This is a place built around the walk. Onguma Trails Camp is a seasonal, off-grid retreat on the eastern boundary of Etosha National Park, set within the private Onguma Nature Reserve in northern Namibia. Four canvas bell tents hold no more than eight guests at a time, and the whole rhythm of the camp turns on the mornings, spent walking through big-game country with an armed professional guide.
Four canvas bell tents hold no more than eight guests at a time
Walking safaris are prohibited inside Etosha itself, which is why the tracking happens out here, across the reserve’s plains, its mopane woodland and its dry riverbeds along the park’s edge. Guests reach the camp through Onguma Forest Camp, transferred by 4×4 into a remote section held back from the vehicle routes. There is no Wi-Fi and no phone signal.
Mornings cover between six and eight kilometres on foot. The guides read spoor, dung and the alarm calls of birds, name the plants that heal and the ones you can eat, and slow the pace enough to interpret behaviour rather than simply spot it. Midway through, a catered breakfast is laid out in a dry riverbed or some other quiet spot. The reserve holds lion, elephant and rhino, alongside oryx, giraffe, wildebeest and zebra.
The guides read spoor, dung and the alarm calls of birds.
Afternoons ease into a sundowner drive across the private reserve, and the nights turn to stargazing around the fire, under skies with little to dim them. Onguma is a custodian of Namibia’s black rhino population, and white rhino have been introduced to run alongside them. The birdlife across the reserve is extensive.
The camp opens only through the dry winter months, from April to September, when the bush thins, the water sources draw the wildlife in, and the walking conditions are at their most reliable. The four tents sit at ground level, each with a private seating area at the front and an en-suite outdoor bathroom at the rear. Beside every tent a wood-fired hot tub holds heated water for the end of a morning’s tracking, a quiet counterpoint to the dust and heat of the walk.
The design keeps its footprint deliberately light. It is canvas, rough-sawn timber and gum poles, with solar power running the lights and the charging points, composting toilets and canvas bucket showers filled by hand. A large open-sided tent holds the lounge and the dining area. Meals are cooked over an open fire, breakfasts and lunches shared under canvas, and dinner taken as a boma meal directly around the flames.
With no engine noise and no hum of grid electricity, the soundscape stays largely intact.
The sound of the place is as much a part of it as the sightings. Cicadas at dusk, hardwood crackling on the fire, and, on some nights, the roar of distant lion. With no engine noise and no hum of grid electricity, the soundscape stays largely intact, broken only by the occasional sundowner or transfer drive. The minimum age is 16, a reflection both of the fitness the daily walks demand over sandy, uneven ground and of the realities of tracking dangerous game on foot.
Conservation runs through everything here. The wider Onguma reserve supports anti-poaching patrols and reaches out into the surrounding community, with an irrigated vegetable farm at Oshivelo that employs local people and a development fund behind schools for San communities nearby. Families with younger children are pointed towards the reserve’s other, more conventional camps, leaving Trails Camp to those who come specifically to walk.
accommodation
Four en-suite canvas bell tents, sleeping a maximum of eight guests, available in king or twin configuration. Each sits at ground level with a private front seating area, an outdoor bathroom at the rear with composting toilet and canvas bucket shower, and an adjacent wood-fired hot tub. Interiors use rough-sawn timber, local linens and extra-length beds.
activities
The core activity is a daily guided walking safari of six to eight kilometres with an armed guide, covering tracking, plant knowledge and bird identification, with a catered breakfast midway. Walking is confined to the private Onguma reserve, since Etosha prohibits it. Afternoons bring a sundowner drive, and nights offer stargazing around the fire.
conservation
Onguma is a custodian of Namibia's black rhino population and has introduced white rhino to the reserve. Anti-poaching patrols operate across the wider reserve. Community initiatives include the Oshivelo irrigated vegetable farm, which employs local people, and a development fund supporting schools for San communities in the area.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
01
Etosha National Park
02
Etosha National Park
03
Etosha National Park
04
Etosha National Park
05
Etosha National Park
06
Etosha National Park
07
Etosha National Park
08
Etosha National Park
09
Etosha National Park
10
Etosha National Park
11
Etosha National Park
12
Etosha National Park
You reach the Onguma reserve first, on Etosha's eastern boundary. From Windhoek that is either a light aircraft from Eros airport, around an hour and a half onto the reserve's own airstrip, or a drive of four and a half to five and a half hours, most of it tarred. We can arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, and the light aircraft take soft bags only.
From there the trail has its own rhythm: guests gather at Onguma Forest Camp by early afternoon and are driven by 4x4 into the remote section of the reserve where the camp stands. We will time your flight or drive so the connection is unhurried.
The camp runs on set departures every five days through its winter season, with two nights as the standard stay and an optional third night for those who want a further day's walking. It is a small group throughout, never more than eight guests.
You do not need to be an athlete, but you should be reasonably fit and comfortable walking up to ten kilometres in a morning on sandy, uneven ground, with the pace set by tracks and sightings rather than the clock. Tell us honestly how much walking you enjoy and we will judge together whether two nights or three is right.
Everything the trail needs: all meals, from the bush breakfasts cooked out on the walk to the three-course dinners around the fire, plus local drinks, including wines, beers, spirits and soft drinks. The camp is off-grid and stocked in advance, so we pass on your drink preferences before you arrive.
A conservation levy is charged separately for each guest per night and goes to the reserve's protection work. We build it into your quote from the beginning, so the price you agree is the price you pay.
Seasonally, yes. This is northern Namibia, where the UK's official travel health advice recommends antimalarial tablets for the wetter months from December to April and rates the dry season, May to November, as low risk with bite avoidance the priority. The CDC names these northern regions among those where tablets are usually advised.
The camp's season falls almost entirely within the drier, lower-risk months, but guidance changes and routes vary, so confirm the position for your own dates with a travel clinic or your doctor. Long trousers and sleeves, sensible on a walking safari anyway, do double duty against bites.
The camp opens only through the Namibian winter, which means warm, clear days and cold nights, sometimes near freezing. Walks leave early, when the air still bites, and shed layers as the morning warms.
Bring worn-in closed walking shoes rather than new boots, neutral colours that do not carry on the open ground, a warm jacket and hat for dawn and the fireside, and strong sun protection for the middle of the day. A soft bag suits the light aircraft and the 4x4 transfer, and swimwear is worth including for the wood-fired hot tub beside each tent.
rated five stars by our clients
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
