Eagles rock Tours & Safaris has designed a new tour based on a current trend in travels called "Glamping". Below you will find the details for the tour:
But....what is Glamping?
"Spectacular, unspoilt nature meets modern luxury and comfort." This definition of glamping has established itself permanently in the World Wide Web for at least the last two decades.
Glamping is a portmanteau of the words "Glamour" and "Camping" and describes the ultimate outdoor experience, a combination of luxury and nature. It is luxury camping with amenities such as en suite bathrooms or tents, running cold and warm water, electricity, and luxurious furniture such as queen and king-size beds.
While in other parts of the world the use of wood cabins, igloos, treehouses, yurts, or tented cabins is regarded as glamping, in Africa, almost exclusively spacious en suite and fully furnished safari tents are used. An increasing number of travellers move from traditional camping to glamping, because they do not want to miss the luxury and comfort while discovering the remote, wild, and stunning nature off the beaten track.
However, the concept of glamping is not new. It was famous in the 16th and 17th centuries for the nobility. Kings travelled with their tents and court, Genghis Khan and his entourage lived in itinerant yurts. In turkey and Mongolia yurts are used to this day.
"In Scotland, John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Atholl, set up what could be called the UK's first luxury campsite for King James V and his mother in the Scottish Highlands, filling the interior of the tents with luxurious furniture and ornaments from his own palace.
From June 7 to 24, 1520, a diplomatic summit called the Field of the Cloth of Gold was held in Balinghem, France - a tournament designed to help forge a friendship between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France after the Anglo-French treaty of 1514. About 2,800 tents and marquees were set up, surrounded by fountains spouting red wine." (From: www.glampsource.com).
In the 1920s, the American and British high society went on hunting expeditions in African safari parks and did not want to miss the luxury from home. Mobile generators, folding baths, porcelain, silver cutlery, crystal goblets, and cases of champagne were the order of the day.
This tradition to put up luxurious tented camps - though not for hunting - has been revived in many of Africa's national parks, conservation, and game-rich wilderness areas, for the adventurous photographing traveller, who wants to experience remote, wild and still untouched nature without missing out on the amenities and modern comfort. In Botswana's wilderness areas such as the Okavango Delta, the Savuti and the Moremi Game Reserve, by law no permanent structures may be erected and as a consequence accommodation of all levels from budget to top luxury are tented camps of low environmental impact. Thus, in Botswana glamping has a long tradition.
In Namibia with its many diverse attractions, glamping is widespread and you will find luxury tented camps everywhere the discerning traveller wants to discover the great outdoors away from the bustle of civilisation and experience uncharted Africa at its best.
Amongst the many luxury-tented lodges available in Namibia, arguably the most iconic is Sonop Zannier in Namibia's Deep South on the edge of the Namib Desert. Its old world charm resembling the luxury of the tented camps of the 1920s is truly unique and offers its guest unrivalled comfort in close contact to nature.
Travelling further northwest, in the remote rugged desert region of Damaraland and its perennial Hoanib River, the Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp is one of the latest additions to glamping community in the country. The modern-styled tented camp boasts minimalistic features and all the amenities to guarantee the comfort that travellers can expect from five-star glamping. Activities during a two-day stay include elephant tracking excursions and a day drive into the Skeleton Coast Park. Services are fully inclusive.
An experience of its own kind is a stay at the Okahirongo River Camp in Namibia's remotest north-western corner of Kaokoland on the banks of the Kunene River, which forms the border to neighbouring Angola. At the River Camp travellers can experience the pure sound of nature: lose yourself in all the lights and shades that the sun draws over the mountains and let the Kunene River play the best music for deep meditation.
Travelling east to another remote corner of Namibia in the Zambezi Region lies Nambwa Lodge in the Bwabwata National Park on the banks of the Kwando River. Built on stilts with the lounge and dining area built on a wooden central platform and walkways amongst the trees to the tents, this lodge offers a truly five-star glamping experience with the tents luxuriously yet stylishly furnished and the public area a spacious affair. Activities are centred around game viewing in the park by vehicle and boat on the river. At the right time of the year, travellers will see hundreds of buffaloes and elephants, while these majestic animals are migrating from the delta in Botswana to western Angola and back. Leopard sightings are regular as are encounters with lions. With luck, travellers will even see the rare wild dogs as they migrate from central Botswana to the Zambezi region.
Further south in the country, in Bushmanland close to the border to Botswana, Nhoma Camp invites travellers to a unique cultural experience. The camp, supporting and living in symbiosis with the local Bushmen community, lets guests participate in the everyday life of the Ju//Hoansi Bushmen that live at Nhoma. Visitors go on a walking excursion in the Bush to learn about the fruits of the veld and medicinal plants, and in the afternoon participate in games and jewellery making. The evening is special as guests experience the healing dances. These have a lasting effect, and visitors will leave relaxed and cured of stress.
Characteristic to most tented lodges, camps and a glamping holiday in Namibia is the digital detox experience, if only for a few days, unless you decide to spend your entire vacation glamping. Because of their remote location, Wi-Fi in the camps is often not available, or only for a few hours during the day. The fascination of the carefully chosen location in untouched nature with its sights and sounds of pure nature lets you forget quickly there is a digitalised outside world waitinn hand with digital detoxing is stargazing.
NamibRand Nature Reserve with its Wolwedans Camps and lodges has been declared Namibia's first "Dark Sky Reserve". As International Dark-Sky Association’s Executive Director Bob Parks explains, “The night sky over the NamibRand Nature Reserve is exceptional, as are the efforts the reserve has taken in modifying its lighting for the sake of its wildlife and visitors.” What is gaining momentum is the "star-bed experience, i.e. sleeping under the stars with nothing but nature around you. Doro Nawas Camp offers this experience by rolling out your bed onto the veranda, and Wolwedans management announced they would roll out the starbed experience at their lodges soon.
However, glamping is not only about sightseeing, reconnecting with nature and wildlife encounters. Glamping is a culinary experience, too. Meticulously trained chefs in the camps and lodges will tickle your taste buds with their exquisite creations. Since fresh produce is difficult to source or keep, many of encouraged local communities nearby to start with vegetable gardens for the necessary kitchen supply, which guarantees the women in the villages a welcome additional income. Venison, a Namibian specialty, is often sourced from hunting farms and Namibia as a cattle, sheep, and goat breeding country has no shortage of beef lamb and mutton supplies.
No visit of Namibia is complete without the cultural component and meeting the local people. Since most of the glamping lodges and camps are located in so-called communal areas, they support the local communities by establishing social projects such as clinics, schools, and agricultural enterprises. Where peoples still live in their natural states such as the Himba or the San Bushmen, the camps have an agreement with the villages that they may be visited and guests have the opportunity to learn about their culture and traditions.
Glamping is a comprehensive experience. Not only does it take the traveller along roads less travelled. It widens horizons of perception, changes lives and enriches one's own. Glamping is the way to experience Namibia.