By Ginny Cumming
The night I slept under the stars in Namibia was magic!
When I was told I’d be sleeping under the stars at Onduli Ridge in Namibia, I assumed it would be a camping affair, with me in a sleeping bag in a beautifully remote location somewhere.
Well, I got the beautifully remote location part right, but that was about it.
Because at Onduli Ridge when they say you’ll be sleeping under the stars, they mean in one of their star beds.
What to expect sleeping under the stars
Literally speaking, the star bed is the king-size bed in your room – the one you’ll be sleeping in every night during your stay at this luxe and lovely property in Damaraland. The one cooled by its own air conditioning system. The one draped in mosquito nets. The one that’s on wheels.
A vast private deck encompasses each of the six spacious suites at Onduli Ridge, and when you put your hand up for a star bed experience, the brilliant staff have a few more things to do during the evening turn down.
How it’s set up
They roll your bed out onto the deck, along with bedside tables laden with water and insect repellent (just in case). Then they plump the pillows, top the bed with the softest, warmest blankets imaginable, pop a “bush baby” (aka hot water bottle) under the covers, and leave you to a night under star-studded skies.
After a thrilling game drive during the day, followed by dinner in Onduli Ridge’s intimate dining room – or maybe a braai or designer pizza in the outdoor boma – this is the perfect way to end a perfect day.
Sleeping under the stars top tips
A word to the wise: try to arrange an early dinner (or in room dining) so you can be in your room while the sun starts to set. You’ll gaze out across empty plains to an endless horizon, and marvel as the enormous granite boulders that embrace your luxury suite glow red and then gold, before becoming silhouettes against the darkening sky now dotted with a billion stars.
And before you ask (because everyone does), yes it’s totally private and secluded, no there were no mozzies (or any other bugs or moths for that matter), and no there are no scary predators in the area on the hunt for a midnight feast.
After deep conversations about our place in the cosmos, we eventually drifted off into equally deep sleeps. I did wake briefly in the early hours, to a still-toasty bed, the Milky Way stretching above me in a kind of mesmerising galactic artwork… and utter silence. In one of the least-populated regions of the second least-populated country on Earth, I felt like the only person on the planet. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.
We were at Onduli Ridge for two unforgettable nights – and you better believe we did the star bed experience on both nights.
Just be warned: you might find it a little difficult to get some shut-eye. Who wants to close their eyes when the view is this stellar (pun intended)?
Picture: Danica refusing to leave the sleep out bed on check out day! Look at that horizon.
