Outside it’s all Namibian desert – sand, wide blue skies, red dunes, black-backed jackals and springbok. Inside are Hollywood touches that would make Zsa Zsa Gabor or Marilyn Monroe feel at home. Think pink ostrich feather ‘trees’, pink neon lights in the bar, and rose quartz lamps. This is The Desert Grace, one of the most stylish Sossusvlei lodges. – Appreciate more details of this exquisite style here, while you have your pick at various activities to enjoy.
Rights to Gondwana Collection Namibia
So, what activities can one enjoy when staying at this stylish lodge in the Namib Desert?
- Enjoy an early morning walk before the heat of the day takes hold. Each trail is named after an endemic creature: the 3km Beetle walk after the flightless orange dung beetle, the 5km Gecko walk after one of my favourite little desert creatures, and the 7km Lark walk after the dune lark, which you’re sure to see on your walks around camp. This is a chance to slow down and see the tiny trails of beetles, birds and scorpions in the sand, leaving news from the previous afternoon and evening. You can do these walks at any time because they’re self-guided but for my taste early morning is best, when the air is still crisp. As writer Mary Davis said, ‘To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles.’
- Join a scorpion night walk after dinner with a guide like Likius Vaendwanawa. As with everything in nature, nothing is guaranteed but an ultraviolet light will help you notice the little creatures if they are around. You might be out for 30 minutes and see lots of them, or it might take you 90 minutes to find one.
- Go on a guided half-day visit to Sossusvlei, taking in famous dunes like Dune 45 and Big Daddy, the white clay pans and dead camel thorn trees of Dead Vlei and Hidden Vlei. This is a bucket list tick in southern Namibia, so if you haven’t been before it’s a must. These dunes in the Namib-Naukluft Park are part of the amazing Namib Sand Sea, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Covering more than 30 000 square kilometres, this is the world’s only coastal desert with widespread dune fields where fog is the main source of water. Here, amazing little plants and animals have adapted to live in the hyper-arid environment.
You can delight in so much more when visiting at The Desert Grace, plus it is within close proximity to Namib Desert Lodge, Desert Whisper, Namib Dune Star Camp and Namib Desert Camping2Go. So, what are you waiting for?
Writer: Roxanne Reid is a freelance writer, photojournalist, blogger, editor and proofreader. As a travel writer, she has walked through the Kalahari with a San tracker, camped under the stars in the bare stillness of the Richtersveld, and drove along the Roof of Africa in the high mountains of Lesotho. She also enjoyed breakfast in the Okavango Delta with a herd of elephants, walked among the wild horses of the Namib Desert and felt the spray of the Victoria Falls on her face. Please do enjoy her complete blog by clicking here: The Desert Grace.
What are some other things you can delight in when visiting The Desert Grace? Share some of your favourite experiences in the comment section below.
