Desert Rhino Camp is one of our favourites in Southern Africa, combining a genuinely wild location with one of the continent’s most thrilling safari activities. Based in the pristine Palmwag Concession, an area of imposing mountains, wide valleys and unique flora, this also happens to be rhino country. Palmwag is home to arguably Africa’s largest free roaming black rhino population, with a habitat perfect for animals that prefer a wide ranging territory and are constantly on the move. Like all rhino communities, this one has been badly affected by extensive poaching, up until the Save the Rhino Trust established their base within the concession and commenced sterling conservation work. You can visit the SRT’s office and their scouts are intimately involved with the camp’s unique rhino tracking activities, where you set out in a vehicle to find black rhino, eventually emerging to move as close as possible to these impressive beasts on foot. The SRT use these expeditions for research purposes, and everything is done so that maximum attention is paid to not distressing the animals, so it is a very eco-friendly activity.

While rhinos are the undoubted highlight, the rest of the concession is also superb: timeless landscapes; a diverse range of animals including zebra, elephant, antelope and giraffe; and a classic safari camp with impeccable service and guiding. The camp has eight, relatively simple but comfortable Meru tents, which literally feel like they are in the middle of nowhere. The central lodge enjoys unobstructed, panoramic views and other activities such as bush dinners and scenic walks are also on offer, making any stay at Desert Rhino Camp intensely memorable.