Cleverly designed and beautifully situated, the private suites and villas you’ll stay in on this luxury family safari to Namibia and South Africa will give you the space and exclusivity your family needs to enjoy Sossusvlei, the Garden Route and Cape Town in your own way, and at your own pace.
Four nights at Private Camp
My partner joked that Private Camp does exactly what it says on the tin. We were delighted to have discovered our very own family hideaway set deep in a valley in Namibia’s NamibRand Nature Reserve and, to enhance the wonderful sense of solitude created by the almost lunar landscapes, we’d booked private activities so that it would be just the four of us and our guide. After a family dinner, we spent our first evening in raptures, gazing up at the Milky Way, watching shooting stars, and treading gingerly on a scorpion safari. Who knew that they glowed under UV light?
The next morning, we focused on just the one star, waking early to watch the sun rise, its rays chasing the shadows across the valley floor. The air was delightfully fresh, and while three of us clutched steaming mugs of hot chocolate, our eldest clicked away softly with her birthday camera. She’d already developed a real knack for photography, but as she explained, having time to compose her shots, and such inspiring scenery to capture, meant that she could hardly go wrong. As the first sunbeam reached us, we agreed that a lazy morning was in order, and had breakfast on the rocks.
As if the views from Private Camp were not spectacular enough, my partner had secretly booked a hot-air balloon flight over the NamibRand Nature Reserve for us. My vertigo disappeared as nervousness was replaced by a sense of wonder. Knowing that the golden plains and rugged rocks beneath had been virtually unchanged for millennia reminded us that our time on earth in comparison, and that family moments like this were the very best way to spend it. Surrendering to gravity to enjoy a Champagne breakfast, we yielded to entreaties to share our bubbly with the girls.
Our youngest daughter has always enjoyed horse riding, and the rest of us needed little persuasion to take a canter through the flaxen fields of the valley on our fourth day. It was another perfect experience that we didn’t want to end, so we pulled gently on the reins to slow our mounts and try and stretch out each precious minute.
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PHOTOGRAPHY: NAMIB SKY BALLOON SAFARIS, SHUTTERSTOCK
by Nick Galpine
desert & sea
adventure