Camp Sossus sits in the private Namib Tsaris Conservancy, a thirty-minute drive from the Sesriem gate to Sossusvlei and the Namib Sand Sea. Six tented rooms occupy a granite amphitheatre between the Nubib and Zaris Mountains. Each carries a rooftop star bed, reached by an external staircase, so the night begins in an indoor featherbed and ends under the open sky.
The curved, rust-red roofs are shaped from recycled oil drums
The camp was built from what the desert and the workshop could offer. The curved, rust-red roofs are shaped from recycled oil drums, the walls raised in dry-stone granite to break the wind. Everything runs on solar power. There is no air conditioning; large mesh windows draw the afternoon south-westerly through each tent instead, so the rooms cool as the light softens.
The conservancy was established in 2010, and the camp stands on land still in recovery. Guest stays fund that continuing rehabilitation, including the slow removal of old farm fencing across the property, so that desert-adapted wildlife can move as it once did. It is a plain arrangement: staying here pays for the ground beneath the tents to heal, acre by acre.
Guest stays fund that continuing rehabilitation
Guides drive into Namib-Naukluft National Park for Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, climbing the dunes before the day visitors arrive, then returning to a picnic brunch beneath the camelthorn trees. Back on the private conservancy, oryx, springbok, kudu and Hartmann’s mountain zebra gather at the waterhole below the camp’s viewing deck, close enough to watch through the long afternoon.
Being on private land changes what is possible. Inside the national park, activities keep to designated roads and daylight hours; on the conservancy, the desert opens up. Guides lead interpretive walks that read beetle tracks and desert flora, then take guests out on fat-tyre mountain bikes across the gravel plains. This is a refuge for leopard and cheetah, for spotted hyena, bat-eared fox and aardwolf, alongside the oryx, zebra and kudu more regularly seen from camp.
The comforts here are quiet ones. Each tented room has a shaded outdoor daybed and a semi-open-air bathroom fitted with a flush toilet and a hot-water bucket shower, and on the roof above sits a star bed carrying its own featherbed and linen. Beyond that, little else: 220V charging points, solar lighting and pedestal fans. The whole camp runs off-grid, its wastewater recycled on-site.
At night the desert silence is broken only by the wind on canvas, the crackle of the fire
Dining follows the fresh, Namibian-influenced style of a small exploration camp, with hot breakfasts, freshly baked bread, and a house coffee blend poured at the camp’s coffee station. Meals move with the day, from the communal mess tent to the campfire circle under the stars, and trail treats appear at remote spots during excursions. At night the desert silence is broken only by the wind on canvas, the crackle of the fire, and the calls of barking geckos.
The pull of the place is visual and constant: gravel plains running out to the Zaris mountains, dunes shifting from lavender to fiery orange as the first light hits, and the Milky Way overhead after dark. Families are welcome, with a children’s menu and desert activities to match. For those who want to see the sand sea whole, hot-air ballooning, helicopter flights and scenic fixed-wing trips over the dunes can all be arranged.
accommodation
Six tented rooms, each with an indoor featherbed, a shaded outdoor daybed and a semi-open-air bathroom with flush toilet and hot-water bucket shower. Above each sits a rooftop star bed with its own bedding. Rooms have 220V charging, solar lighting and pedestal fans, and no air conditioning.
activities
Excursions to Sossusvlei and Deadvlei in Namib-Naukluft National Park, ahead of day visitors. On the private conservancy: guided nature walks, fat-tyre mountain biking, stargazing and sleep-outs on the star beds. Hot-air ballooning, helicopter and fixed-wing scenic flights over the dunes can be arranged.
conservation
Built substantially from upcycled materials and running off-grid on solar power, with on-site wastewater recycling. Guest stays fund rehabilitation of the Namib Tsaris Conservancy, where old agricultural fencing has been removed to restore movement corridors for desert-adapted wildlife including oryx, zebra, leopard and cheetah.
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 road it is around five hours from Windhoek, tar giving way to gravel for the final stretch, and because the conservancy is explored only with the camp's guides, self-drivers leave their vehicle at a designated pick-up point, with directions supplied when the booking is confirmed.
Flying is the quicker way in. Light aircraft use the gravel strips at Hammerstein and Witwater, which serve the conservancy, and we can arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, timed to your route through Namibia, with the camp meeting the plane for the transfer.
The Namib Tsaris Conservancy sits far from Namibia's malaria zone. Both of the sources we work from agree on this: the UK's official travel health advice classes the country outside its northern regions as very low risk, recommending bite avoidance rather than tablets, and the CDC names only the north and east as transmission areas, with malaria rare in the rest of the country.
Many Namibian itineraries do swing north in the end, and the advice shifts if yours takes in Etosha or the Zambezi wetlands, particularly in the rainy months from December to April. Tell us the whole route, and have a travel clinic or your doctor confirm the current guidance before departure.
Expect the desert's full daily swing. Days run warm to hot for most of the year, and can pass forty degrees in the December to February summer, while dawn in winter can sit near freezing, cold enough that a down jacket around the morning fire is a pleasure rather than a precaution.
Pack light, breathable clothes and a hat for the day, then genuinely warm layers for the early starts and the evenings. A night on the rooftop star bed is the reason many people come, so add warm sleepwear even in the hotter months. Worn-in walking shoes earn their place for the plateau hikes, and a buff or scarf helps with dust on the drives.
Children from six are welcome, with reduced rates for those up to twelve sharing with their parents. Younger children are only possible when the whole camp is taken over on an exclusive basis, which for the right family group is a genuinely good way to have the desert to yourselves.
The camp's style suits children who enjoy being outdoors, with the star beds, the biking and the waterhole below the deck doing most of the entertaining. Tell us the ages and we will set the tents up accordingly.
The rate is fully inclusive, covering all meals, local drinks and the scheduled guided activities, from the Sossusvlei excursion to the conservancy drives, walks and biking. It is a fully hosted camp, so the days are built around you rather than a fixed programme.
Hot-air ballooning and scenic flights sit outside the rate, arranged through outside operators and best booked well ahead, so flag them early and we will build them into the quote.
There is, though not where you might expect. The camp's desert pools are set into the rocks a short walk, bike ride or transfer from the tents, so a swim comes with the landscape around it rather than a deck and loungers. Cool water in the middle of a hot desert afternoon is one of the stranger pleasures of a stay here.
For staying in touch, the camp keeps a separate wifi lounge rather than a connection in the tents. Our honest advice is to treat that as a feature: this is one of the quietest places we send people, and it rewards being left uninterrupted.
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.
