While traditional African building styles featuring rondavels, thatched roofs and a communal lapa have been followed in many of Namibia's lodges and guesthouses, this is not an intrinsically Namibian architectural style. Large tracts of Namibia's surface area fall in desert or semi-arid climatic zones. Here the grass, reeds and palm-leaves used for thatch do not grow naturally and are thus out of context when used for structures built among sand dunes, on a desert plain or against a rocky escarpment.

A growing number of Namibia's lodges and guesthouses have designs that have been suggested by the landscape itself. The climate and ecology of the surroundings have been taken into consideration, especially the scarcity of water, sparse vegetation and sensitivity of the desert surface. The structures are built to blend with the environment, and where feasible, existing trees are incorporated into the construction instead of being removed. Local materials such as rock, sand and even timber are used rather than conventional building materials.

A prime example of this ethic is the Rostock Ritz, an establishment built on a rocky slope near the Rostock Mountain in the central Namib Desert. The location is particularly favourable for travellers, as it is halfway (240km) between Namibia's capital, Windhoek, and the country's top seaside resort, Swakopmund. It is also halfway between Swakopmund and Sossusvlei, a pristine area famous for its massive dune mountains of deep orange sand.

The owner of Rostock Ritz, Kücki Kühhirt, a well-known restaurateur from Swakopmund, and Windhoek architect, Piet Odendaal, spent many hours planning the design of this unique desert lodge. Their aim was to build structures that would have a minimum visual and ecological impact, would afford visitors panoramic views of the landscape and would provide simple but comfortable accommodation, accompanied by a personalised "Ritz" service.

Climatic extremes - day temperatures in summer rise to 52 °C and on winter nights drop to below freezing point - had to be taken into consideration. So too did the strong winds, sandstorms and the coastal fog that penetrates deep into the desert interior on most nights. They decided that the route to go was to simulate the cave dwellings found in many of the world's deserts, because they were cool, provided maximum shelter and had a minimum impact on the environment.

They achieved this by building semi-subterranean igloo structures in excavated hollows in the mountain slope, covering exposed areas with stone and rocks after construction. The simulated cave dwellings consist of inflatable PVC moulds, which are covered with wire-mesh, then sprayed with a special concrete mix and a top layer of sand. Once the mix has set, the windows and doors are cut out. All floors are from stone, which is also used for the cupboards, ledges, writing slabs and other built-in features. Additional furnishings were purpose-made by local contractors.

The bedroom units each have an uninterrupted view over the desert. They are kept cool by natural air-conditioning and the insulating properties of the construction method. The complex is solar-powered, its water is drawn from a well 8km from the site, and biodegradable products are used where feasible. Another desert lodge in which the creators were guided by the setting is the Mövenpick Sossusvlei Lodge. Situated next to Sesriem at the entrance to Sossusvlei, the bedroom units consist of Bedouin-type tents surrounded by a low adobe-style wall, a method characteristic of Arabian villages. All electrical appliances at the lodge are solar-powered and, to conserve water, the bathrooms have showers rather than baths.

A thatched establishment that is perfectly attuned to its surroundings is Huab Lodge, an exclusive desert retreatoverlooking the ephemeral Huab River in the far northwestern Kunene Region. It is situated on the farm Monte Carlo, part of a conservancy consisting of several farms and providing sanctuary to desert-adapted elephants and other game species that inhabit the Huab River environs. The lodge is understated, environmentally-friendly and decidedly classy. In keeping with the limited carrying capacity of the surrounding desert wilderness, it offers accommodation for only 16 people.

The Erongo Wilderness Lodge, built in northwestern Namibia in a secluded mountain wilderness of gigantic boulders and African bush, 10km from the small town of Omaruru, is another example of how the building style of a lodge has evolved from its setting. All ten tents, shaded with thatch, are on stilts, spaced well apart amongst the rocks and boulders, half hidden by thorn trees and accessible by wooden walkways, also on stilts. Why the stilts? Says owner and builder of the lodge, Danie Holloway: "Because I wanted to disturb the rocks and vegetation as little as possible." Quirky touches are brightly coloured and non-matching duvet covers (on twin beds in the same tent), burnished copper lampshades, arty mobiles from feathers, seeds and pods, and metal sculptures of leopard (which occur in the area) on external walls and pathways.

