Damara Mopane Lodge near Khorixas, Namibia

By Roxanne Reid
Damaraland, part of the Kunene region of north-west Namibia, is a land of dry red stones and natural wonders. But the parched landscape can produce unexpected richness, as we discovered just east of Khorixas when we visited Damara Mopane Lodge.

​There’s a two-fisted magnetism to Damara Mopane Lodge. It’s in easy reach of numerous attractions such as Twyfelfontein’s large collection of Stone Age rock engravings, the 280 million-year-old trees of the Petrified Forest, and the eroded dolerite known as the Organ Pipes. But despite all these potential activities, there’s a calm tranquility to the lodge that I find seductive.

There are 55 rooms but it doesn’t seem overwhelming because they’re laid out in concentric semi-circles of interlinking pathways, with a large swimming pool at the centre. This, and the fact that each separate cottage has its own small walled garden, makes it seem more like an African village than the big lodge it really is.  

Separate cottages, each with its own walled garden

Since our first visit seven years ago, the cottages have been repainted from their once terracotta warmness to a cooler grey with accent colours of jazzy purple, lime green and turquoise appearing randomly on doors, gates and garden walls. There’s a lightheartedness about it all, a refusal to take itself too seriously.

Inside, each cottage revels in soothing shades of grey, with crisp white linen and navy throws on the beds. Our room had a huge artwork of a donkey on one wall that seemed to shout local colour, despite being in black and white. The aircon was a welcome friend on a hot day.

Our room was spacious and comfy

I’d forgotten how relaxing Damara Mopane Lodge is. The shady mopane and purple-pod cluster-leaf trees, the fragrance of citrus and herbs in the gardens, all combine to soothe and comfort, to creep deep into your bones. The staff are friendly and helpful too, adding to the character and mood of a lodge that will always have a special place in my heart.

Some of the friendly staff who made our stay special

But don’t get so chilled that you miss out on the things to do at the lodge or in the wider area. Here are some suggestions.


​Things to do at Damara Mopane Lodge

1. Watch the sun go down from the sunset deck

Colours begin to intensify after the sun has set

You have to experience the magic of one of Namibia’s matchless sunsets, so take a short walk in the late afternoon to a specially built sunset deck on a rocky koppie. From here you can look down at the camp although nowadays it’s mostly obscured by foliage from the trees that keep it cool and shady. Keep your eye on the small waterhole below you just to the right of the camp; in dry season you may spot kudu or other animals come to drink here. Order a drink and admire the scenery as you wait for daylight to fade to crayon colours of yellow, pink and orange as the sun hunkers on the horizon and then slips from sight. Don’t leave too quickly because the colours intensify as it gets darker. The sun will set on your right, and you can see Brandberg, Namibia’s highest mountain, on the horizon to your left.

2. Take a hike

The start of the Valley Walking Trail behind the cottages

There are two trails for walkers at Damara Mopane Lodge. One takes you to the top of the same rocky koppie where the sunset deck is. It’s steep and challenging in places, with a total vertical climb of 166m. The 2.4km mountain trail may take 2-3 hours to finish so don’t leave too late and find yourself having to descend in the dark. Take drinking water, sunscreen and a hat, especially in summer, and wear proper hiking boots. Follow the blue markers to the top, from where you’ll get views of mopane woodland and the unfolding Damaraland landscape. Trees you might spot along the way include moringa, large-leaved sterculia and candelabra euphorbia. Follow the red markers to come back down again.

If climbing a rocky koppie sounds like too much work, you may prefer to take the gentler 3.7km valley walk that starts behind cottage number 41. It’ll take you about 90 minutes to pass through a valley, small ravines and a mopane woodland. Look out for the gorgeous purple-pod cluster-leaf, trumpet thorns and shepherd trees along the way. If you’re quiet, you may even surprise a few animals like warthog, springbok or the tiny Damara dik-dik, Namibia’s smallest antelope. If you’re a keen birder, take your binos to watch Monteiro’s hornbill, cardinal woodpecker, several weaver species, sunbirds, babblers, robins and guinea fowl. You may also want to ask at reception about a guided bird walk as a chance to cash in on local knowledge of where to find the specials you’re looking for.

3. Explore the gardens
Wander along the stone paths around the lodge to enjoy the profusion of vegetable gardens in the small walled plots of each cottage. The first time we visited, I was so intrigued by them that I asked to meet head gardener Erro Pandeni-Ilonga.

