I was in Nambia on behalf of a client writing about community conservation projects and human-wildlife coexistence and they arranged my accommodation here. I stayed two nights.
Location:
The Camp is in the Aba-Huab River Valley in the Doro Nawas Conservancy in Nambia’s Damaraland, a region known for its rugged terrain and famous sites like Brandberg Mountain and Twyfelfontein, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with ancient rock engravings. It is roughly in the centre of Damaraland. The area showcases millions of years of geological change, including ancient lakes and volcanic eruptions. Around 120 million years ago, an immense inland lake named Lake Gai-As covered parts of Southern Africa and South America. Fossils from this period were found in Doro!Nawas, including ancient invertebrates and fish, are also found in Brazil.
First impressions:
How to describe the 360-degree views of the area’s timeless desert landscape? The vistas made it hard to focus on the arrival formalities, or pay attention to much else. Now, when I think of Doro !Nawas, I think about its location and sunswept plains.
Room Quality:
The camp’s large, thatched, private suites fan out around the central lodge. They’re spacious and private. I focused more on what was outside the rooms than in them, but there was nothing to fault. Much as I loved being out in the field most of the time, leaving early and returning late, I would have sat on my deck here and drunk in the view for days.
Dining Experience:
I don’t recall the individual dishes (they were all delicious), but I do remember the fantastic set-ups on the expansive deck and then on the rooftop. The hospitality was really warm, with lovely, eager-to-please staff. I loved having some of the team present the meals in English and again in the melodious clicks of the local Khoekhoegowab language.
Best Moment:
Lying outside of my room, breathing in the stars. The beds in each suite are on wheels and can be rolled out onto your private veranda so you can sleep outside! My bed was moved while I was at dinner, and they popped in hot water bottle too. I loved being cosy and warm, while fully tuned into the desert at night. Embraced by the earth and sky, I slept amazingly.
Quirkiest Feature:
The main lodge building is kind of quirky. Not many lodges look like belligerent forts, but it has a Moorish charm and grew on me. It provided incredible landscape views and a cool, airy interior with a fantastic pool area, a haven on hot days.
Unique Experience:
Leaving before dawn to track desert-adapted elephants. Stars were fading into a blush pink sky when our guide picked up elephant tracks, and we followed them off-road to De Riet Village in the Torra Conservancy, home to a community known as the Riemvasmaakers. They were South African residents who were forced to move from Riemvasmaak in the Northern Cape, South Africa, to Namibia under the apartheid government’s racist regime (visit them too!). The elephants had passed the village in the early morning, muddying the area around the communal reservoir, and then disappeared in the Huab River. This is where we found them, moving slowly through the landscape in the golden morning light.
Insider info:
It’s one of Namibia’s first conservancies and a joint venture with the community where the operators have negotiated a lease with the conservancy to bring tourists to see the landscape and the wildlife. The money they pay to the conservancy helps develop infrastructure in the village and provide other community benefits, like electricity. Many of the lodge staff come from within the conservancy – it’s home.
Wildlife and Vegetation:
Ephemeral Rivers: The Huab and Ugab Rivers act as linear oases, providing water and supporting diverse flora and fauna.
Endemic Birds: The conservancy is home to many bird species, including bare-cheeked babbler, Carp’s tit, and rosy-faced lovebird.
Distinctive Trees: Vegetation includes large camel thorn and ana trees, salvadora thickets, ringwood trees, welwitschias, and white-trunked sterculias.
Unexpected Delight:
The choir! After dinner, the cooks, waiters, and other lodge staff entertained us with songs in English, Otjiherero and Khoekhoegowab. The lodge choir even travelled to Switzerland to promote Namibia’s bid to host the Adventure Travel Trade World Summit in Namibia a few years back.
My Five Senses Experience:
- How the landscape changes colours with the light.
- The barking geckos
- Freedom
- The stars (the food was good, I was just there for other reasons and didn’t note it down)
- Cold night air on my face
Ideal For:
Space seekers who value the landscape as much as the life it sustains. Romantics who are not afraid of the sublime and explorers who value exploring more than what they find. People who care about the communities that live with wildlife are the land’s custodians.
Atmosphere:
Sublime
Cost:
Exclusive camps in Namibia are expensive and cater to high-end travellers. See their website for rates.
