Our first night was spent at  The Olive Exclusive  a small boutique hotel in Windhoek.  The hotel is very stylish with great artwork all show casing Namibia’s natural attractions. Each room is different and there are three junior suites and four premier suites, the premier suites each have a private deck and plunge pool.  This is a very comfortable overnight stop to begin or end a Namibia safari. The food was very good and breakfast was delicious!
Image courtesy of The Olive Exclusive Hotel
From here we flew by light aircraft to a private  concession belonging to Wilderness Safaris on the border of the Namib Naukluft Park. The scenery during the flight was stunning and it was fun to watch the landcsape slowly change to desert.
We stayed at Little Kulala, a modern spacious camp built out of natural materials. The white and neutral tones of the lodge are a wonderful contrast to the desert and provide a welcome respite from the heat that rolls off the mountains and  dunes.
Our arrival at Sossusvlei
 The  pool deck is connected to the main deck at the front of the mess overlooking a small waterhole.
Game is scarce in the area, but  from the cool of the deck we  watched ostrich, Springbok, Oryx (including this beautiful albino female), a  variety of birds, hares, jackals and saw the tracks of several brown Hyena.
 The rooms have a private deck and plunge pool (ours was very cold!), and a roof top terrace.  We slept out under the stars one night on bed rolls, on the roof top terrace above our room. it was beautiful and cool up there and the moon was almost full which was incredible.
Courtesy of Wilderness Image Gallery, Dana Allen
A young dune next to the lodge, it was fun to see all the fresh tracks in the morning.
We got up very early to go into the park and  explore the dunes that surround the Sossusvlei salt and clay pans. The dunes glowed pinky orange in the morning light and the sand felt cold in the early morning.
The dunes support some amazing creatures that can survive with little water and it was exciting to spot the occasional lizard or arthropod in the sand.
In the afternoon we went out on quad bikes. I was a little sceptical about going on the bikes but quickly became a convert – I loved the sense of freedom it gave me, the ability to stop and take it all in at my own pace.
And with  with temperatures in the high 40’s (ºC) it was definitely more appealing than exploring on foot!
From the side of the Black Mountain it felt like we were at the top of the world with amazing 360º views.
Next stop Serra Cafema!