A truly unusual bush lodge is Roy's Camp in northern Namibia. This is accessible from the main road between Grootfontein and Rundu. The camp's double storey wooden chalets have a distinctly fairy-tale appearance, their steep thatched roofs peaking through the branches of tall tamboti trees, with an ant hill or twisted tree stump standing sentinel close by. You almost expect Hansel and Gretel to come tumbling down the outside wooden staircase, or Snow White's seven dwarves to march out in single file (with Grumpy in the lead) from the bottom bedroom, or Liewe Heksie to be lurking in the bushes, ready to take off at any minute on her broomstick.

Once inside you find that corners are not corners but tree trunks. The leg of a bathroom stand extends upwards, its natural forks offering hooks on which to hang your towel, swimming costume, boots, lamp or torch. Beds made from roughly hewn wood are naturally stylish, whilst drapes of hessian adorned with artefacts from the bush - pods, seeds, grasses, driftwood and pieces of reed and bamboo - are casual works of art. There are idiosyncratic touches such as painted film canisters containing shampoo and decorated tin plates and mugs in the dining room. In the reception area are more arty hessian drapes and furniture made from branches, which, while sanded and polished, have retained their natural shapes.

A place that will undoubtedly be appreciated by artistically minded travellers, is the Eningu Clay House Lodge, situated on Peperkorrel Farm, 65km southeast of Windhoek's Hosea Kutako International Airport. The flat-roofed adobe-style structures were built with sun-dried bricks made from the clay deposits found on the farm, and were painted the same colour as the russet sands of the surrounding thorn-bush savannah.

Ceilings consist of wooden droppers, arranged in a fish-bone pattern and treated with linseed oil to bring out their colour. The cement floors, the last layer of which has been pigmented, are hand-painted with free-flowing motifs, which are repeated in the small woven bedside carpets. Lampshades are individually hand-engraved calabashes, and blinds at the windows are made from Owambo sleeping mats. The main building has a palm-leaf shaded verandah with a terracotta-tiled floor, and a roof deck where guests can enjoy sundowners and watch game drinking at a nearby waterhole. Also in the complex are a black solar-heated swimming pool and whirlpool, a sunken braaivleis (barbeque) area and an archery range.

Another retreat with a unique style of its own is Namtib Desert Lodge, located on a farm in a remote valley of the Tiras Mountains in southern Namibia. Here the owners, Walter and Renate Theile, have taken the concept of guest farms (giving small numbers of visitors a taste of life on a Namibian farm) a step further. Based on ecological principles, they practise a blend of livestock and game farming, and have combined this with ecotourism.

Waking up in the mornings to a melodious cow cantata impresses on the visitor that Namtib is first and foremost a farm. The five farm-style double chalets are simple but comfortable and functional, each with its own bathroom with solar-heated shower. In keeping with the farm atmosphere, candles are provided for lighting and meals are enjoyed with the Theiles around a large square table in the dining room of the original homestead. This was built in the mid-thirties from sun-dried clay bricks.

Other lodges that can be regarded as unique because of their building styles are: the Cañon Lodge, built amongst great granite boulders (each bungalow has a wall of natural rock) in the environs of the Fish River Canyon; the Wolwedans Dune Camp (in the NamibRand Nature Reserve), constructed on top of a massive dune, its igloo tents secured on wooden platforms elevated on stilts above the sand surface; and Sossusvlei Wilderness Camp, where each stone, timber and thatch chalet has its own solar-heated plunge pool amongst the rocks.

Amy Schoeman is a regular contributor to Travel Africa. She is a well-known Namibian photographer, writer and author of five books.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Twelve: Summer 2000 Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)