Onguma Tented Camp

Game drives on the reserve depart at sunrise and before dusk. Onguma Nature Reserve covers 35,480 hectares of savannah, bushveld, and dry riverbed alongside Etosha National Park's eastern boundary, nine kilometres from the Namutoni gate. Four of the continent's five largest mammals — lion, leopard, elephant, and both black and white rhino — move through the concession. Guides lead two-and-a-half-hour circuits in open vehicles; walking safaris of similar duration track spoor and identify insects, birds, and small mammals on foot, with a minimum age of sixteen. The camp's seven tented suites face a waterhole. Each occupies its own platform with indoor and outdoor shower, oversized bath, and wood-fired hot tub. Air-conditioning cools the bed area. Stone, linen, and steel furnish interiors in grey, charcoal, white, and cream with accents of muted green, the palette drawn from a photograph of oryx on Fisher's Pan. A rim-flow pool overlooks the waterhole. The Onkolo photographic hide sits at water level. Bush breakfasts unfold at a site overlooking Fisher's Pan in the distance: fresh fruit, cereals, cold meats, and eggs cooked over an open fire. Dinner can be taken at the Boma or the Kraal, a thorn-branch enclosure with beanbags around the fire and lanterns overhead. More than three hundred bird species have been recorded on the reserve, including Namibia's largest breeding colony of white-backed vultures. The camp has a private airstrip. No children under twelve.