CAMP SOSSUS - IMMERSIVE EXPLORATION - OPENING APRIL 2022 FOR EVERYONE!
Yes, you’ve read that right! We have now had time to align our post-Covid operations properly, and to take into account the experience gained since the opening of ONDULI RIDGE in July 2021. As a result, we have been able to heed the calls to open the Namib’s best kept secret to everyone so Camp Sossus will no longer only be available to those travelling with Ultimate Safaris or those wanting to book it on an exclusive-use basis. It will now be open to be booked on an individual basis by anyone who wants to stay there – subject only to the availability of accommodation. All current exclusive-use bookings will be honoured, but as of April 2022 Camp Sossus can be booked on the same basis as Galton House and Onduli Ridge, on a standard per room basis.
However, the philosophy of Camp Sossus remains unchanged. The camp will still offer a truly sustainable “back to nature” experience, allowing guests to touch, feel, smell and experience the Namib, but with their feet remaining firmly in the desert sand. This ultimate connection with earth, nature and people in a very up-close and personal way gives an intimate experience that is truly immersive! Camp Sossus is NOT merely an accommodation establishment. It offers an IMMERSIVE EXPLORATION of the Namib Desert over a minimum of 2 nights and it should be offered as such!
Whilst staying away from brick and timber buildings and all the luxury paraphernalia associated with those, our aim is still to provide complete comfort while ensuring an immersive exploration of the Namib Desert, by vehicle, by bike and on foot. We also offer the option of sleeping under a blanket of a billion stars on our star beds which are built on top each guest tented room. Guests are looked after by some extraordinary people whose only desire is to ensure that each moment spent with us is as perfect as possible. The attentive service, incredible food and attention to detail experienced at our other camps such as ONDULI RIDGE and THE NEST @ SOSSUS have also become standard at Camp Sossus. Days are filled with thrilling encounters, and nights are enhanced with immersive experiences beyond most people’s wildest dreams. Our aim is to leave long-lasting impressions and happy memories but, most of all, to offer those life enriching experiences for which we have become so well known.
COMFORT, INTIMACY & REDEFINING LUXURY
Camp Sossus emphasises every aspect of our intention to redefine luxury. Our own definition of this encompasses privacy, intimacy, experiential focus and total flexibility, all whilst being perfectly comfortable. We can provide all of this at an affordable price as we have removed the element of material opulence and the consequent need for high pricing that is generally associated with luxury accommodation. The camp offers just six tented guest rooms and is open year-round, providing a great alternative to any traditional lodge or camp in the Sossusvlei area, whilst offering unparalleled opportunities for immersive exploration of the Namib Desert environment. The large west-facing windows and south-facing doors in the tented guest rooms allow natural cooling by the predominant afternoon south westerly wind, and the tents all have a basic infrastructure that offers important comforts. These include semi open-air en-suite bathrooms with flush toilets and hot bucket showers with locally sourced amenities, comfortable extra-length three-quarter twin beds, solar lighting, 220V electrical charging station, pedestal fan, shaded patio, shaded day-bed and a magnificent star bed. The essence of the camp therefore remains both experiential and immersive.
WORLD CLASS GUIDING
Guests at Camp Sossus are hosted and taken on immersive excursions by members of the world-renowned Ultimate Safaris Naturalist guiding team. They therefore go out to explore some of the world’s most beautiful wild places, encountering wildlife spectacles and experiencing unique aspects of the oldest desert in the world while receiving detailed interpretation of what they get to see. Throughout this whole experience, they are wrapped in the warm and caring hospitality that has become the hallmark of Ultimate Safaris. The skills and knowledge of our Naturalist guides are of the highest order, and the guides are considered to be the most important ingredient for providing these immersive explorations. We hear the same comment time and again from guests leaving at the end of their safaris : “Ultimate guides are truly out of this world!” Knowledge, experience and character should be taken for granted, but the addition of charisma, passion and motivation provides a combination of the traits that create perfect guides. They are personable, engaging and caring and they have a passion for travel and the world around them which gives them the ability to immerse guests into what is a truly unique Namib Desert experience. These guides quickly turn a standard safari experience into a life enriching one, creating a deeper understanding and appreciation for this incredible area. They are the link between our guests and the intricacies of the natural world, sharing their knowledge with enthusiasm, understanding and humour.
