Naukluft Campsite - NWR — Hotel in Hardap

Whenever I stay at an NWR campsite I am not only disappointed but angered that NWR has such beautiful areas under their control and then runs them so badly. Naukluft is a beautiful place but the campsite is a disaster. They have been closed to the public for the last few months and one would have thought that this would have been a good time to do maintenance. Not so. The roads are a mess, the paths are almost impassable. The generator at the office is broken and nothing else works. There is not enough hot water for the campers at the campsite so if you do not get to the showers before 5 then it is a cold shower. Some of the lights work and only until the little supermarket solar system gives in. Not one shower or toilet door locks, no toilet paper, no fire wood for sale, no wifi, no card facilities and the list goes on. The campsites are very basic with no power and very close to one another. We booked for two nights but one was enough and we went home. Namibia has more than enough very beautiful camp sites to not have to endure the poorly run and overbooked NWR sites.||My advice is to stay at one of the privately owned campsites near to Naukluft and go in as a day visitor.||The one star that I awarded the campsite was for the beauty of the area and the one member of the NWR staff trying to make a...

Nice little place where you can stretch your legs with some hiking. We did both the Waterkloof trail and the Olive trail.

We liked them equally, but we really enjoyed getting our feet wet in the pools at the end of the Waterkloof trail. On the map you get at the reception, it marks another pool, but that one did not look very inviting. Just walk a little further to find this wonderful pool in a narrow gorge. There are also pools at the start (45min. walk) with text marked on a rock saying "pool". We found leopard tracks troughout this hike and even smelled the urine of one at some point. We did not spot any leopard, but we're sure one spotted us...

The Olive trail is shorter and has some beautiful paths through a gorge. The part with chains is exciting, but not for everyone. Don't go there if you are afraid of a bit of climbing.

The camping spots were very small. We took spot 10, which we found the most remote one. The toilets and showers were surpringly decent.

We had no trouble with baboons, apart from discovering that they searched our garbage when we returned from hiking.

The staff was very friendly. We enjoyed some beer and wine at the restaurant after our hike, and were surprised that we were the only...

We stayed 2 nights in one of the chalets. It was cosy and comfortable. No pressure and difficult to have hot water in the shower, but it is not a big deal since you are in an amazing park. We chose the chalets instead of the campsite as we read that people had left their car unlocked and the baboons have taken all their food. We saw some baboons near the chalet, you need to lock the door but other than that, they stay away. We had lunch, dinner and breakfasts in the restaurant and it was delicious. The staff was really friendly and nice. We did the Olive trail starting at 8am - 10km and it took us 5 hours with lots of stops to admire the stunning rocks and the canyon. There is a crazy part of the trail where you need to use anchored chains to cross a canyon above a pool - not for those with vertigo or the faint-hearted. The Naukluft mountains are simply stunning. We saw oryxes, zebras and elands...