Kwessi Dunes is open all year round. The hyper-arid desert terrain is amazing in all seasons (and the air-conditioned rooms will always keep you cool!), but the winter and summer months offer different experiences in terms of activities and weather.

April to October is Namibia’s dry, winter season. Temperatures are pleasant during the day but it can get cold in the early mornings and evenings – nothing a good jumper and jacket can’t handle, however! This is the time of year to witness the desert in its iconic, dry state and capture the now-famous photos of the inky trees silhouetted against the blood-red dunes and the grey mountains shimmering in the background.

In November, the temperatures start to heat up and at the beginning of the year in particular, you can witness incredible thunder and lightning storms made even more dramatic by the striking terrain. This is an excellent time of year to spot some of the migratory birds that arrive in the desert.

Seasonality

• Green season: 10 January – 31 March
• Shoulder season: 01 April – 30 June; 01 November – 19 December
• High season: 01 July – 31 July; 01 September – 30 September; 20 December – 09 January
• Peak season: 01 August – 31 August; 01 October – 31 October

• Morning and afternoon scenic drives in the striking NamibRand Nature Reserve
• Nature walks
• Skybeds experience and star gazing
• Quad biking
• Day trips to the dunes of Sossusvlei (at an extra cost)
• Hot air ballooning (at an extra cost)
• Horse riding (at an extra cost)
• Scenic helicopter flights (at an extra cost)
• Spa treatments (at an extra cost)

Landscape

At more than 200,000 hectares in size, the NamibRand Nature Reserve is one of the largest private reserves in southern Africa. It was established in the 1980s when Albi Bruckner integrated several livestock farms into a protected wilderness area and today it’s a model of conservation success. There are strict rules about the number of lodges built in the area (and even stricter rules about the number of rooms each one may have), making it a totally private and entirely exclusive adventure.

Photographs may show the craggy, mauve mountains of the NamibRand, the infamous red dunes and the enormous swathes of desert, but nothing prepares for you the moment you see it for yourself. The space is humbling, the sense of peace is spiritual and it’s one of the most striking, stirring places out there. The fairy circles that dot the ground are particularly intriguing. Over the years, the theories behind them have been hotly debated (they are a result of poisonous fungi, termites, or even meteor showers), however no one really knows for certain why they are here. Just another reason to visit this extraordinary place.

Wildlife

You might not find the Big Five wandering around the harsh desert of the NamibRand, but the dunes are home to a variety of wildlife that has adapted in many fascinating ways in order to survive. Take, for example, the gemsbok with their white bellies that reflect the heat of the sand and their sophisticated vascular system that cools the blood around the brain. Or the bat-eared fox – those giant ears aren’t just for comic value but help to amplify the sound of their predators approaching.

What you’ll undoubtedly see most of are antelope. From gemsbok to springbok, kudu to steenbok, they can be found in most corners of the reserve, silhouetted against the red sand. You may also spot Burchell’s zebra amid the dunes as well as the more unusual black-backed jackals, aardwolves and African wild cats, which can be surprisingly easy to find compared to other reserves on the continent. Leopard and cheetah are rare but there are small numbers of both.

As our portfolio of camps develops in new areas, we will be forming partnerships with different conservation programmes and projects. We ensure that 1.5% of your stay in our lodges goes to wildlife conservation and the projects we support – in our first year of operation, we are delighted to say that this amounted to over 40% of our total profit! We are proud to be part of Africa’s conservation solution and believe that by simply visiting a wildlife area, travellers are encouraging its continued protection through tourism revenue, particularly in places like the NamibRand Reserve.