Wilderness Namibia camp newsletters – April/May 2025

Weather and landscapes of the Namib

We have had glorious weather here in Damaraland, with temperatures ranging between 16° Celsius in the mornings to 26° C at night. 

Our guides have remarked on how the record rainfall has brought the desert to life, with carpets of flowers and grass springing up all over, with the birds and insects taking full advantage. The landscapes are looking just absolutely amazing.

Wildlife seen in Damaraland

As usual, the desert-adapted elephants have been enjoying the water pools in the river beds, and giraffe were seen roaming the water courses and new streams, attracted by the natural springs in the vicinity. We have also noted a lot of new life after the rains with a lot of baby ostriches having appeared, while the guinea fowls around camp have had chicks too. It’s all quite wonderful.

Damaraland Camp activities

The flora and fauna are the talk of the season, thanks to the welcome rains. Naturally, this beauty has added greatly to our sundowners, bush breakfasts and river lunches. Our guides are so happy to be able to share their beautiful sightings with guests, as around every corner they are seeing new thrills – from horned adders to baby springboks. 

Irruption of chestnut weavers in Damaraland

A fascinating phenomenon brought on by the rains has been the arrival of otherwise nomadic chestnut weavers. While recorded in our areas, the precipitation has encouraged their reappearance now. 

“[This is a] large, heavy-billed weaver with breeding males sporting striking plumage colouration: chestnut with a black head. Non-breeding males and females are plain greyish-brown with buff a buff breast. Highly nomadic dry savannah species which can appear in large numbers after rains and begin nesting in large colonies”. From eBird.org. 

From the Sasol eBirds app: “Entered and bred in Southern Africa for the first time in the summer of 2010/11 following heavy La Niña associated rains. Breeds in large multiple-male colonies in trees”.

Guest comments

• Attention to client, the bungalows, but road maintenance needed.
• The staff in camp have been fantastic and great service, would recommend people to camp for friendliness. 
• Everything! Staff, camp, food were top class.

Welcome to new staff

We are pleased to welcome Lukas Tjipandhi, who joins Team DMC from Kulala Desert Lodge, replacing Joas Kandjou. We are looking forward to learning from him, and exchanging industry knowledge. We are also delighted to welcome Chef Sophia Nangombe who replaces Ashley. We wish them both a happy and prosperous time at Damaraland Camp.

Staff in camp

Collin Ananias Netope – General Manager; Monika Edward – Assistant GM; Andreas Hidishange – F&B Manager; Sem Alweendo – Mechanic; Mr Pinehas – Head Chef, Sophia Nangombe, veterans Josephine & Emelia – Kitchen; Hansina-Anna, Annalise, Virginia, Martha, Elizabeth & Riana – Housekeeping
Our Guiding Team: Enos, Brian, Nicky & Lukas. 
Front Of House: Donavan, Emmy, Leonie, Roux-Che, Dios & Cassius (casual)
Men in Overalls: Oupa Wellem, Ricardo Williams & Winstone (casual) – Team no Sleep
Hygiene Team:  Aron, Nicolene & Lucrisia
Applause to George Muvuma for being a solid Relief Manager.

We are looking forward to our peak season and stand for what we call “delivering our best service, focus and commitment”. We strive for growth!

Words by Monika Edward
Newsletter compiled by Brian Kahengombe
All images by Brian Kahengombe

Doro Nawas weather in April-May

The weather tended towards hot and humid all month, with maximum temperatures reaching around 30° - 35° Celsius. Our morning skies were usually covered with a blanket of clouds.

 
The rain came in torrential downpours in the afternoons, but not every day. 

The atmospheric changes, which included varying levels of barometric pressure, often led to persistent gusts of wind, especially around midday.

Landscapes of Doro Nawas

The rains have brought very good vegetation and potential grazing for the wildlife. There is still water everywhere after the rains, which meant that the animals were more scarce. 

Wildlife and Birds 

Huntsman spiders and centipede were seen taking refuge from the rains in the staff rooms.

Springbok, ostriches, black-backed jackals were notable sightings from our nature drives, while around camp and along the road we had evidence of the elephants pulling out water-pipes.

With the rains, the elephants have mostly moved out of the area onto the nearby farms at Khorixas. This meant long drives to track and find them. 

Community, Culture and Conservation 

We are now purchasing our eggs from the De Riet poultry project that was started recently. 

