Sensitive tourism, environmentally compatible travel, and a source of income for
the country and its people: This is the philosophy behind Wilderness Safaris. The
Safaris use camps and lodges in areas that are truly untouched. The further away
from civilisation, the better, in fact. Lloyd Camp, of Wilderness Safaris, says
he wants his guests to experience these little glimpses of paradise, but without
their presence in any way spoiling or harming the safari areas: "We do not want
to own the places. Quite frequently we lease the projects from the local populace,
from private individuals or even the administrating national park agencies. We
behave as a temporary operator, who, when we leave the area, will leave just the
way we found it, or, hopefully, in an even better natural state." Wilderness
Safaris have a number of lodges in Namibia, three of which are in Etosha National
Park.
Ongava Tented Camp
The ongava is the legendary African black rhinoceros. A fitting name for this
safari camp, as it lies right in the middle of the 30.000 hectare Ongava Private
Game Reserve, where white, or broad-lipped, rhinos live alongside the ongava.
The black rhinos are not quite as big as their white relatives, but they are
extremely agile, ready to charge in a flash should someone get a little too close
for comfort.
Rooms/Accommodation:
The Ongava Tented Camp is located in the centre of Etosha National Park. The camp
itself is small and traditional. Guests are housed in comfortable merus, with
en-suite bathrooms and outdoor showers.
All of the guests enjoy their meals in the open dining lounge, which is shaded by
a thatched roof. The lounge offers a splendid view of the watering hole where
animals gather to drink. There is a small swimming pool in which guests can swim
and refresh themselves.
Activities:
There are wildlife tours in open all-terrain vehicles that explore the Etosha's
Okaukuejo territory from the camp. The many watering holes in the park attract
a variety of lions, elephants, cheetahs, chamois bucks, springbocks and kama.
There are also special concealed lookouts at the watering holes so that visitors
can get an even closer view of the wildlife.
Late-sleepers, though, beware. The wake-up call for the Early Morning Game Drive
comes before dawn, and departure from the camps is at first light since that is
when the animals are most active. In bush country, everything tends to hide
during the main part of the day to escape the heat.
