Name: Deception Valley Lodge
Address: Private Bag HA 115 HAK, Maun, Maun, Maun, 00000, BW
Price range: from $ 776
Rating: 9.8

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Deception Valley Lodge

It’s a beautiful small lodge with only 10 luxury rooms (with an outdoor shower). The main area has a great terrasse with a close view on the waterwhole, where we could see elephants, lions, kudu’s and a lot more.
Arriving at the lodge, the whole staff welcomed us with traditional music. The staff and the guides were very friendly and helpful. We stayed for 2 nights. The game drives were already planned, so we didn’t have to organise anything, it was an all inclusive package. We learned a lot from our guide. 
The food was delicious. Breakfast and Dinner was served at a big table with all the other guests. Great for sharing experiences.
We felt like being part of the « Deception Valley Lodge Family ». It was a marvellous stay.

This lodge offers simple luxury and a beautiful setting with delicious food and a peaceful and relaxing environment. . The game drives  and lion viewings were great and stopping for tea in thd bush was a treat. While there, my companion had a health emergency. From customizing meals, to serving him in his room to organizing an air evacuation, things could not have gone smoother under the circumstances. They improvised a stretcher, got a crew to transport him to the waiting helicopter, and made arrangements for travel for me the next day. They followed up on his care. I do hope I can go back one day. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable about flora, fauna, and stars. I highly recommend treating yourself to a few days of relaxation and game drives at DVL. You won't be sorry.

Never in my 25+ years of traveling have I experienced a lodge like this: A beautiful place in a remote area that has it all! Great massages, beautiful rooms, amazing food (sometimes served under the African sky) and dedicated guides who will show you all the wildlife that there is and educate you along the way.

But what made this place special is a heartfelt hospitality that is rarely to be seen in hotels these days. You really meet as strangers and leave as friends there. 

Highly, highly recommended.

we had been in Deception Valley L odge for 3 nights  march 5-7th, 2024 with 8 friends. 
This was my 8th Safari (Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania) and the lodge was absolutely fantastic. The total staff in the lodge, was just perfect, Especially Georgina fullfilled any special wish. The kitchen served delicous food and the highlight for the Landcruiser Safaris was the guide DIX ! His knowledge and feeling for "finding" hiding animals, together with the spyer France was incredible. 
All 8 of us could only highly recommend this lodge with all facilities proved !!
Wishing the friemdly staff all the best for the future with hopefully more guests.
Best regards
Ellen-M. Ahrens (Germany)

An amazing experience! Beautiful site. Loved everything . The Lodge was beautiful. Spacious, clean, comfortable bed, beautiful bathroom  plus an outdoor shower. Our Game driver was very implicated in showing us the most he could. The staff were truly friendly and accommodating.

The room was large and very comfortable with a beautiful indoor bathtub, an outdoor shower, a coffee station and mini-bar. I enjoyed the large deck, both for watching animals heading to the waterholes and for star gazing at night.

DVL has two waterholes and by far the best on-site waterholes I’ve seen at any lodge. Given the time of year the game drives weren’t as productive as they would have been during dry season, but the waterholes more than made up for it. 

The entire staff was lovely, the service outstanding and overall a very well run camp (thanks Georgiana!). I took advantage of the pool and had a massage at the spa, which was very nice.

Overall an excellent experience.

Beautifull! Just beautifull!
The Lodge and the rooms are beautifully decorated, spacious and clean. The Staff absolutly helpfull and friendly. Food Top!
At breakfast, lunch or dinner you can watch kudus, Zebras, Antilopes, even Leopard or Lions drinking on the waterhole right in front of the Lodge.
The sweet porkupines are permanent Guests there!
The visit to the San People is a must!
Wether you're looking for Game or just Freetime relaxing by the pool...by the fire or in your room, the view is always BB ( bush beautiful).
A place to visit!
Last but not least, the Guides and Trakers are fantastik, always giving their best - finding what you're looking for. Prides of Lions, Orixs, Elans, Kudus, Leopards, Zebras, Wildbeast, Voltures.........
A big big 'Shut out' to Knowlodge and Sota, our boys ( Guide+ Tracker). Thank you for making our dream come true!
Sara, Olivia and Mum
Oktober 2023

We stayed at DVL at the start of our safari tour and it was such an incredible experience. We were woken on the first morning by a lion growling and later saw the lioness drinking at the waterhole... such a great start to the day! All the staff were so friendly and welcoming, Georgina and Emmanuel were very attentive and great fun! The food was delicious and plentiful. The lodge rooms are complete luxury in such a remote place and we really appreciated the 'bushbabies' (hot water bottles) in our bed at night. This is an amazing lodge, we absolutely loved our time there. 

