable. Guide Knowledge (Kitso) was very experienced and helpful, particularly for excellent birding. Game viewing from the lodge's porches near the water hole is very interesting. a particular asset were the night drives where we saw porcupine, African wild cat, caracal and sleepy chamaeleons.

The main problem (quite beyong the control of the helpful staff) is the dense vegetation (Kalahari bushveld) throughout most areas of the reserve. This and the fact that most antelopes are excessively shy and run away from cars is a distinct disadvantage to safari travellers. The elephants are virtually never seen! The web page of the lodge promises that there should be "chances to see Kalahari lion (we did), cheetah, leopard and wild dog (we saw none of these species, and the guide made it quite clear that such sightings would be very unusual). the web page also states that there aer "often" sightings of the elusive brown hyaena, pangolin, aardvark or aardwolf. This is simply not true. We did not see any of these animals quite in contrast e.g. to SA Tswalu lodge. We were accordingly informed by the guide that indeed scuh sightings would be extremely rare and unsual. The information on the web page is therefore misleading.
We would recommend this lodge for the lovely service offered by a very committed staff, for its high quality birding and some interesting night drives, but not for the "classical" gane drives. More

  We flew into Deception Valley from Maun on a very small plane. Here are all the “pluses” of DVL — and there are no “minuses” there. The... read more room/suite was perfect, outside shower so nice; our guide and tracker were excellent and we had wonderful game drives. The night skies are fabulous and our guide whose name is Knowledge pointed out the Southern Cross, Orion, and Scorpius for us on multiple occasions; you’ll see a beautiful Milky Way too. The dining at DVL can’t be beat — not only is the food fantastic, the service is impeccable. Here are some of the foods Chef Jack cooked that I still remember: Stuffed mushroom to start, goat stew, panna cotta, lentil moussaka, seafood corn chowder, poached pear (amazing and beautiful), spaghetti bolognaise, tenderloin with baby Brussels sprouts (didn’t know there was such a thing), white sweet potato. Well, you can see we love our food! On the game drives I made a list of new things we saw and this included Jackel, Porcupine, Wild Cat, Honey Badger, Lion Ant, Leopard Tortoise. Also saw a lion kill of a zebra (sad for me to see!), many other zebras, amazing bird life, oryx, impala, wildebeest, and more. We were treated to the Bushmen Walk and that was fascinating. The San are so knowledgeable and skilled at survival; an impressive experience for sure. DVL provides a wonderful Guest Info Guide with an illustrated animal identification checklist.... We flew into Deception Valley from Maun on a very small plane. Here are all the “pluses” of DVL — and there are no “minuses” there. The room/suite was perfect, outside shower so nice; our guide and tracker were excellent and we had wonderful game drives. The night skies are fabulous and our guide whose name is Knowledge pointed out the Southern Cross, Orion, and Scorpius for us on multiple occasions; you’ll see a beautiful Milky Way too. The dining at DVL can’t be beat — not only is the food fantastic, the service is impeccable. Here are some of the foods Chef Jack cooked that I still remember: Stuffed mushroom to start, goat stew, panna cotta, lentil moussaka, seafood corn chowder, poached pear (amazing and beautiful), spaghetti bolognaise, tenderloin with baby Brussels sprouts (didn’t know there was such a thing), white sweet potato. Well, you can see we love our food! On the game drives I made a list of new things we saw and this included Jackel, Porcupine, Wild Cat, Honey Badger, Lion Ant, Leopard Tortoise. Also saw a lion kill of a zebra (sad for me to see!), many other zebras, amazing bird life, oryx, impala, wildebeest, and more. We were treated to the Bushmen Walk and that was fascinating. The San are so knowledgeable and skilled at survival; an impressive experience for sure. DVL provides a wonderful Guest Info Guide with an illustrated animal identification checklist. The illustrations are so helpful — thank you! We loved our three nights here — I hope you get to experience it too. More

  We got delayed on the way because we got stuck in the sand. One of the owners came to look for us himself & guide us back to the lodge.... read more/> The chalets are spacious and the bathrooms lovely with outdoor showers & bath tubs.
The food and dinner experience was such a treat! The guests dined together at a candle lit beautifully set table whilst we got waited on like royalty. The food was excellent- probably one of the bests meals we had in the Kalahari.
The game viewers went out of their way to hunt down our viewing hit list.
We left feeling like part of a family!

  My mom and I just returned from an INCREDIBLE trip to Botswana. We stayed at Deception Valley lodge for a few days and I can't recommend it enough. The guide... read more and his bushman tracker were the most professional and helpful guides I have ever had. We saw so many incredible animals and learned so much about the flora and fauna as well as the culture of the bushmen. Fascinating! The food was amazing, the staff were just lovely and so helpful. The room was huge and clean and so relaxing. I cannot say enough nice things about this place. I'll be dreaming about it until I return again! Thank you!!! More

  These folks set the standard for excellence! The service we received from the moment our small aircraft landed at the airstrip to our return to that strip 3 days later... read more couldn't have been better. Our every need was usually anticipated and always met.
We each received a metal water bottle on arrival and were able to fill it before each game drive. Great idea and environmentally friendly!
The food was outstanding, and they did a stellar job of meeting our dietary restrictions (vegetarian and vegan). We especially enjoyed the communal dining which gave us an opportunity to get to know fellow guests and our guides.
The rooms are quite luxurious in this setting and the bed was comfortable. The mornings were rather cold during our stay so only one of us braved the outdoor shower! But the tub was a good substitute. We enjoyed sitting on the porch watching the animals approach the watering hole.
A unique experience that Deception Valley offers is the afternoon with the San bushmen trackers. It was so interesting to learn how these resourceful and hardy people thrived in this rather harsh environment.
We saw so many animals ... something unique with every drive. And Dix provided lots of information about not only the animals but also offered a lot of insight into Botswana.
Deception Valley really is a MUST on any trip to Botswana! More

  This was certainly a highlight of our stay in Africa. Deception valley is a private lodge and you have the place to yourselves. One of the highlights were the Bushman... read more guides who are incredible trackers. We had the opportunity to watch them track lions and offload to find them in their resting spot for the day. The bushman shared there culture in their language and our guide translated for us. It was a great experience. The lodge is beautiful with many animals coming to visit the water hole within view of the deck. The cabins are spacious and beautifully appointed and the food is excellent! A truly exceptional experience.