Friday 21 November 2014

Accommodation & camping options in Namibia | Отели и кемпинги в Намибии

#CampingNamibia
#AccommodationNamibia

Where to stay in Namibia 

There's a wide variety of accommodation in Namibia that caters for every budget: whether you're exploring the country on an expensive flying safari and staying at luxury lodges or on a self-drive camping trip. There is a requirement for every hotel, lodge, guest farm, campsite and backpackers hostel to be graded and registered to ensure that minimum standards are met and that the establishment deserves the right to be registered and promoted by the Namibia Tourist Board. As a result, the quality of establishments across Namibia in every price bracket is very high. Options vary from top-of-the-range, stylish game lodges and tented camps (N$3000-9000 per couple per night), mid-range chalets and safari lodges in the national parks (N$700-1600), to guesthouses and B&Bs
(N$500-700), and dorm beds or camping (N$100-150 a day). Reservations, especially in the parks, should be made well in advance, particularly around the southern African school
holidays, the longest of which are in December and January and from July to December.

Lodges & Tented Camps
At the luxury end are a number of game lodges and tented camps. Their attraction
is the chance to combine prime wilderness areas with top-class accommodation, fine
dining and vintage wines. Lodges vary with rooms and facilities in one building or
individual chalets or rondavels (small huts) with a central dining area. Efforts are
usually made to design them to blend into their environment, with an emphasis on natural
local building materials and use of traditional art and decoration.

Many have resident guides for organised walks or game/nature drives, and some even have astronomers to guide guests through Namibia's extraordinary night sky. Luxury tented
camps usually have spacious tents with thatched roofs to keep them cool inside, proper
beds and a verandah and a small bathroom at the back, usually with solar-heated hot water. From a tent you might hear animals surprisingly close by if you are in a wildlife area, or in the desert, enjoy only the sound of total silence. Both are often isolated and not easily accessible by road, so many have their own airstrips. Charter flights save time and avoid long dusty journeys by road.

Wilderness Safaris operate five super-luxurious lodges and tented camps in some prime locations at Sossusvlei, Damaraland, Skeleton Coast and Etosha. Wolwedans, located
in the heart of the NamibRand Nature Reserve, offers a portfolio of camps that provide
the perfect base from which to explore this incredible region. For the ultimate Spa
experience, Gocheganas, not far from Windhoek, is a luxury lodge offering a unique
combination of wildlife, nature and wellness experiences. If you want to explore the Fish River Canyon, Gondwana operate desert lodges nearby, and Ecolodgistix is a young and dynamic company that manages the beautiful Fish River Lodge as well as three other lodges in Namibia. Islands in Africa have some intimate lodges in idyllic
watery locations in Caprivi, and Classic Safari Camps of Africa promote
luxury lodges and tented camps in Kaokoland, Etosha and the NamibRand Nature Reserve. For something a little different, Onguma near Etosha Park offers several accommodation options including a tented camp, a bush camp, the fort and a treetop camp, or you could stay in one of the incredible 11 traditional African-style round buildings that make up the Rostock Ritz Lodge en route to Sossusvlei.

Hotels
Every medium-sized town has at least one small hotel, often providing the only comfortable bar and restaurant in town. Many of these hotels are family run and fall into the two-star category, offering clean, basic rooms, while the more upmarket hotels in the cities and towns provide good service and international standards. Under Namibia Tourism Board's grading system a hotel must have at least 20 en-suite rooms, whilst a hotel pension must have at least 10 but not more than 20 en suite rooms. To be called a lodge or resort, the establishment has to be located in a rural area or within a natural environment, and must have at least five rooms and provide recreational activities.

O&L Hospitality operate famous Mokuti Lodge located next to Etosha Park and Strand Hotel in Swakopmund, while Namibia Country Lodges run hotels and lodges in best country locations.
Protea Hotels chain run a number of hotels in Namibia's towns. Luxury segment includes The Hilton Hotel Windhoek and The Olive Exclusive Boutique Hotel.

