Plan an Amazing Desert Honeymoon Page 5

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From Chile's Atacama to Arizona's Sedona, we've rounded up the best desert adventures!

By: Donna Heiderstadt

Sossusvlei, Namibia
Before arriving, you’ll soar over a stark no man’s land in a tiny four-seat Cessna en route from the Namibian capital, Windhoek. When you circle above a sun-saturated valley and spot your luxury resort, your journey into the Namib Desert — a fantasyland of sculptural dunes and night skies so clear and infinite you can see another galaxy — has begun. This parched yet resplendent corner of Namibia (still most famous for being the country where Shiloh Jolie-Pitt was born) is nature at its most dramatic — with scenery so surreal it will be locked into your subconscious forever.

dune treking in nambia
Dune trekking is a popular activity (photo courtesy of And Beyond)

By day: The vibrant, rust-hued Sossusvlei Dunes are the stars here and the best time to see and photograph them in all their National Geographic glory is at sunrise. You’ll set out in the dark and arrive at Namib-Naukluft National Park just as dawn is turning them from mysterious dark sand piles into soaring orange swirls set against a deep-blue sky. Your vantage point shifts as your guide leads you up and over the dunes, the cool sand shifting beneath your feet, for one splendid vista after another. Later, you can bust some dunes on ATVs, laze by the pool or be coddled at the spa. But when evening beckons the desert-dwelling antelopes — oryx, springbok and gemsbok — and ostrich out in search of food, you’ll be right behind them on a twilight safari. It’s more about the scenery than the sheer number of game, especially as you enjoy sundowner cocktails and hors d’oeuvres as sunset paints the parched earth like a kaleidoscope.

At night: The silence and darkness are disorienting — until you tilt your head upward and take in the blinking canopy of stars. Go stargazing with a resident astronomer who will point out South Hemisphere constellations, distant planets and, on the clearest of nights, even the Andromeda Galaxy. Afterward, a skylight above the bed in your villa continues the seduction by moon glow.

Where to stay: andBeyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge, with its 10 stone-and-glass villas arrayed in a privacy arc so you can shower with nothing but a wall of glass between you and the view, is the perfect luxury base from which to explore the Namib Desert (rates start at $1,200 a night and are allinclusive;
andbeyond.com).

nambia
A desert oasis of the luxe kind — andBeyond Sossusvlei (photo courtesy of And Beyond)

Where to eat: Sossusvlei Desert Lodge’s creative Pan-African cuisine — whether it’s breakfast in your villa, a private picnic lunch in the dunes or a multicourse dinner by candlelight — is first-class in every way.