All over the world, one of the attractions of places that are far from civilisation are the magnificent night skies. In Africa, known for its ‘big skies’, the clarity of the stars and planets at night can be quite incredible, and at times, they seem much closer to us. Gazing up invokes a sense of awe and wonder, and many a camp fire conversation has eventually shifted to the skies above. But how and where in Africa can you really make the most of those stunning starry skies? There are a few properties in Africa where you can lie in your normal room bed, and look straight up through a ceiling window at the stars. Two which come immediately to mind include Sossusvlei Desert Lodge in the Namib Desert region of Namibia and Mwamba Bushcamp in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park. 
Across Africa it is possible to camp out in the bush. For the most mobile and lightweight camps, we often use the term ‘fly-camps’, but very few actually offer ‘sleeping under the stars’ either open-air or under a simple mosquito gauze.
Here are some that offer that more simplistic ‘under the stars’ experience.
In Zambia, Shenton Safaris offer camp-outs in the game-rich South Luangwa, whilst in Tanzania Sand Rivers Selous offer fly-camping in the wilderness of the Selous.
In the remote Mathews Range in northern 
Kenya, you can spend the night out at Sarara Star Camp, whilst in the NamibRand Nature Reserve in Namibia, Tok Tokkie Trails offer a superb ‘under the stars’ desert sleep out on their 2 night walking trail.
In Botswana, Uncharted Africa offer open air desert sleep outs on the vast Makgadikgadi Pans, surely one of the best places on earth to view the night skies!
Moving away from mobile style safaris to more permanent camps and lodges, there are many possibilities when it comes to tree-house or roof-top sleep outs.
In the Namib Desert of Namibia, Little Kulala offers the chance to sleep out on roof top beds. The same is true at Kalahari Plains in Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve. At Baines Camp in Botswana’s Okavango Delta you can roll out your bed onto your raised deck overlooking the waterways of the delta, and in the Laikipia region of northern Kenya, Star Beds offers the same service.
In Zambia’s Luangwa Valley, Shenton Safaris have recently built a new sleep out platform, called the Numbu Platform Sleep Out, whilst in Kenya’s Masai Mara, Serian Camp offer sleep outs in their Nest Treehouse.
In the Kalahari 
wilderness of north-west South Africa, the Malori Deck at Tswalu Kalahari is a further chance to enjoy a bit of luxury under the stars. The above options are of course not the only star-gazing possibilities across East and South Africa, but they are certainly most of the best!
What is important is that they are all hosted by excellent safari companies and go hand in hand with incredible safari and wilderness experiences.
Please Contact Us if you like the idea of ‘sleeping out under the African stars’.
