Sossus Oasis Camp Site

The stay

At the gate, with everything you need

Sossus Oasis sits at the Sesriem entrance itself. You do not get the pre-dawn head start that guests sleeping inside the park have, but you are the first vehicle at the gate rather than one that has driven an hour in the dark to get there.

What makes it unusual is everything else on the property. A fuel station, a tyre repair service and a properly stocked shop selling fresh bread, ice, firewood, groceries and toiletries. After days on gravel with the nearest supermarket hundreds of kilometres away, that combination is worth more than it sounds.

The camping itself comes in two shapes. Twelve individual sites laid out in a semi-circle around the swimming pool, each with its own private bathroom; and five large group sites under the camel thorn trees for parties of ten to thirty. Both need you to bring your own tent and gear.

What to do

Why stay at Sossus Oasis?

This is the closest camping to the park gate without being inside it. You still wait for the outer gate to open at sunrise, but you wait at the front rather than arriving after an hour on gravel in the dark, and that is worth a good deal on the morning you want the dunes.

If the pre-dawn hour matters more than anything, the campsites inside the park are Sesriem Campsite and Sesriem Oshana. There are not many sites between them, so tell us early and we will say honestly what is still open.

The second reason to be here is the services. Fuel, tyre repair, ice, firewood, fresh bread and a real grocery shop, all on the property. Namibia is hard on tyres and long on distances between shops, and plenty of people book this place for one night purely to restock and get a wheel sorted before carrying on.

The Adventure Centre at Sossusvlei Lodge is next door, which is where the guided excursions, balloon flights and quad rides are booked, and its restaurant is where to go when you have had enough of your own cooking.

Before you book

• Bring your own tent and camping kit — sites are serviced, not set up
• Individual sites have private ablutions; group sites share
• Individual sites take up to six people, group sites about ten to thirty
• There is no restaurant on site; the nearest is at Sossusvlei Lodge next door
• Park entry fees are payable separately at the MEFT office at the gate
• Firewood, ice, fresh bread and groceries are sold at the shop

Activities

• Guided excursions to Sossusvlei and Deadvlei
• Elim Dune walks
• Sundowner drives
• Quad bike drives
• Hot air balloon safaris
• Scenic fixed-wing and helicopter flights
• Swimming pool, braai and picnic area at the camp

Things to see

• Sossusvlei, Deadvlei and Hidden Vlei
• Dune 45, Big Daddy, Big Momma and Elim Dune
• Sesriem Canyon
• The fairy circles

Facilities

• Swimming pool
• Fuel station
• Tyre repair service
• Convenience and grocery store, with fresh bread, ice and firewood
• Internet café at the service station
• Mobile signal
• Restaurant and Adventure Centre next door at Sossusvlei Lodge

Getting there

• At the Sesriem entrance to the Namib-Naukluft Park
• 60 km from the gate to Sossusvlei, on tar most of the way
• The last stop for fuel before you drive into the park