Nervous at first, he relaxed once we started walking among the plants he’s obviously proud of. Everywhere was a profusion of lettuce, beetroot, carrot, brinjal, broccoli, cabbage, onions, leeks, sweet potato, kohlrabi, spinach, green pepper and tomato. ​

Erro Pandeni-Ilonga with one of his brinjals and a lemon tree

If I was thinking he’d run out of varieties to show me, I was wrong. There were fruit trees like lemon, avo, guava, banana, paw-paw, grapefruit and fig. Lemongrass, basil, coriander and parsley provided herbs for the kitchen, and there were vivid sunflowers, marigolds and zinnias just for fun and colour. Although they were out of season during our visit, Erro told me they also grow butternut, watermelon and spanspek. With this almost unbelievable variety I asked if there was anything he didn’t grow. ‘Well,’ he scratched his cheek with a sandy finger, ‘we’ve never tried potatoes – but maybe one day.’

Everything is fertilised organically with manure, some of it from a nearby goat farm. The water for the lodge comes from an underground borehole, and some of it is recycled for use in the gardens, supplemented by fresh borehole water as needed.

On our return seven years later, we sought out Erro again. He was as enthusiastic as ever, even showing us his nursery where he coaxes seeds into seedlings, repotting them till they’re big and strong enough to plant out in the gardens.

Vegetables grow under the watchful eye of a scarecrow

But some things had changed – mainly as a result of the pandemic and a flood of rain earlier in the year following multiple years of drought. Although the Gondwana Collection made no retrenchments during the toughest years of the pandemic, if staff resigned they weren’t replaced. So instead of the nine gardeners of pre-pandemic times, there were only four on our most recent visit, but they did have some students in to help while we were there. Erro also bemoaned the fact that the pandemic has meant he’s finding it hard to get seeds.

One negative effect of the heavy rains earlier this year was that it flooded the gardens for days at a stretch and killed off some of the veggies. Another is that there was an explosion in the population of red-billed queleas. Sweet little birds in small groups, they’re murder in their thousands. Erro said they came in such huge numbers that they broke sturdy tree branches and swamped paths and cottage roofs with their droppings.

But birds aren’t the worst of Erro’s troubles. Baboons ransack the gardens from time to time, especially during times of drought. Kudus used to as well but now there’s a fence along the back wall to keep them out. To compensate, Erro grows lucerne that’s cut and taken to the waterhole for the kudus when there’s little else for them to eat. Happily, the bumper rains of 2022 mean for now there’s enough food and water in the veld for all the animals.

4. Meet the scarecrows and scraptures

A scarecrow looks like a gardener

Scarecrow with Herero headdress

As you explore the gardens, you may find yourself being observed by a small army of scarecrows. Made from scraps of rusted metal and dressed with a jaunty flair, they do their best to guard all these riches from the birds. Look out among them for a few inventive scraptures made from bits and bobs like rusted metal wheel rims, bicycle chains, an exhaust box, spanner or garden fork, or whatever other junk the artist had to hand.

5. Cool off in the pool

In the evening the pool area is lit by green floodlights to guide you to the main building

On a hot day – and there are many of them here in Damaraland, even in winter – take a cooling dip in the large free-form pool that forms a centerpiece between the bar and the cottages. Relax on a lounger with a good book, order a cool drink from the bar and spend a quiet afternoon recharging your batteries.

6. Enjoy a gin and tonic in the bar

The vibey bar is surrounded by funky works of local art

Park yourself at the bar and order a drink. My tipple of choice on our most recent trip was wine or Desolate gin, a Namibian craft gin. Chat to the friendly staff, ask all your burning questions about Damaraland, and take in the funky local art that adorns the walls, a fun counterpoint to the scarecrows and scraptures in the gardens (see point 4).

7. Sit around the fire in the early evening

The fire circle with the dining terrace in the background

After a long and tiring day of activities, it’s a joy stare empty-headed into the log fire lit in a fire circle before dinner. Listen to stories from staff and other travellers, or listen for the African scops owl calling – prrt, prrt – every four seconds. I found my thoughts straying to dreams of restarting our own tiny veggie garden at home, snails be damned.

8. Enjoy the food
Dinner is served on the long verandah out front, where we could see palm trees silhouetted against the remnants of a hot orange sunset.

