Onguma The Fort is one of several private luxury camps by the gates of Etosha National Park. It is a paradisical lodging for safari lovers. It gets its “Fort” name because the buildings are modelled after a Moroccan fort – including the suites decorated with four-poster beds.
Onguma The Fort – the accommodations
The Fort is located at the eastern entrance gate of Etosha National Park within sight of the “Von Lindequist Gate”.
This is as close as you can get to the Park, unless you stay in one of the government-owned, more basic camps inside the park.
These accommodations are a cut above the other lodges and camps around Etosha National Park. That makes it an interesting experience all its own.
But then there is also the fact that guests seeking peace and quiet really can’t go wrong here.
So much for the main building with lounge and restaurant terrace.
Now, on to the rooms and suites.
And to top it all, they put us up in the fantastic Honeymoon Suite!
From the main building, they will drive you to the detached suites in an open golf cart.
Being new here, we are not sure if lions and other predators really respect golf carts. So, we prefer the short drive in our closed SUV. Better safe than sorry.
Conveniently, we can park right in front of our suite.
Lest anyone should think that I’m exaggerating: Here a lioness visits the waterhole at night – note the lack of fence or any kind of barrier between the waterhole and suites…
Camp as a base for safaris in Etosha National Park
Onguma The Fort and the four other Onguma Camps – Tree Top, Tented Camp, Bush Camp, and Etosha Aoba – are located near the “Von Lindequist Gate”, one of the four entrance gates to Etosha National Park.
However, we don’t see all that many animals during our stay here, either in Onguma’s own game reserve or in Etosha.
But hey, we can’t complain. Because the day before we did a self-drive safari: That’s when Etosha Nationalpark (Link to Katja’s Etosha travel pointers) showed us its wild side!
Getting there from Etosha or from Windhoek
Our recommended hotel stays vary depending on the direction of travel: you can do a Namibia round trip from Windhoek either clockwise or counterclockwise.
If you are approaching Etosha from Windhoek in a counterclockwise direction, then Onguma The Fort provides a welcome stop after the long drive. It takes a little over 5 hours on well-paved roads to reach it.
The next day you will definitely want to do a safari in the adjacent Etosha National Park.
And that’s a good thing.
However, for those who are coming from the west clockwise after already passing through Etosha National Park, it really pays to just put your feet at the Fort and do NOTHING.
Except to enjoy the suite and watch the occasional lionesses, wildebeest, or kudus from the sun terrace!
In our case, because we had seen so many animals during the full-day crossing of the park, the guided safari excursions afterward in the Onguma Game Reserve and also in Etosha felt a bit anticlimactic.
My recommendation
Let your soul and legs dangle in Onguma The Fort and watch the “wild life” from the sun terrace. The suites offer the perfect hangout for this!
The Sundowner is also not to be missed. Or where have you ever seen much less been to such a bar in the bush?
We started our journey to Ongava The Fort at the Ongava Lodge (link to our review) near the western “Anderson Gate” of Etosha National Park.
Best take a whole day to cross the national park, because it teems with animals, both at and away from the signposted waterholes.
Here for example is a lion blocking the Nebrownii waterhole from all the other thirsty animals.
Katja published her safari tips for the Etosha National Park here.
And here you have the Onguma The Fort website.
Have a good trip and even better rest and recreation!
