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Issue 30
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Those who appreciate the complex, austere drama of the desert tend to love Namibia. If you feel at home in big open spaces, you may be tempted just to stop in the middle of nowhere, unroll a mattress and gaze up at the stars. But if roughing it isn’t your style, no problem. Namibia has plenty of lodges deep in the wilderness, and some of them are gloriously comfortable, as Emma Gregg reports.
Sossusvlei Lodge, Sesriem
Situated just outside the Sesriem Gate, this lodge is just about as close as you can get to the Namib-Naukluft Park without camping at the rather unappetising Sesriem campsite. The sheer size of the place (it sleeps over 100 in plain but comfortable chalets) gives it an upbeat, busy atmosphere – it’s a favourite with coach parties – and the nightly buffet is lively with multilingual chatter. If you’re lucky enough to have one of the chalets looking straight onto the desert you’ll be serenaded by the static-like clicks of barking geckos from sundown to sun-up. The routine here is to rise before dawn in order to be through the park gate at opening time, to catch the Sossusvlei dunes at their early-morning best.
Palmwag Rhino Camp, Palmwag Concession, northern Damaraland
Namibia’s desert isn’t all mountains and dunes. In northern Damaraland, the landscape is strewn with rocks and scattered with imposing euphorbias and ragged welwitschias, the desert’s most enigmatic plant. The colours – terracotta, eau de nil, rusty purple and bone-white – could have dropped from the pages of a design magazine. Giraffe, cheetah and oryx roam this region, as do black rhino, and rhino tracking is the principal activity offered by the Palmwag Rhino Camp. The camp isn’t actually a research station, but it has connections with Namibia’s Save the Rhino Trust, and guests have the opportunity to observe trackers from the trust on their daily forays to find rhinos, watch them and record their condition and behaviour. The camp is small and satisfyingly remote – on leaving the main road, there’s a two-hour drive along bumpy tracks to get there. Accommodation is in comfortable safari tents. You dine with your hosts in grand style before moving on to the campfire to swop stories and toast the good fortune that brought you all together.
Mowani Mountain Camp, near Twyfelfontein, southern Damaraland
Southern Damaraland is a region of cairns piled up by giants – and André Louw’s decision to create a lodge here, its timber and thatch buildings nestling among the vast ginger-coloured boulders, was truly inspired. Like so many of Namibia’s upmarket lodges, Mowani was designed with the kind of considered elegance that draws on and reflects the natural colours and textures of its strikingly beautiful surroundings. Every cabin has a stunning view, but none can quite match the view of the Aba-Huab Valley and the mountains beyond from the vast slab of rock at the top of the site – a natural meeting place and the perfect spot for a sundowner. An unexpected treat is the lodge’s tiny swimming pool, which feels like the kind of mountain rock pool that might be visited by friendly goblins and trolls.
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Wolwedans Dunes Lodge, Dune Camp and Private Camp, NamibRand Nature Reserve
The NamibRand Nature Reserve is a private wilderness that used to be grazing land, until it was rescued by visionary conservationist Albi Bruckner. To minimise human impact on the delicate environment, visitor numbers are strictly limited – which makes a stay in one of Wolwedans’ tents or cabins all the more special. Underwhelming as they might seem on approach (they look a bit like something built for a children’s adventure playgound), you just have to step inside one of the timber cabins at Wolwedans Dunes Lodge to fall in love with their very special atmosphere.
Each cabin faces east and has an unbroken view of the reserve – it’s as if the sole purpose of the structures is to frame the gorgeous, crumpled mountains and tufted dunes. The bedroom areas are raised platforms with rollable canvas on three sides, so that you can sleep on your enormous four-poster wrapped in the velvet night. If you think that’s fabulous, just wait until dawn. You’ll be woken by the sun’s first rays flooding over the mountains and lighting up the deep-apricot sand (and you). Even more sublime is the Private Camp, a desert lodge with two double bedrooms (pictured above), a generous living space and a kitchen. You can choose between cooking for yourself (supplies are provided) or having staff look after you, and you can take part in all the activities Wolwedans can provide, such as desert drives and scenic flights. Don’t underestimate the seductive power of the NamibRand’s silent landscape. You may never want to leave.
Find out more:
Sossusvlei www.sossusvleilodge.com
Palmwag www.wilderness-safaris.com
Mowani www.mowani.com
Wolwedans www.wolwedans.com
With thanks to Pulse Africa (www.pulseafrica.com) and Air Namibia (www.airnamibia.com.na).
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