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Sossusvlei
This spectacular area includes some of the highest sand dunes in the world. An ideal time to visit Sossusvlei is just at sunrise when blankets of mist part to reveal the colors of the dunes at their deepest and when the graceful contours of dune peaks have not been broken by visitors' feet. The views from the dunes into other valleys and of the mountains beyond are breathtaking and well worth the effort of a climb. Colorful beetles, gemsbok, antelope, and other desert creatures roam these arid dunes. There is no accommodation at Sossusvlei and guests stay at Sesriem and its environs to the east.
Sossusvlei Wilderness Camp
From its own mountaintop the 9 guest rooms of this beautiful camp look out over the desert to ancient, volcanic peaks and in the distance the fabled dunes of Sossusvlei.
Each private chalet is a refuge from the desert with its own plunge pool, verandah and mattresses on the roof where you can sleep all night under the blazing stars of southern Africa.
In the early morning you will go by Land Rover to Sossusvlei itself to see some of the tallest sand dunes in the world rising out of shadow into the light of the rising sun and to eat breakfast there in the shade of camel thorn acacias.
(Totally awe-inspiring balloon rides over the dunes are available at extra cost.)
Night drives from camp may give sightings of shy nocturnal animals such as the aardwolf and bat-eared fox, or you may stay behind to use the powerful telescope on the stargazing platform.
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Photograph by Dana Allen |
Photograph by Dana Allen |
Little Kulala
Little Kulala is a unique Wilderness camp that successfully combines luxury with a timeless sense of the ancient Namibian desert surrounding it.
Each of the 11 elegant, climate-controlled villas has its own plunge pool set into a deck of bleached wood; each looks out at the beautiful, stark landscape leading to the great red dunes of Sossusvlei.
You will visit the dunes in the early morning when the slanting light accents their huge forms.
If you wish (but at extra cost) you may take a mini-safari in a balloon to see this whole, wild landscape spread out below.
Or, at no monetary cost at all, you may climb a dune and drink in a view you will never forget.
On game drives and walks in the private reserve experienced guides will show you some of the remarkably adapted animals of this arid land.
Back at camp, wonderful food and drink await you in a stylish lounge with a verandah overlooking a waterhole.
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Kulala Desert Lodge
Kulala Desert Lodge lies in the heart of the Namib and offers magnificent views of the famous red dunes of Sossusvlei, the strange shapes of old volcanic mountains and vast open plains.
14 canvas and thatch chalets are set on wooden platforms to provide maximum airflow, and mattresses can be moved to the rooftops for a night of sleep under the great, white scarf of the Milky Way.
In the dramatic light of early morning guided drives to the dunes of Sossusvlei take you to a world of beauty like no other.
In the main lodge design motifs from Northern Africa and wonderful French cuisine combine to create an exotic pan-African experience.
There is a plunge pool and not far from the verandah an active waterhole.
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Photograph by Dana Allen |
Damaraland
Inland from the Skeleton Coast National Park, is the mountainous Damaraland region which is spectacularly beautiful and very different from any of the other desert areas of Namibia. The rolling red-rock terrain receives almost no rainfall but a life-sustaining mist rolls over the mountains from the Atlantic and a whole range of bushes, small trees and grasses receive the moisture needed to survive. Where there is plant life there is animal life and the area is home to desert adapted elephant, rhino, a variety of antelope and even, occasionally, some predators.
Palmwag Rhino Camp
As you might guess, this simple but comfortable desert camp is all about rhinos.
It is a joint venture of Wilderness Safaris and the Save the Rhino Trust, an organization that has been working to protect the black desert rhino of Namibia for 20 years.
You will track rhinos with knowledgeable guides from the Trust and go out all day with a delicious picnic to visit the fresh water springs that make this million acre reserve home to elephant, oryx, giraffe, the rare Hartmann's mountain zebra and many others-both prey and predator.
Innumerable birds, many endemic to Namibia, are also found in the Reserve.
At day's end you and not more than 15 other guests will gather in a breezy, tented dining room looking out at desert and mountains.
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Photograph by Dana Allen |
Photograph by Dana Allen |
Damaraland Camp
Located on the edge of the Huab River Valley, this comfortable, friendly camp provides an ideal base for exploring the stark beauty of the Damaraland region.
In the early morning mists caused by the meeting of cold Atlantic air and the heat of the Namibian desert drift inland bringing moisture to the remarkably adapted animals and plants of this harsh land.
Activities focus on nature walks and drives and on tracking the endangered desert elephant and rhino.
The local people of the area, the "Riemvasmaker", are active partners in the camp and have formed a conservancy to protect the area's wildlife.
Ten large comfortable tents with en suite bathrooms face the valley.