IMMERSIVE EXPLORATION
A fundamental and unique part of any stay at Camp Sossus is the immersive exploration of the desert whilst in the care of one of our Naturalist Guides. This exploration can take one of several forms, including mountain plus BIKE excursions, WALKS, and scenic drives by VEHICLE, all in the company of one of our Naturalist Guides. Incredible night-time star gazing and tutorials on that are complimented by the opportunity to sleep in our STAR BEDS which are built on a deck above the bathroom at each guest tent and supplied with their own linen so there is no need to struggle when taking linen from inside the tents. Namibia’s night sky is famous for its stars, so almost everyone wants to spend at least one night sleeping out under the stars in complete safety and privacy using these STAR BEDS which are unrivalled in the Namib Desert. It seems that very few guests have ever had the opportunity to experience something like this, and the consistent feedback is that this is one of those truly life enriching experiences that makes a stay at Camp Sossus so memorable! Nights under a billion stars, while you are sure to have crisp, cosy bedding and good lighting as required also offer what many find to be a hugely romantic experience ! Of course, guests don’t have to spend the entire night on the star beds as their equally comfortable bed inside their tent awaits them if they feel the urge to be more cocooned. When guests stay for extended periods of three nights or more, they also have the opportunity to explore the Plateau on the Reserve, which offer some of the best views available out over the Namib Desert. In addition to all of this, morning hot air balloon flights as well as scenic flights over the local area in helicopters and fixed wing aircraft can be arranged - although all these come with additional charge.
RECYCLED, REUSED & COMPLETELY SUSTAINABLE
Camp Sossus is built in a natural amphitheatre formed by a south-facing granite outcrop, and is open year-round. As the harsh desert climate is a primary consideration, tents are protected from the stormy east winds by natural stone walls, and shaded by roofs built from almost 500 recycled oil drums. Tented rooms are equipped with furniture built mostly from recycled metals, oil drum lids, recycled wooden pallets and other recycled wood including the remains of an old Oregon Pine floor, all of which were originally destined for landfills. As a result, the camp is virtually invisible from any distance and it carries the lowest environmental footprint of any camp in Namibia. All power is generated via a solar farm, waste water is processed through a sophisticated reclamation process, solid waste is processed via our sophisticated solid waste management system, and great care is taken to conserve our most important resource, water, including making use of bucket showers and doing all laundry offsite where more water is available.
CONSERVATION & THE NAMIB TSARIS CONSERVACY
Camp Sossus in the Greater Sossusvlei-Namib Landscape is designed to be in line with our commitment to help preserve wild places through impact investments that have a positive effect on the environment and its custodians. Located on the private 24,000 hectare Namib Tsaris Conservancy, which is nestled between the Nubib and Zaris Mountains, this camp is a mere thirty minutes’ drive from the gateway to Sossusvlei and the Great Namib Sand Sea which has recently been declared a World Heritage Site.
The Namib Tsaris Conservancy (NTC) was founded in 2010, and it serves as a natural buffer from the harshest desert conditions and a refuge that is vital to wildlife through the dry season. Ten years of intensive work to reverse sixty years of inappropriate farming practices, including the removal of 89 km of internal fencing, the installation of wildlife watering points, the improvement of road networks, the rehabilitation of land and the reintroduction of wildlife that historically occurred here, has resulted in one of the most picturesque and ecologically sound tracts of land in the area. The NTC has gravel plains, mountainous areas with dry river valleys as well as a large raised plateau which towers above the desert below. It is now home to some of largest concentrations of wildlife in the area, including Oryx, Springbok, Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra, Burchell’s Zebra, Kudu, Hartebeest, Giraffe, Steenbok, Klipspringer, Bat-eared Fox, and Aardwolf, as well as predators such as Leopard, Cheetah and Spotted Hyena. Plans for the future which include the reintroduction of critically endangered black rhino and the acquisition of adjoining land to extend the Conservancy are ongoing!
Around 20% of all revenues earned at Camp Sossus will be directly re-invested into the conservation of the area, thus staying true to our philosophy of re-investing into the environment. This is possible because of our model that the investment into our camps should be moderate from both a financial and environmental perspective, ensuring sustainability on all levels without the pressure of having to recoup large financial outlays.
AT A GLANCE
° Open year-round
° Open to everyone and available to be booked on a per tented room basis
° Local Airstrips at Hammerstein and Witwater
° Access for self-drivers via a designated pick-up point (directions supplied upon booking confirmation)
° Only children 12 years and older (one child sharing per tented room on a stretcher)
° Bookings of 4 rooms or more qualify for exclusive use - subject to availability and any existing bookings (exclusive use = children under 12 years)
° Minimum 2 night stays (3 nights recommended)
° Fully inclusive rate including all meals, local drinks and scheduled activities
° 6 shaded state-of-the-art all-weather en-suite tented rooms
° Semi-open-air bathrooms with flush toilet and hot water bucket shower
° Star beds above the bathroom of each tented room
° Shaded day-bed/sala
° In-tented room 220V charging stations
° Spacious communal lounge with fireplace, communal family-style dining room (private dining can be arranged), campfire circle and viewing deck
° Separate WI-FI lounge
° Only 30 minutes’ drive to the Sesriem gate with access to the Sossusvlei Dunes
° Activities include biking, hiking, star gazing, Sossusvlei excursion and nature drives
° Unique and intriguing desert swimming pools
° Waterhole for wildlife viewing
° Artisan coffee
° 100% solar powered
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