Etendeka Mountain Camp

Simple, fresh and wholesome meals are prepared using solar power or on fires and are served communally in the open-sided central dining area, furnished with a long table, directors' chairs and an overhead fan. The seating area is huge, with stone walls, an open bar and strategically placed seating areas facing the views.

Stay in one of 10 meru-style tents, which are reached from the dining tent via pathways. They're all equipped simply but very comfortably, with en-suite bathrooms (flush toilets, hot and cold running water) and outside bucket showers that work far more efficiently than you may think. Outside is a shaded veranda with chairs in which to settle with a drink and watch the passing wildlife cavalcade, or view the stars.

What a wonderful experience. The accommodation was spartan but very comfortable; it was good to be able to get out of our safari vehicle and explore on foot; dining was family style and good; and the crystal desert was a first for us all. Watch the mesas closely. You may be lucky enough to see elephants clambering to the summit. We had no idea that elephants could climb.