Deception Valley was the last of the four locations we visited on our trip. We were part of a group of 17 from the US.   DV was by far the best location for a number of reasons. The lodge was beautiful and open to several watering holes on the property. The animals would come to the watering hole daily. We saw zebras, impala, kudus, kori bustards, pea fowl and, of course, lions. The staff feeds Porcy the porcupine nightly. In addition, the guides, Dicks and Knowledge, drove the safari vehicles along with a tribal tracker to seek out better views of the animals. So a total experience.  In addition, accommodations were wonderful with spacious decks and rooms. The food was delicious (loved the kudu steak).  
  My experience also unfortunately included an illness that had occurred at the previous location. Georgina and Bernie jumped into action and I had a televisit with a dr in Maun and they had the prescribed meds on hand. The next morning I was a bit better. They totally took care of me and made sure I had food in my bungalow. The caring nature of the staff was spectacular. I can’t recommend this lodge highly enough. Don’t miss it.

If you look for remote and peaceful where you could get closer to your deepest feelings sitting with the glass of sauvignon blanc watching sunset over north Kalahari desert  then milky way reflection on the sky surrounded by friendly staff and always supportive guide Knowledge and superb Georgina camp manager so there is place for you. Very tasty inside, great family villa with private pool, superb experience with Bushman life presentation, fabulous kitchen. The only think I could complaint is, maybe the owners that should be a little bit more responsive and opened to the guest (finally it is not the large flow hotel in Mallorca). 

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An amazing lodge in the middle of the Kalahari

This is a really nice lodge for a safari in the northern part of the Kalahari. The facilities are top notch with a nice historic building feel. The only drawback with the rooms is that there is no indoor shower, only an outdoor shower which is a little rough in the winter. The food was good and served at a shared table that seated all of the guests. The staff and guides were professional. There were two guides on each game drive - a registered guide and an indigenous San guide. There is also an option for a San cultural encounter, if you'd like to learn more about the original inhabitants of the area. There is a water hole across from the main lodge that attracts a lot of wildlife, including lions both of the mornings we were there. There was also a porcupine that liked to hang out near the pool in early evening. There are some drawbacks in terms of wildlife. There is a lot of tall brush and grass, which can hinder some wildlife viewing. The wildlife in general seemed more skittish, perhaps because there are so few guests/trucks in the area for them to get used to. Some of the animals common to other parts of the Kalahari are not present here (meerkats, flamingos, ostrich, springbok, sociable weavers, wild dogs, wildebeest). Others that were present we did not see (white rhino, any predator except lions, most antelope except kudu and impala).

A classic safari lodge

Definitely want to return!!!

A class of its own

5 Stars for Lodge and staff

On property waterholes worth the price of admission!

Deception Valley Lodge (DVL as they call it!) was the start of our Botswana trip. We loved the lodge, its facilities and services. Special shout out to the warm & friendly staff and their excellent hospitality. Everyone was very welcoming and helpful. While we don’t know the names of all but would like to mention those we do – Georgina (the manager), Dix (our guide), Xoma (our tracker), Siamo, and the entire staff in the kitchen and dining area.

We had great animal viewings during our drives…lions, cheetah, impalas, steinbocks, black mamba, kudu, zebra’s, warthogs, mongoose etc. Also the waterhole across the dining area of DVL offers great animal viewing specially in the mornings. For us the highlight was the deep knowledge and understanding of animal behavior shown by our guide (Dix) and our tracker (Xoma), together they tracked fresh pug marks through dry and bushy vegetation and successfully tracked a lioness. The cultural experience with the San Bushman community was exceptional and very informative. 

We would recommend DVL to anyone visiting a private concession in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

Great Stay at Deception Valley Lodge!

Deception???... No way!!!

This is a beautiful lodge in a very well managed game reserve. The staff were attentive, friendly and knowledgeable. Our guide and tracker were excellent. They really focussed on helping us see the animals we were most interested in. We had a lot of very close lion interactions! The cultural experience with the San community was a highlight for us. The group made us laugh and seemed to really enjoy demonstrating their skills and knowledge. 
We were a bit disappointed by the dinner menu, however. We were anticipating local cuisine with a modern twist, as described on the website. But this was not the case. It was a western style menu, adequatley prepared, but left us feeling a bit let down. Had the menu received the same level of care as the guides offered us on our game drives, it would have been a 5 star experience! 
 We drove in to the lodge and the road was no problem in a 4x4. Took about 2.5 hours from the B300 (tar to Rakops)

Deception Valley Lodge

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