Accommodations
The Dunes Lodge consists of nine beautifully outfitted chalets on stilts, all with en suite bathrooms.  The lodge itself has a two dining rooms, a vast wine cellar, swimming pool, library, tea room, and a "sundowner deck," presumably for watching sunsets.  The website recommends sleeping with the canvas panels of your room up, to enjoy the evening and stars.

The Mountain View Suite is walking distance to the Dunes Lodge, an oversize private complex with 360-degree views of the desert, full kitchen, fireplace, leather chairs, wrap-around deck, "shade patio," and a star-gazing deck.

The Dune Camp is great for groups. It has private canvas tents, a shared deck and something called a "lapa" where a chef prepares communal meals in an open-air kitchen, all perched above the desert floor.

Boulders Camp is the latest addition to Wolwedans.  45 kilometers south of the main complexes, three cabins sit just at the rim of an outcrop of colossal boulders.  This is the most private of the lodges, and you can hire a guide to take you along the ancient paths of desert bushmen.

Finally, there's the private camp.  Throw open the louvre doors and wander about this immense cabin's full kitchen, dining area, study, living room, and central lounge. It's just you in your fully appointed luxury cabin, looking out over mile after mile of scenic desert.  Tough. Really tough.

Getting There
So how the heck do you get there? Take the Wolwedans "Desert Runner" van through the vast desert spaces, or hire their Cessna 210 "Dune Hopper," that flies to the camp daily from the capital of Windhoek, or Swakopmund, on the Atlantic.

Better yet, fly your own plane into their airstrip (the Camp website provides coordinates).  If that's not enough flying for you, camp management can arrange an airtour for you, taking you over ghost towns, shipwrecks, or the Diamond Coast of Namibia.

Animal Friendly
Since the camps are erected in a nature preserve, long-time owner Stephan Bruckner stresses that the lodges can be dismantled easily; in as little as six months, nature will take its course and leaving no human footprint behind.

Hotel Info
Rack rates at the Dunes Lodge start at around $426 but check out their website for package deals, corresponding longitudes and latitudes of the various campsites, and gorgeous pictures of the lodges and the surrounding red ranges and desert dunes.

An interesting take on the hotel-as-camp are their proposed Sleep-outs, a luxury raised bed (with lanterns), just you snuggled beneath your duvet under the stars, just out of reach of all those furry, slithery noctural desert animals. Sigh. You can't get that in Perth Amboy!

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