{"id":63781,"date":"2025-11-18T10:56:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T10:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outthere.travel\/?p=63781"},"modified":"2025-11-18T10:56:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T10:56:54","slug":"little-kulala-sossusvlei-namibia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outthere.travel\/little-kulala-sossusvlei-namibia\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Kulala
Sossusvlei, Namibia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An exclusive, front-row seat for the spectacular dunescape of Sossusvlei in the World Heritage Site Namib Sand Sea is a pretty winning USP. And the dreamy desert lodge<\/strong><\/a> that is Little Kulala takes care to gift-wrap it with the very best in luxurious lodgings, superb, sustainable cuisine and pulse-raising adventure activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How beautifully the writer Terry Pratchett described the descent of darkness in landscapes such as Sossusvlei\u2019s. \u2018Night poured over the desert\u2019, he wrote in his novel Jingo, and \u2018came suddenly, in purple\u2019. Sky-gazing from our rooftop beds at Little Kulala lodge, we witnessed this truth, as the day evaporated in an instant, as if splashed in a gazillion gallons of inky paint. In the same moment, the night shone with stars that \u2013 to quote Jingo again \u2013 \u2018drilled down out of the sky, reminding any thoughtful watcher that it is in the deserts and high places that religions are generated\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this metric, conservation tourism specialist Wilderness\u2019 Little Kulala could hardly be better placed to launch a spiritual movement. A tiny dot in the vastness of the Namib Desert, with views of the monumental saffron, turmeric and ginger dunes of Sossusvlei, it inspires zealotry, though for the miracles of nature rather than a deity. Punctuated by the sculptural skeletons of centuries-dead camel thorn trees, the landscape\u2019s colours melt and morph with the daily journey of the sun revealing intensities of reds, oranges and blues we had never seen. And from the comfort of our lodgings, we saw many of our desert-adapted neighbours \u2013 ostriches, springbok, oryx, black-backed jackals and Namibia<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s endemic dune lark. For more intrepid moments, electric fat-bikes, hot-air ballooning, quad bikes and guided hikes are among the options for exploring the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lodge is a gateway not only to this part of the 27,000-hectare Kulala Wilderness Reserve (an exclusive-use entrance gives guests direct Sossusvlei access that swerves the main, day-tripper way-in) but also to perfect peace. Fully solar-powered, its easeful accommodations \u2013 11 thatched villas, or kulalas<\/em> (meaning to sleep, in the Ovambo language), each with wraparound deck, open-air lounge area and small plunge pool\u2013 are decorated in earthy, desert hues that cocoon guests in calmness and serenity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equally impressive are the specially commissioned artworks found in both kulalas and throughout the property. When interior designer Cate Simpson took on the camp\u2019s extensive revamp in 2020, her vision was to reflect the \u2018haunting and ethereal\u2019 landscape in every detail, and this intent shines out in bespoke glass pieces, textiles, paintings and ceramics. \u201cThe artists capture the patterns of the dunes, the erosion lines of the desert ecosystem, the flora and the fauna\u201d, Cate says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Exterior<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sunrise<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Interiors<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Communal<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Fairy<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"An<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Perfect for<\/strong><\/td>Fly into<\/strong><\/td>Right on time<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
The Adventurer<\/td>WDH, then FYGK by light aircraft<\/td>GMT +2<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
While you’re Out There<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Get sands-on with the magnificent, wind-sculpted-for-five-million-years dunes of Sossusvlei. Climb them, sink into them and race down them. At 325m, Big Daddy is the tallest of the Sossusvlei dunes \u2013 ascending it is tougher than it looks, but the descent is pure joy. Leap, slide and fly your way down.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Her gorgeous design anchors the lodge with the large communal pavilion space, all curved walls and indoor-outdoor spaces beneath a cluster of cute, conical thatched roofs like wonky wizards\u2019 hats. This hub encompasses a luxurious lounge, dining space, multiple cosy seating nooks, a bijou spa, wine cellar, library and a boutique offering stylish safari essentials and craft goodies with a local flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cuisine at Little Kuala is itself a work of art, with every meal as much a joy to look at as to taste. Here, so far from anywhere anything can grow, the chefs create beautifully textured, varied and colourful menus using whatever arrives on the supply plane every few days. During our stay, this included grains, pulses, fruits, various meats including ostrich and venison, and vegetables. A mushroom and aubergine tagine would, we\u2019re sure, have had Ottolenghi asking for the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike on other safaris, the incentive to leave a cosy bed at Little Kulala is not the hope of seeing lions or leopards, cheetahs or elephants, but of witnessing the dunes\u2019 shifting sands as winds whip them into peaks or smooth their curves \u2013 and waiting for the optimal moment to climb them. Plodding upwards at a well-chosen moment, we left our footprints on Big Daddy\u2019s spine at the cost of much huffing and puffing. Our reward came at the top, when, gazing down on a landscape like no other \u2013 the clay pan of Deadvlei (which translates as \u2018dead marsh\u2019) \u2013 we peeled off hot, sweaty, sand-filled socks and leapt\/slid\/surfed back down through the mega-dune\u2019s silkily shifting sands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How delicious, then, that there\u2019s no need to break your connection with this spectacular environment, come nightfall, with anything so humdrum as a bedroom. Each kulala has one, of course, sumptuously appointed with a huge bed, generous seating area and floor-to-ceiling windows. But each also offers an alfresco, lantern-lit rooftop bed, where you can drift off beneath a zillion desert stars, beneath some of the darkest skies on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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www.wildernessdestinations.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography courtesy of Wilderness<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n