Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp
Skeleton Coast

Opened in 2014, this ultra-remote yet exceptionally stylish addition to Wildness Safaris’ portfolio offers a magical experience to guests. Only accessible by light aircraft, the camp is located in a vast and eerie moonscape at the confluence of two tributaries of the dry Hoanib River at the edge of the Palmway Game Reserve and adjacent to the iconic Skeleton Coast. Sensitive to the local environment, this solar powered camp has just eight en-suite tents, including one family room, with sand-coloured canvas canopies, cooling concrete floors, chic natural décor and a shaded outdoor area. The main camp has a stunning swimming pool and a fire pit, a bar and indoor and outdoor lounge areas overlooking a waterhole. This is one of the most remote and environmentally extreme parts of Namibia and to experience such a high level of luxury service, chic décor and top quality food and beverages is a marvel and a real game changer.

If you can drag yourself away from camp you will be hugely rewarded: this is one of the best places in Namibia for game drives to spot the elusive, desert-dwelling elephant and lion. Guests staying for three nights or more can embark on a 4WD excursion to the skeleton coast to race across vast sand dunes, meet with the thriving Cape Cross Seal Colony and explore the wild beaches dotted with spooky shipwrecks. Best of all, the incredible flight back to camp is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Other spectacular day trips include visits to the iridescent Desert Oases and Auses Spring with a picnic lunch, or you can discover the region’s indigenous culture with a visit to a nearby Himba village.

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.
Bill Bryson