Guest activities 

We set up a beautiful birthday celebration for guest Elizabeth’s 80th, with stunning 360-degree views to what feels like the ends of the Earth. 

Given the extraordinary views from our rooftop, we often receive requests for special set-ups here, and this month we created a spectacular dinner for a party of 11. 

Staff news

The staff village restrooms are being revamped.

We are happily keeping our eye on Sylvester Cloete, who is a new emerging guide showing great promise. 

Guest comments

• Hospitality, cultural experience, maximum comfort at the lodge, but also common areas. You are really ready to create the best experiences for your guest. 
• Attention to detail, cleanliness, service. Extra congrats to Fritz for impressive food selection, quality & variety of offering! 
• Rescue, help, kindness. Food, especially breakfast.
• Very kind, extremely helpful, flexible about late arrival time. 

Hoanib River weather conditions

Wilderness Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp has had no rain recently, and a hot easterly wind brought maximum temperatures of up to 42° Celsius, though in the evenings it dropped to around 18° C.  

The landscapes of the Hoanib in autumn

The usual welwitschia is dotted across the landscape, which is dry, though we are seeing a lot of Namib star bush in flower around the camp and area at the moment. This bush (Calicorema capitata) gets its name from its flowers’ star-shaped pink petals. It is a favourite food for the oryx and springbok in the area.

Wildlife sightings around Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp

XPL-109, Bravo – one of the Desert Lion Conservation-monitored lionesses from the Skeleton Coast area – has given birth to two healthy male cubs. This is a promising new chapter for the Coastal Pride! 

In other lion news, Bravo’s sister Charlie was also seen from nature drives, as was Opi, a male lion. 

Other great sightings during the month included the daily entertainment of the baboons taking a bath in our camp waterhole. Oliver is a bull elephant that also visited the camp waterhole to drink. Apart from the baboons and Oliver, the camp waterhole has been very quiet because the Hoanib River still has some water.  

Out on nature drives, our guests saw oryx, giraffes, springbok, seals, and a variety of birds. One morning our guests saw a caracal, which was so amazing given these animals’ elusive nature!

Camp activities

“One of the best camps we have stayed in so far, and not to mention the food. It was certainly the best of all the other camps”. This comment put a smile on all the staffs’ faces, and definitely motivated our chefs. 

The trip to Möwe Bay is always special, and our guests cannot stop talking about the paella that we serve on the beach for lunch as part of the outing.

Traditional braai night on the evenings when the weather permits is also always a HIT!

Our FOH Supervisor Brighton Limbo held a wine tasting for a group of eight guests, who were absolutely amazed at the quality and variety of wines we have available in such a remote area. 

Guest comments  

Food was amazing! Bernard, Max was smart and very thoughtful. McDonald always served us with the best attitude. Room cleanliness was excellent. 

Best lodge I have stayed in so far in the collection, will definitely return. Exceptional guides and staff. 

All of you so friendly! The room was very tidy beautiful and comfortable and the food excellent. Nothing could be done better. Everything was really awesome. 

Staff News 

We welcomed Evaltine Tjipombo as a Housekeeper from Doro Nawas – she is so excited to part of our Hoanib team!

Management in Camp: Jonathan, Hilde and Bradwin
Newsletter by Jonathan Strauss

Autumn weather on the Kulala Wilderness Reserve

Our rainy season is over, but the reserve is looking beautiful and green after the record rainfall of the past while. 

Now that winter is just around the corner, the evenings and early mornings are actually quite cold. 

Kulala landscapes and wildlife

Thanks to the rains, the concession is covered in beautiful flowers, and we are also seeing a lot of zebras, oryx and springboks closer to Little Kulala. 

While snakes are not for everyone, a group of guests had the rare opportunity of seeing a Cape cobra raiding a huge sociable weavers’ nest. 

Camp news

Christine and Michelle came in from Windhoek to add some décor touches to the main area and rooms, and the camp is looking lovey and fresh. 

Our staff were thrilled to each receiving a cake all the way from Italy, sent by our Gnutti guests who had stayed at Little Kulala in August last year. 

This is the season for sunsets, and we created beautiful sundowner set-ups at the Uitkyk (view). 

Guest comments 

The service was extraordinary and you looked after us so nicely. You did great! Well, done!  

Everything, everyone was incredibly warm and welcoming, even remembered our names. Every need was prepared for and attended to, everyone always had a smile and was easy to talk and lough with. 

 
All staff are really attentive and caring. 

Newsletter by James Muzamai, Little Kulala Manager