Desert camping and off-grid safaris – the spacious destinations our writers can’t wait to return to
Starry skies in the desert, camping among sand dunes and overtaking herds of camels… it’s time to think big
1. High and dry in The Atacama
The planet’s driest desert offers some of Chile’s most extreme experiences
Why it’s special
Astronomers speak in hushed tones about the clear night skies of Atacama – a vast region extending into Peru, not just a Chilean desert. Stargazers can book a telescope tour, but all are free to lie down and gawp at the sparkling starscape.
Daytime is equally compelling, and it serves to rise early to visit the geysers at El Tatio. At 14,000ft above sea level, they come alive in the morning when boiling steam condenses in the cold dawn.
The desert’s white heart is the Salar de Atacama: Chile’s biggest salt lake, bordered by active volcanoes and with briny sections where flamingos feed. Drive through it and where a hard shoulder should be are salt “waves” formed by the wind. San Pedro de Atacama, the backpacker hub of the region, is a lively cluster of places to eat and drink, with a couple of good museums; around its edges, Awasi, Explora and Tierra have built luxury lodges with refined restaurants.
You’ll never forget…
The night sky, with the Milky Way, Magellanic Clouds and Southern Cross spread out against the infinite blue.
Insider tips
Combine the soft adventures of the desert with a tougher two-day trek to the crater of Licancabur, a dormant cone-shaped stratovolcano on the border with Bolivia.
How to do it
Audley Travel (audleytravel.com) offers tailor-made trips to northern Chile. A 13-day itinerary (taking in the Atacama Desert, Santiago, Valparaiso and Easter Island) costs from £5,425 including all flights, transfers, accommodation and excursions.
Chris Moss
2. Adventure on the road in Oman
A road trip through Oman’s rolling dunes reveals the Middle East’s wild side.
Why it’s special
Fortune favours adventurous travellers in Oman – and a wild-camping road trip is the ultimate way to explore. Sure, it may not be smooth sailing all the way. How do you overtake a herd of meandering camels? Is that a twig or a tarantula in the tent? But exploring Oman’s well-kept roads in a 4x4 can take you through the rolling dunes of Wahiba Sands, or to the very edges of the plunging canyons of Jebel Shams.
And when you bed down on the silky-soft beaches of Masirah Island – a real-life desert island – you will be glad you opted to sleep under canvas, blissfully alone on this wild sliver of sand. For the perfect week, follow the highway south from Muscat, to Ras Al Jinz turtle reserve – where loggerheads nest by moonlight – then take the lonely coast road to Shannah.
After a few days’ wild camping on Masirah – remembering to swing by Masira Island Resort (masiraisland
resort.com) for mango ice cream and a swim in the pool – watch the mountains dissolve into desert as you drive inland, through Wahiba, and then up, up, into the lush Al-Hajar highlands, replete with date palms and fruit trees. Sleep on the clifftops, where sunrise turns the rocks silver, revealing the whirly shapes of fossilised sea creatures – another surprise in this most unexpected and untamed of lands.
You’ll never forget…
Your first glimpse of the desert, its rippling dunes fuddled with heat haze. At first sight, it is as featureless as Arabic flatbread – but a closer look reveals wildlife tracks, flowering oleander, and dusty villages sizzling in the sun.
Insider tips
Travel during winter (November to February) for temperatures of 20-25C and pleasantly cool nights. For camping equipment, call in at the Carrefour hypermarket in Muscat’s Grand Mall before you hit the road properly.
How to do it
Audley Travel (audleytravel.com), Hayes & Jarvis (hayesandjarvis.co.uk) and, for family-focused trips, Stubborn Mule Travel (stubborn muletravel.com) arrange self-drive holidays. Fly with Oman Air to Muscat (omanair.com); at the airport, hire a 4x4 (europcar.com or hertz.com). Top and tail with a wash at Muscat’s Shangri-La Al Husn (shangri-la.com).
Hazel Plush
3. Animal magic in Zambia
The pristine grasslands of Kafue and Liuwa Plains national parks are the Serengeti of Zambia – and the backdrop for an unforgettable off-grid safari.
Why it’s special
Prepare to be stunned by the sheer scale of Zambia’s endless horizons. Kafue is Africa’s second largest national park, a wilderness the size of Wales. For much of the year its plains are flooded; but when the waters recede in May they become a Zambian Serengeti of zebras, antelopes and bugling cranes in which cheetahs and Busanga’s famous tree-climbing lions hunt lechwe and other prey across landscapes that really do reach as far as the eye can see.
Liuwa Plains tell a similar story when the Zambezi floodwaters drown the grasslands in the rainy season. Then the dry season begins in May, transforming the park into an emerald sea of grassland stippled with wild flowers, wooded islands and shallow pans where waterlilies bloom, setting the scene for the arrival of the blue wildebeest herds from Angola in October – a spectacle second only to the Serengeti migration.
Nor are the wildebeest alone. Liuwa is also fabled for its wild dogs, spotted hyena clans and tumultuous bird life. The ultimate joy is that, due to its remoteness, you will have the whole park almost entirely to yourself.
You’ll never forget…
Where else in the world can you look out in any direction and see nothing but a sea of grass billowing all the way to the horizon?
Insider tip
November is the peak time to witness the spectacle of thousands of blue wildebeest gathering on Liuwa Plains before the rains return in December.
How to do it
Wildlife Worldwide (wildlifeworldwide.com) can arrange an 11-day Zambian safari with four nights in Kafue at Musekese, and four nights at an exclusive mobile tented camp at Liuwa Plains, from £5,995 per person.
Brian Jackman