Bed and Breakfasts & Guest houses
Once confined to Windhoek, the B&B concept has taken off in all of Namibia's towns. Most
operate along conventional lines and you will be staying in someone's home, which can be a good way to meet local people and gain an insight into their lives. Guesthouses tend to be a cross between a hotel and a B&B and are generally found in Windhoek, Swakopmund and the towns of the central and southern regions, and generally offer en suite rooms with TV and have a small swimming pool. Both provide a hearty full cooked breakfast, and at some it may be possible to arrange an evening meal by calling ahead.

Many B&Bs and guest houses are listed with the Accommodation Association of Namibia.
One of examples, The Olive Grove Guest House is a small, quiet, but upmarket establishment in a quiet area of Windhoek.

Hostels
Apart from camping, backpackers hostels provide the cheapest accommodation in Namibia, though they are generally found only in Windhoek and Swakopmund. Most are well-run communal houses with dorms and double rooms, and there is usually a well-equipped kitchen, bar, lounge with library and TV, a notice board for travellers, and often someone who can arrange budget safari tours and car hire. For independent travellers, these places are the best source of information, companionship, parties and advice.

Chameleon Backpackers Lodge has evolved since 1996 from a basic backpacker's lodge
to a boutique facility catering for all ranges of traveller. They offer six bed dormitories with en-suite bathroom facilities, standard twin/double rooms with en-suite bathroom all the way through to a premier honeymoon suite with four poster queen-sized bed and private balcony with two showers. Another hostel option is Villa Wiese, which provides a good base for exploring Swakopmund.

Camping
For visitors on a limited budget who wish to see as much of Namibia as possible, staying in
campsites and using the money saved on hotels towards hiring a car is probably the best option.
Camping is far from a neglected end of the market and there are
campsites all over the country: there are good camping facilities in many parks, most guest farms have their own private campsites and there are some excellent community campsites. In the most popular parks, like Etosha Park, pitches get booked up to a year in advance, so don't assume there will be space. Even the most basic site will have a clean ablution block, many with electric points, lighting, fireplace for cooking (locally known as a "braai") and water tap. Be sure to stock up on provisions in the supermarkets and bottle stores of the major towns. The cooking side of camping can be the most awkward for visitors; however, many car hire companies rent vehicles with everything you need, including bulky items such as tables, chairs and cool boxes, plus small items such as cooking utensils and towels.
If cost is no concern, you can hire one with a built-in refrigerator, water tank, solar-heated portable shower, roof tents, long-range fuel tanks and all the smaller items necessary for a successful camping trip.

The Namibia Community Based Tourism Assistance Trust promotes almost 30 community camps across the country that are run by local communities. Several car rental companies such as ASCO Car Hire, Budget and Savanna Car Hire all offer all-terrain vehicles including camping equipment.

Guest Farms
There are hundreds of guest farms all over Namibia. Many offer horse riding, hiking, nature drives, good countryfood and relaxation in a tranquil, rural setting, and the owners know their land (and everything that
lives on it) intimately. Don't be misled by the word "farm". In fact, most Namibian farms are vast tracts of land, typically as large as 10,000 hectares, used predominantly for livestock farming. Most guest farms usually have some wild game such as springbok, gemsbok, kudu and warthog.
A comprehensive list of Namibia's guest farms is here.

Self-catering
Government's Namibia Wildlife Resorts is responsible for management of all the 23 declared game
reserves and parks. Most have some form of accommodation, usually a mix of self-catering bungalows
with two to six beds, and well-serviced campsites. Recently, some of the resorts have been upgraded and renovated, such as the former self-catering chalets in Etosha Park, which are now luxury units with breakfast-inclusive rates in the restaurant and in some cases dinner too.
Other accommodation upgrades include the Waterberg Plateau Park, Gross Barmen Resort, Hardap Resort and the Ai-Ais Hot Springs Resort at the bottomof Fish River Canyon. Overall, they represent reasonably value and in most cases the camps are located in beautiful locations.
www.traveltonamibia.com
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