Namibia luxury travel guide

Vicki Brown, travel writer and editor at Responsible Travel: “Luxury lodges have got the perfect balance. You’ll get treated like royalty – but without any standing on ceremony. There are exquisite four or five course meals, but everyone’s sat around the table in walking boots with their hair full of dust. You’ll have a massive four-poster bed and the comfiest pillows you can imagine – but your cabin is open on three sides, and there are oryx walking in front of it. You’ll enjoy a delicious wine and chocolate pairing session, not with a suited sommelier, but with a guy in a khaki shirt who really knows his stuff, stood in a cool cellar beneath the desert.”

Luxury vacations in Namibia don’t just up the comfort stakes; they really push the boat out when it comes to responsible tourism, too. Tiny scale lodges blend in with the surrounding landscapes, with low guest numbers reducing the impact on the environment. Innovative techniques – such as building cabins on stilts so as not to disturb the flora and fauna of the dunes – all form part of the lodges’ stories. Just as importantly, local people are trained and employed by the lodges, which sometimes also donate to local schools or provide education for the staff’s children in remote areas. And guests are educated every step of the way about protecting these fragile ecosystems; from putting a bucket in the shower to catch water which can then be used to water plants or mop floors, to keeping to trails to avoid damaging lichen which takes decades to grow.

Activities, too, can have a hugely beneficial impact. Fees from tracking black rhinos are reinvested into protecting one of the world’s most threatened species; numbers here almost doubled from 2001-2012 thanks to super conservation efforts. The end of 2012 saw a sudden escalation in the rhino poaching crisis, however, so since that time, income from wildlife tourism has been even more vital to ensure round the clock patrols and the arrest of would be poachers. This income is also reinvested into local communities, which encourages them to protect their neighbouring wildlife and habitats. Namibia vacations also include visits to sanctuaries such as AfriCat, which shelters endangered cheetahs and leopards. Alternatively, you can join researchers and conservationists to learn about their work protecting Namibia’s wildlife.