On calm nights dinner is served outdoors in the 'boma' under the astounding stars of Namibia.
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Doro Nawas Camp
The 16 units of this unusual and very comfortable camp combine stone and canvas, wood, glass and thatch so that they blend into the landscape yet offer stunning views of the Etendeka Mountains and the red sandstone cliffs of Twyfelfontein.
A visit to these cliffs will be a highlight of your stay, since they are the site of the largest collection of petroglyphs in Africa.
Here animals that must once have roamed this wild, inhospitable land live again in the vivid drawings made by the San people thousands of years ago.
Doro Nawas is located in the valley of the dry Aba-Huab river which is today a highway for the desert elephant.
The chance to see family groups of this amazingly adapted animal will be an unforgettable feature of your stay.
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Photograph by Dana Allen |
Etosha National Park
Etosha is one of Africa's greatest parks both in size and variety of wildlife species. The park is mainly mixed scrub, mopane savanna and dry woodland which surrounds the huge Etosha Pan. The salt pan is a silvery white shallow depression, dry except during the rainy season. Etosha has good concentrations of elephant, lion, leopard, black rhino and all of Namibia's plains game including springbok, gemsbok, and hartebeest. Approximately 340 bird species have been identified in the park including ostrich, pygmy falcon and all the raptors in abundance. Some of the local specials include short-toed rock thrush, freckled nightjar and Meyer's parrot.
Photograph by Dana Allen |
Little Ongava
Situated on the border of Namibia's great Etosha National Park, this exclusive little camp offers the best of many worlds.
With only three spacious and luxurious suites, each guest's special needs and interests are catered to by Little Ongava's warm and caring staff.
The camp is perched on a hilltop in a private reserve.
The views of the surrounding plains are part of your reward as you dine on Ongava's wonderful cuisine.
On game drives into Etosha and on walks and drives in the private reserve you will share the knowledge and experience of a dedicated guide who will show you the hides and waterholes of the reserve.
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Ongava Lodge
This camp accommodates up to 24 guests in 12 rock chalets.
Views are superb since the camp is located in the foothills of the mountain range south of Etosha National Park.
Etosha is one of Africa's greatest parks.
Here mopane savanna, mixed scrub and dry woodland surround a huge, silvery-white salt pan, waterless except during the rainy season.
All three Ongava camps are in the 86,500 acre Ongava Private Game Reserve, offering the advantage of night drives and walks not allowed in Etosha.
Guests can follow rhino on foot in the Reserve or go on drives in the park to see the abundant wildlife of this unique, salt pan ecosystem, including elephant, leopard and lion as well as the Namibian plains animals-oryx, springbok and hartebeest to name a few.
As if all this were not enough, 340 bird species have been identified in Etosha.
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Photograph by Dana Allen |
Ongava Tented Camp
Tucked into a hidden valley in the Ongava Game Reserve this is a comfortable group of 9 Meru style tents.
Each tent has an en suite bathroom and a private verandah. The tranquil pool and lounge look out on a busy waterhole.
Ongava holds a large rhino custodianship for the Namibian government, and an exciting feature of your stay at this camp could be tracking white rhino with one of its wise and wonderful guides.
As at all the Ongava camps, the sight of such amazing birds as White-tailed Shrike, Hartlaub's Francolin, and many raptors will thrill birder and non-birder alike.
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Skeleton Coast
Photograph by Dana Allen |
Skeleton Coast Camp
Harsh, unforgiving, remote but in its way more beautiful than any other place on earth, Namibia's Skeleton Coast will call to you over the years with powerful memories.
With your experienced guide you have driven to see the clay castles of the Hoarusib River, you have listened to the roaring dunes, and seen shipwrecks, villages of the Himba people and vast colonies of Cape fur seals.
Or, walking, you may have found a seep where the desert animals-elephant, springbok, oryx-gather to drink.
You have seen fields of lichens and the strange welwitschia plant that may have been growing there for a thousand years.
And after all these wonders there was the comfort of your tent and the good food shared with perhaps 11 other guests at an intimate table under the twisted branches of an old Leadwood tree.
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Serra Cafema Camp
In the far north of Namibia on the banks of the Kunene River among ancient Albida trees there is a remote and beautiful camp where 16 guests enjoy the comfort of thatched canvas chalets.
At night after a day of boating, walking through hidden mountain valleys or exploring the dunes on guided quad-bike excursions they will sleep to the sound of the rapids just downstream from the camp.
The Kunene is the only permanent water source for many miles, and the area is home to the Himba people who are among the last true nomads of Africa.
Guests will have a chance to talk with Himba members of the camp staff and enjoy the occasional visits of their families.
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Photograph by Michael Poliza |
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