Stephan Brückner designed Wolwedans Plains Camp in timber and canvas for the open grass of the NamibRand Nature Reserve, the land his father Albi began piecing together from old livestock farms in south-west Namibia. Oryx and springbok graze the plains, the Losberg on the skyline. The villa is booked by one party at a time, and its guide, chef and house manager look after nobody else.
Oryx and springbok graze the plains, the Losberg on the skyline.
By day the canvas walls roll up and the desert comes straight into the lounge. On cold winter nights they close again and the house draws in. The plan is simple: two rooms on either side of the pool, joined by decks where much of the day is spent doing very little. Beyond the decks, bare fairy circles dot the grass in every direction.
Seventeen livestock farms once worked this ground. Albi Brückner set about returning them to the desert. Today Hartmann’s mountain zebra, kudu and giraffe share the reserve with the oryx and springbok.
Albi Brückner set about returning them to the desert
In 2012 the reserve became an International Dark Sky Reserve, at Gold Tier, and after dark no artificial light competes with the stars. The Milky Way reaches clear down to the horizon. Tourism was always meant to pay for the land. Albi and Stephan started Wolwedans in 1995 with four igloo tents on the dune where Dune Camp now stands, so that visitors, in place of sheep, would keep the reserve going.
The vehicle pulls away, and the Solitude begins. For half an hour a guest sits alone in the dunes, with no guide and nothing to do. Until it returns there is the shift of shadow over the sand, and very little else. The Bushman walk asks for the opposite kind of attention. A San guide sets out on foot to read the tracks laid down overnight, working out from each set of prints what crossed in the dark and where it went. Both are included, and with a private guide neither has to be fitted around anyone else’s plans.
The drives go out in the cool of morning and again towards evening, crossing dunes and gravel plains into the foothills of the inselbergs. The full-day scenic safari goes further, pausing at midday for a picnic laid out among boulders. The e-bikes cover similar ground on morning and evening rides, at a slower and quieter pace. Most days end with sundowners, the drinks poured wherever the guide judges the light best. The vehicle and the timetable belong to one party, so a long lunch or an extra hour on a dune crest keeps no one else waiting.
Until it returns there is the shift of shadow over the sand, and very little else
A short way from the villa, Wolwedans Village holds everything the camps run on. The staff homes are here, and the Desert Academy. So is the vegetable garden that supplies the kitchens. The Heart and Home tour goes behind the scenes, past the water recovery system and through the garden beds to the people who cook, clean and guide. It finishes with lunch served among the vegetables. The airstrip is here too, for arrivals by charter or on the daily shuttle flight from Windhoek’s Eros airport.
Children of every age are welcome, and with the villa booked by one party, the family sets meal times and rest hours rather than a camp schedule. Even the morning drive starts when they say. Breakfast can be early for the children and late for everyone else, because the chef cooks for one household. The sala, a shaded pavilion built for afternoon siestas, converts into a fifth room for two children, so a party of eight adults can bring the youngest along. The villa opens all year and takes a minimum stay of two nights, though the pace of the activities argues for longer.
accommodation
Four en-suite rooms sleep eight: two master and two standard, set in pairs on either side of the pool and central lounge, which combines study, living room, dining area and kitchen. Timber frames carry canvas walls that roll fully open. Decks and seating areas link every room to the main pavilion. The sala sleeps two children.
activities
Included, all within the private reserve: morning and evening scenic drives, the full-day scenic safari, Wolwedans Desert Sundowners, the Bushman walk, e-biking, the Solitude and the Heart and Home village tour. Hot-air ballooning, horse riding, spa treatments and the warm-season Desert Sleepout can be booked separately.
conservation
The Desert Academy trains young Namibians in hospitality and cooking, and the Wolwedans Foundation, set up in 2010, works with Hardap Region schools including Daweb School in Maltahöhe. Adopt a Tree has planted over 200 trees, 80% of village water is treated for reuse, and Wolwedans is a member of The Long Run.
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.
By light aircraft, for most guests. A daily seat-in shuttle flight runs all year from Windhoek's Eros airport to the Wolwedans airstrip on the reserve and back the same day, and the camp is a short drive from the strip. From May to November a scheduled service also links Hosea Kutako International to the Keerweder airstrip, about 45 minutes away by road.
We can also arrange a private charter on your own timings, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, from Windhoek, Swakopmund or your previous camp, landing on the Wolwedans airstrip itself. By road it is six to seven hours from Windhoek or Swakopmund, much of it on well-kept gravel, over the Spreetshoogte Pass or through Maltahohe.
It is in a very low risk area. The NamibRand lies in Namibia's Hardap region, which TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, places in the very low risk part of the country, advising bite avoidance there rather than tablets. The CDC in America calls malaria rare outside the northern regions it lists. Low risk is still not no risk.
We are travel planners, and we do not make medical recommendations, so whether anyone in your party needs more than that is for you to settle with your own doctor or a travel clinic. The sensible habit is the same anywhere: long sleeves after dark in the warmer months, and repellent in your bag.
Yes, children of any age are welcome, and because the villa is booked for your party alone there are no other guests to think about. It sleeps up to eight adults and two children: four en-suite rooms with king beds, and a sala that turns into a fifth room for the children, with a double bed and its own bathroom.
With your own guide and vehicle, the day runs at the children's pace. The guides adapt the Bushman walk, where children can learn to make a bow and arrow, and fit sandboarding into a morning or evening drive. A treasure hunt takes them behind the scenes of the Wolwedans Village, and family horse rides suit every age, at extra cost.
Nearly every day out is included. The rate covers all meals, house drinks, some laundry and wifi, with the villa's own guide, vehicle, chef and house manager. So are the scenic drives from sunrise to sundown, the full-day drive with a picnic among the boulders, the Bushman walk, the village tour with lunch in its garden, e-bike rides and the Solitude, half an hour alone in the dunes.
Hot-air ballooning, horse riding, full-day e-bike rides, the Desert Sleepout, dune breakfasts, dinners under the stars and in-room spa treatments cost extra, as do imported spirits and reserve wines. A sustainability levy is charged per person per night, half for a child, covering the reserve's park fee and funding the Wolwedans Foundation's community and conservation work.
Not comfortably as a day trip. Sesriem, the gate for Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, is about two hours' drive from the Wolwedans camps, then around 45 minutes more to the dunes, so no guided trips run there from Plains Camp. We add a night or two near Sesriem either side of your stay instead, so you reach the dunes at first light.
The NamibRand has plenty of its own. Red dunes, gravel plains and mountains lie inside the reserve, with oryx, springbok and Hartmann's mountain zebra, fairy circles across the grassland and, at night, one of the darkest skies on the continent: in 2012 it became Africa's first International Dark Sky Reserve, at the strictest Gold Tier.
May to September, the dry winter, brings clear skies, low humidity and comfortable days, with oryx, springbok and zebra out on the open plains and the sharpest stargazing of the year. Nights from June to August often fall below freezing. March, April, October and November sit either side, warmer and quieter, and December to February is the hot, wet season.
The green season has its own case: storms clear the dust and young springbok appear on fresh grass below the red dunes. Pack light clothes, a wide hat and strong sun protection for the day, then a warm jacket, a beanie and gloves for dawn drives and winter nights, when the villa's canvas walls come down against the cold.
rated five stars by our clients
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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.
