Damaraland Camp is located in the Torra Conservancy, a community-based tourism concession offering the regions's best wildlife viewing, plus incredible desert scenery.

The Torra Conservancy is a community partnership between Wilderness Safaris and the local Damara people and guests at the camp will be able to enjoy authentic and enriching cultural interactions with the local community at their nearby farmsteads. The camp staff are also members of this community.

Torra is located in the northern section of the Damaraland region, which despite its semi-desert climate and lack of any surface water, is known for excellent wildlife viewing of the desert-adapted species that survive here. The area is particularly well-known for desert-adapted elephants, which are seen regularly.

Other wildlife that can be seen on nature drives or walks includes greater kudu, springbok, giraffe, oryx, Hartmann's mountain zebra, brown hyena, spotted hyena, warthog, steenbok, Damara dik-dik, klipspringer, chacma baboon, and sometimes even lion, cheetah, and black rhino.

Nature drives will give guests opportunities to view the spectacular beautiful desert scenery here, with red, orange, and ochre mountains, and plains strewn with gravel, rocks and boulders atop fine lava-based sand. The unusual flora that survives here is also very interesting and provides a lovely contrast against the desert landscapes.

Full-day outings to visit the San Bushmen rock art at Twyfelfontein are also offered.

Damaraland Camp offers 10 spacious, canvas-and-adobe guest units under thatched roofing, one of which is a double unit suitable for a family or couple wanting more luxury and space. The guest units are constructed atop raised wooden decking with private, outdoor viewing decks looking onto the valley and mountains in front of the camp. The units are connected to the main camp area via sandy footpaths on the ground.

The camp's main area includes a large, open living area consisting of a lounge, dining area, and bar with more lounge seating. There is also a pool deck with loungers.

Wilderness Safaris are one of Africa's leading safari operators and they strive to minimize energy consumption at all their camps. Serra Cafema Camp utilizes solar panels and generators with battery backups to generate all the power in camp. Fans and lights in the guest rooms area powered by 12V solar power. Guest showers use solar-heated water. Strict eco-friendly environmental standards are maintained so that no harmful chemicals or waste is allowed to enter the ecosystem of this untouched wilderness.

About Damaraland

The Damaraland region is situated directly inland from the Skeleton Coast and is characterized by spectacular landscapes. The region includes desert mountains, wind-blown hills, dramatic rock inselbergs, rock-strewn plains, lava fields, and valleys with seasonal rivers that only flow after an infrequent rain. The area is also home to accessible prehistoric rock art and good numbers of wildlife, making it an excellent destination for its diversity.

Damaraland actually includes two distinct regions in terms of what can be experienced: northern Damaraland, which is far less accessible (fly-in or a good 4x4 vehicle) and southern Damaraland, which is easily accessible for self-drivers in any vehicle. The northern region offers the best wildlife viewing, while the southern region is home to rock-art sites and other geological points of interest that can be explored on foot.

Northern Damaraland

The northern section of Damaraland is characterized as a semi-desert, with very low rainfall and vegetation that is sparse and well-adapted to the harsh, arid environment. The landscape is dominated by massive lava fields and vast plains strewn with gravel, boulders, and smaller granitic rocks that are colored in various hues of red and orange. Geologic activity over millions of years here has created this dramatic and brilliantly-colored terrain where only sparse desert-tolerant grasses, bushes, and some trees can survive. 

The shepherd's tree (Boscia albitrunca) and the spiky Damara milk bush (Euphorbia damarana) are abundant and some of the few floral species flourish here. The milk bush is poisonous to all animals (including humans) except for black rhino and greater kudu, which can eat them. Another notable plant found across the region is the amazing Welwitschia mirabilis, a species grows low on the ground like a lily and which survives upwards of a thousand years!

The only rivers here are seasonal and only flow on the surface after rare rains, but the Huab River has underground water that provides an oasis for elephants, which dig holes in the dry riverbed with their trunks to get to the water below the surface. The elephant wells also provide water for the areas other wildlife. Ana trees (Faidherbia albida) line the banks of the dry river, providing nourishment for elephants and other species, which relish the tasty seed pods.

Tourism Concessions

Northern Damaraland includes several land concessions that have been set aside by the local communities for use as tourism areas, which they lease to safari operators, leading to revenue and jobs for local people.

The most significant land concession in northern Damaraland is the Torra Conservancy. There are several good safari camps in the conservancy and it offers some of Damaraland's best wildlife experiences. The local communities live and graze their livestock in the conservancy, but there are very few people and only sparse development, with wildlife living in peace with the people. Other significant tourism concessions in the north include Palmwag, Etendeka, Damaraland/Desert Rhino, Hobatere (adjacent to western Etosha), and Huab.

Wildlife in Northern Damaraland includes good numbers of desert-adapted elephant, as well as a healthy population of endangered black rhino. Other species commonly seen includes giraffe, Hartmann's mountain zebra, oryx, greater kudu, springbok, steenbok, warthog, klipspringer, and chacma baboon. Lion and cheetah are seen on occasion, as well as the rare leopard sighting. Vegetation increases as one moves east from the Torra Conservancy and there is a chance to see other species like 'black-faced' impala, eland, and the Damara dik-dik (a tiny antelope). Bird life is mainly dry-land species.

Southern Damaraland

The southern side of Damaraland is less about wildlife and more about scenery. The area is defined by dramatic rock formations, desert mountains, and accessible Bushman rock-art sites.

Spitzkoppe is a group of bare granitic inselbergs that date back 120 million years and its highest outcrop reaches 5 800 feet (1 765 meters) above the desert. There are a good number of dramatic rock formations and over thirty Bushman cave paintings here.

Brandberg Mountain is Namibia's tallest peak, towering 8 442 feet (2 573 meters) over the surrounding plain and covering an area of 250 square miles (650 sq kms). The mountain was of spiritual significance to the ancient people who lived here and there there are beautiful rock paintings here, including the famous "White Lady" painting. The mountain is one of the world's richest galleries of prehistoric rock paintings.

Twyfelfontein is Damaraland's most popular tourist attraction and is Namibia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site (declared in 2007). It is the world's largest outdoor rock art site, with thousands of rock engravings on boulders scattered around the site. It is believed that ancient hunter-gatherers used the site as a place of worship where shamans conducted rituals. A guided tour is recommended.

Other sites of interest in southern Damaraland include Messum Crater, the remains of an ancient volcano spanning 13 miles (22 kms) across, the Petrified Forest, where trees thought to have died 250 million years ago lie forever in a bed of sandstone, and Vingerklip (rock finger), a dramatic rock obelisk protruding from the flat desert floor.