It was a thrill to know that the cauliflower, broccoli and carrots, the lettuce and tomato salad, the beetroot salad, the Kohlrabi in cheese sauce, had all come from the lodge’s own gardens, freshly picked that day. Starters (like calamari or sweetcorn cakes) were served at our table and we served ourselves from the buffet for our mains. Apart from the fresh salads and veggies, some of my favourite dishes included bobotie, chicken curry, and tagliatelle with tomato sauce. There were also venison steaks. Desserts were served at our table too, like date and brandy pudding with custard, or pannacotta.

Top tip: breakfasts are also a feast and I had one of my best ever omelettes here.

9. Indulge in some retail therapy

Part of the shop next to reception at Damara Mopane Lodge

Visit the bright and colourful shop next to reception to get a memento of your Namibian holiday. Choose from a selection that includes hats, leather shoes, T-shirts, scarves and jewellery to soft toys (I loved the elephants) and toiletries. The lodge supports local business and craftspeople so you can too.

10. Relax on your stoep
To really feel your muscles relax and your mind uncoil, sit on your private stoep in the cool of early morning with a cup of coffee or with a glass of wine in the late afternoon. Listen to the birds, the breeze rustling the leaves of the mopane and purple-pod cluster-leaf trees. Smell the scent of lemon verbena, coriander or citrus, depending on what’s planted in your own little patch of garden. It’s a moment simply to be calm and connect with the heart of this alluring lodge.


Further afield

​11. See Vingerklip Rock
Since the collapse of Mukorob in 1988, Vingerklip (Afrikaans for ‘finger rock’) is probably the most famous rock in Namibia. This sedimentary rock needle stands 35m tall. It’s only about 50km south-east of Damara Mopane Lodge, so it makes sense to visit and take some photos of this unique formation. Try to get views of it from different angles; from one specific viewpoint it looks as though it’s giving you the finger! Find the turnoff on the C39 about 30km east of the lodge.

12. Walk through the Petrified Forest

Fossilised tree trunk

If fossils fascinate you, stop at the Petrified Forest about 60km west of the lodge on the C39. (This is along the way to Twyfelfontein, see point 12, and the Organ Pipes, see point 13.) The trees were washed down from Central Africa in a flood 280 million years ago. Once they they came to rest, mud covered them and minerals like iron oxide, magnesium and silica turned them to stone. The site was discovered by locals in the 1940s after erosion exposed the fossilised trees. If you’re stretched for cash, you can do the 800m walk on your own. But we found the small fee for exploring with a local guide enhanced our experience and paid dividends by being hugely informative.

13. Don’t miss Twyfelfontein’s rock etchings

The lion man rock etching is the most famous at Twyfelfontein World Heritage Site

Twyfelfontein is about 120km south-west of Damara Mopane Lodge along the C39 and D2612, and well worth a visit on your way to or from the lodge. Discovered in 1921, the site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. It has one of the largest collections of Stone Age rock engravings in Africa – about 5000 individual depictions. Your entry fee includes the services of a local guide to take you around and explain their significance. (You may not walk around without a guide.) You’ll spot petroglyphs of animals like zebra, giraffe and rhino. There’s even a penguin and a seal, showing that the people who lived here must have travelled some 200km to the coast, probably in search of salt. Don’t miss the most famous etching known as the ‘lion man’. This lion with a very long tail and five fingers at its tip represents a shaman.

14. See the Organ Pipes

Eroded dolerite pillars at the Organ Pipes

The Organ Pipes are about 8km from Twyfelfontein. These dolerite pillars formed during volcanic activity 120 million years ago when the continent of Gondwana was breaking apart. Liquid lava intruded into slate and split the rock vertically to create straight, narrow pieces of rock that look just like organ pipes. From photos, I had imagined them to be much bigger than they are. They’re best viewed in the middle of the day when early morning or late afternoon shadows don’t ruin the effect.

15. Witness the effect of lava at Burnt Mountain
Even though Burnt Mountain is only about 1km from the Organ Pipes, if you’re pushed for time this would be the one site to miss. A national monument since 1956, it represents evidence of a 1000-degree volcanic reaction and an 80-million-year-old stream of lava that changed rocks into colours of black and purple. To me, though, it looks a bit like a tailing pile left over from mining activity. That said, it’s close enough to Twyfelfontein and the Organ Pipes to justify a quick look.

You may also enjoy
Reasons to visit the Twyfelfontein area
Highlights of Damaraland and Kaokoveld, Namibia
Palmwag campsite: an oasis in Kunene, Namibia

Like it? Pin this image!

Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za