Namibia

Your gateway to the country is Windhoek, a quiet capital city surrounded by a highland savannah and located a short distance from Zannier Omaanda. Set in the heart of its own wildlife sanctuary, Omaanda offers a chic and tranquil retreat in thatch & clay huts modeled after the architecture of the Ovambo, a local ethnic group. By day, walk with elephants and get up close and personal with cheetahs being rehabilitated for release back into the wild. By night, under an immensely dark sky, San trackers tell stories about Kaang, their benevolent god who created all things.

Venturing west, explore the Namib Rand, Africa’s largest private nature reserve and the world’s oldest desert. Stay at Little Kulala, with the iconic red dunes of Sossusvlei and the surreal beauty of Dead Vlei on your doorstep. Cycle into the reserve before trekking up the highest dunes on Earth. A hop and a skip away, Sossusvlei Desert Lodge sits on private dunes—a caramel-colored lunar playground all your own.

From your lodge’s airstrip, fly north along the Atlantic’s striking Skeleton Coast into blank spaces on the map. At Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp, where desert lions saunter along empty beaches, hike through dry riverbeds and ochre canyons frequented by giraffe. In the vast Hartmann’s Valley that’s home to the Himba people, Serra Cafema is equally untouched, providing exclusive access to a lush Kunene riverine vegetation, remote villages, migrating oryx, and tiny desert chameleons.

Moving back inland to the mountainous wilds of Damaraland, track endangered black rhino on foot at Wilderness Desert Camp Rhino before scampering among massive granite boulders in search of petroglyphs left by prehistoric San bushmen.

For a change in scenery, turn east towards Africa’s largest salt pan, Etosha National Park. Seasonal watering pans and dense vegetation create a wilderness teeming with wildlife. On foot in Onguma Camp Kala’s private concession, keep an eye out for the Ghosts of Etosha, elephants covered in the pan’s white dust. Search for cheetahs by 4×4 before unwinding with a massage back at camp. Over sundowners, join indigenous healers in crafting tonics from local flora.