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Kunene Region, Namibia

Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp

Price per night from$1,864.72

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (ZAR33,154.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp Photos

Style

Starred treks

Setting

Palmwag valley highs

Explore

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A passion for protecting pachyderms is a guaranteed souvenir of staying at Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp, a conservation-focused retreat set among the rocky plains of Palmwag Concession. You’ll get the chance to track endangered black rhino on foot, and see zebra, bok and elephant on daily game drives. Overlooking a water hole, luxe tented suites bring the creature comforts; and convivial campfires, blanketed by stars, are each evening’s thrilling footnote.

Smith Extra

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A locally crafted souvenir gift (worth around $50)

Facilities

Photos Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Six tented suites, including one for families.

Check–Out

10am, and check-in is at 2pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

More details

Rates include all meals, drinks (apart from some premium alcohol), nature drives, guided hikes and some excursions. Extras to pay for include travel between camps and specialist excursions.

Also

Unfortunately this remote camp is not suitable for guests with limited mobility.

At the hotel

Campfire, laundry service and WiFi in the main lodge and suites. In rooms: ceiling fan, coffee- and tea-making kit, minibar, free bottled water, yoga mats and weights, hairdryer and Healing Earth bath products.

Our favourite rooms

This in-the-wilds stay has been overhauled with up-to-the-minute tented suites: each is framed by a raised, wraparound deck that’s shaded by the suite’s dune-like canopy. And that’s where the similarity with traditional camping ends; spacious glass, stone and timber interiors are kitted out with enough creature comforts to allow you to enjoy the Palmwag scenery at your leisure. For families, a two-bedroom set-up strikes a deft balance between time together and privacy.

Poolside

A water-hole-like circular pool, with raised stone edges, is flanked on two sides by a honey-hued deck at the main lodge. Between 7am and 6pm, you can use it for cooling dips between outings, paired with spells on your parasol-shaded, poolside lounger.

Packing tips

A thirst for adventure and a passion for endangered black rhinos will serve you well.

Also

You’ll want to allow at least two nights at Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp to give yourself the time to explore Palmwag’s otherworldly landscapes and encounter its wildlife.

Children

Little Smiths aged six or older are welcome in the camp’s family suite. Rhino tracking on foot is for over-16s only; if your children are aged 12 or younger, you'll need a private safari vehicle (additional costs apply).

Sustainability efforts

Wilderness takes a threefold approach to sustainability, aiming to protect (with sensitive management between people and wildlife), empower (by investing in the local community) and educate (supporting pathways out of poverty). In total, its camps help to protect six million acres of land, highlighting conservation and bringing tourism to rural areas across the African continent. Wilderness Namibia's support of Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) covers operational costs for trackers and training for Rhino Rangers, and a percentage of Rhino Camp’s revenue is shared with local conservancies and SRT. As a result, SRT has expanded the area it monitors, and poaching in the area has been reduced by 80 per cent. Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp is 100 per cent solar powered.

Food and Drink

Photos Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp food and drink

Top Table

Dinners in the bush and picnics in the veld have our heart.

Dress Code

Camo khakis dusted down from trekking is all you need. In winter, hot-water bottles are provided to take the chill off desert nights.

Hotel restaurant

There’s nothing as formal in camp as a restaurant in the traditional sense. Dining at Desert Rhino Camp is tailored around the day’s scheduled activities — perhaps a light buffet breakfast at the lodge, before heading out on a game drive, say; or a leisurely lunch to fuel afternoon adventures out and about on Palmwag’s plains. Evenings are often a chance to come together with other guests and staff over drinks, before sitting down to an à-la-carte menu that’s guided by regional ingredients and seasonal crops, but will always provide a small choice of dishes for each course. A starlit supper, served on linen-topped tables out in the bush, is a real highlight here.

Hotel bar

Sundowners, apéritifs and drinks around the campfire are sociable focal points at this intimate camp.

Last orders

Banish any expectations of set dining hours and embrace the fact that food and drink will be seamlessly integrated into your day just when you want it.

Room service

The main lodge is only a wander away when you’re in need of drinks or snacks.

Location

Photos Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp location
Address
Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp
Desert Rhino Camp
Palmwag Concession
Namibia

Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp is set in the Palmwag Concession, in the heart of Damaraland in Namibia’s Kunene Region.

Planes

Wilderness Air flights touch down at Desert Rhino Airstrip; from there, it’s a 10-minute transfer by road to your lodgings.

Automobiles

Air transfers are the simpler option here, but self-drive is possible, using a designated pick-up and drop-off point that’s still a two-and-a-half hour drive from camp. It’s a seven- to eight-hour road trip from the airport at Windhoek through the desert to the meeting point, C43.

Other

Once you’ve booked your safari stay, the Wilderness team will be in touch to arrange travel between camps — usually scheduled or private charter flights or helicopter transfers.

Worth getting out of bed for

If you’ve come to Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp, you’ll be here for the eponymous pachyderms: join conservation experts for rhino tracking — either on foot (over-16s only) or by 4WD — for a chance to spot the critically endangered creatures that make Palmwag their home. Game drives bring the best chances of clocking hyena, springbok, oryx, elephant and zebra, too. Guided nature walks introduce the lesser-known flora and fauna of the area, including abundant native birdlife. And a full day exploring Palmwag’s craggy wilds — picnic lunch included — rewards the intrepid. Stargazing beside the campfire is a nightly treat for all.

For a pan-Namibian adventure, Wilderness Little Kulala, among the red dunes of Sossusvlei, is an ideal jumping-off point. From there, heading to Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp as your second stop makes sense. Smith-approved Wilderness Hoanib Skeleton Coast is your basecamp for a day trip to the Atlantic shoreline (allow at least three nights here if this epic excursion is on your hit list). To experience a different side of Namibia, check out Wilderness Serra Cafema, in the remote Hartmann’s Valley of the north, which is home to the semi-nomadic Himba people. 

Local restaurants

All meals and snacks are included with your stay — whether back at the lodge for dinner or out in the bush for a mid-drive pitstop. 

Reviews

Photos Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this conservation-minded escape in the Kunene Region and developed their camera rolls, a full account of their one-of-a-kind break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp in Namibia…

Palmwag Concession is home to one of the last free-roaming populations of black rhino on the planet — and you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s this alone which makes Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp so special. This is a retreat where trad safari experiences (game drives, nature walks, leisurely bush dinners) are intertwined with conservation, bringing you up close with the work of the Save the Rhino Trust on guided rhino-tracking hikes. 

However, this deftly appointed safari escape has much more than elusive horned pachyderms to offer. The area’s rocky plains and sandstone cliffs are home to numerous bok, elephant and zebra, as well as abundant birdlife; and generous wet seasons transform the landscape into a riverine sanctuary. Perhaps you’ll spy wild neighbours at the water hole, overlooked by all six tricked-out suites. With 14 guests at most in camp, highly personalised service and an adventure shared are also on the cards.

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Price per night from $1,864.72

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