Zannier Sonop

Zannier Sonop stands on granite boulders in the remote Hardap region of southern Namibia, on the edge of the NamibRand Nature Reserve, one of the largest private conservation areas in southern Africa, within 13,800 acres of its own desert. The lodge is conceived as a 1920s safari camp: tented suites of one or two bedrooms with roll-up canvas, explorer-style lounges, vintage bathtubs in part-walled bathrooms and private terraces facing the plains and dunes. Evenings keep to old-world form, with five-course dinners served by butlers at communal tables, private suppers by lantern light on a dune, and a cocktail and cigar lounge with billiards and parlour games. Days bring riding from the lodge's own stables, electric fat bikes, guided walks, sunrise and sunset drives and hot air balloon flights; after dark there is an open-air cinema and a telescope on the fire-pit terrace. The spa, in a traditional hut, draws on Namibian healing traditions beside a heated infinity pool. The lodge has its own airstrip and holds Green Globe certification. Children under six are not accepted, and soft luggage is needed for the light aircraft.