Why Namibia is an exciting desert destination not to be missed
What’s not to love about Namibia? Not only is it a photographer’s dream, but once we’d visited its beautifully stark and dramatic desert landscapes, the uniquely wild Skeleton Coast and the wildlife-rich Etosha National Park, we quickly realized that there’s simply no African country quite like it.
For avid game viewers like us, Namibia offers exceptional sightings. It’s home to half the world’s endangered cheetahs, as well as the rare desert-adapted elephants and rhinos of the arid Damaraland. You can also climb the Big Daddy dune at Sossusvlei (Africa’s tallest sand dune), take a scenic flight over numerous shipwrecks and seal colonies along the Skeleton Coast, and visit the fascinating Himba people to learn about their remote, nomadic lifestyle.
Scenic, sustainable, and simply sensational
Sustainability and luxury go hand-in-hand at Sossusvlei Desert Lodge, situated within the vast Sossusvlei Private Desert Reserve. Ten beautifully decorated stone and glass suites offer unparalleled views of the desert. The large retractable skylights above the beds may seem gimmicky at first, but once we learned that the concession borders the International Dark Sky Reserve of the NamibRand Nature Reserve, we knew that the nighttime stargazing was going to be an absolute highlight.
When luxury and landscape become one
Next up is the extraordinary Onduli Ridge in Namibia. Newly opened in April this year, Onduli looks as if it’s sculpted into the boulders of the Damaraland. Stacked sliding doors in the rooms open up completely, beautifully blurring the lines between indoors and outdoors. Besides fulfilling your dream of rolling your bed onto the deck and sleeping under a starry African sky, your stay at Onduli also helps with the conservation of the majestic rhino and the giraffe that populate this desert area. That’s a big plus for us.
Get stranded in a unique location
If staying in a shipwreck-shaped cabin isn’t on your bucket list, you might want to reconsider. We absolutely loved our unique experience at Shipwreck Lodge, located 45 km from Möwe Bay in the Skeleton Coast National Park. The haunting shipwrecks along the coast are extraordinary. Add to this lunch on the beach, exploring the Hoarusib River, and a sunset cruise along the dunes, and you’ll have seen a side of Nambia that travelers who only visit Etosha cannot appreciate.
Cat sightings galore
Our YPA clients rave about their stays at the family-run Okonjima Lodge, which rests at the foot of the sandstone Omboroko Mountains. Okonjima has a great reputation for frequent leopard, brown hyaena and pangolin sightings. It gets our double thumbs up because of its wide range of accommodation options (from exclusive luxury villas to family-friendly camps) and its important AfriCat Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to help fund important predator conservation research and education programs in the area. The Hanssen family are dedicated to conservation and their guests always benefit from the family sharing their generous insights and learnings on the surrounding Namibian wildlife.
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