Glorious Dark Skies at the Sossusvlei Desert Lodge in Namibia – Night One

[DirkSteele]

I am not sure why I have not posed these sooner.  Nights two and three on their way over the coming days (night two is my favourite).  I am actually heading back here in September for a full two weeks of observing.  I cannot wait.  Hope you enjoy reading these reports.

In late September / early October 2011 I travelled round Namibia on a two-week tour which culminated in a 4-night stay in the & Beyond property, the Sossusvlei Desert Lodge which is located in the largest private nature reserve in Southern Africa, the NamibRand Nature Reserve at some 180,000 hectares (445,000 acres).  The primary appeal of the venue was the promise of pristine dark skies (listed #1 in the 2009 Conde Nast Traveller UK of the 6 best places in the world to go stargazing) combined with an onsite astronomer and telescope for use by guests.  The skies did not disappoint, though my visit coincided with a moon between First Quarter and Waxing Gibbous so the observing of all the Southern Hemisphere Deep Sky Gems did not begin in earnest till the early hours of the morning.

When decision time for a late summer 2013 holiday arrived, Africa was once again chosen as the venue, with Botswana and Zambia being the primary destinations I saw this as an opportunity to once again visit the venue which gave me my first taste of Southern Hemisphere stargazing.  This time however, we specifically planned to arrive on the day of New Moon (October 5th 2013) and stay for 4 nights.

http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2013/10/13/glorious-dark-skies-at-the-sossusvlei-desert-lodge-in-namibia-night-one/

That is a rather pleasant venue to enjoy dinner as the blue skies slowly turn dark and reveal thousands of stars 

Clear Skies,

[Mike73]

Now that looks the business!! Very nice Matthew.

What scopes did they have for you to use?

[DirkSteele]

The available telescope is a 12" Meade LX200R (the ACF before the rebrand).  There are also a vast range of eyepieces.  When I head back this year, I will also be taking one of my small Apos as while 12" under those skies is incredible, the narrow field of view (over 3m focal length) means you miss out on the glorious wide field views of the Milky Way.

[faulksy]

read the link you supplied and sounded amazing, and what a view of the sky when you was in bed wow

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

DROOL!!

That is an amazing place

[cotterless45]

SLOBBER !

I'm packing right now !

Nick.

[Owmuchonomy]

I posted it to the wife, well the bits she needs to see... Sshhh!

[DirkSteele]

I posted it to the wife, well the bits she needs to see... Sshhh!

Haha... Fortunately there really is a lot to do for the non-astronomers.  My girlfriend likes a quick look through a telescope but not much more and yet she loves it there.  So she is coming for the 2nd of my two weeks in September.  Quad biking, amazing food, ancient cave paintings and hikes, game drives, worlds largest sand dunes, great service.....And some of the darkest skies you can imagine (hence IDA Dark Sky Reserve Gold Rating).

[Owmuchonomy]

Haha... Fortunately there really is a lot to do for the non-astronomers.  My girlfriend likes a quick look through a telescope but not much more and yet she loves it there.  So she is coming for the 2nd of my two weeks in September.  Quad biking, amazing food, ancient cave paintings and hikes, game drives, worlds largest sand dunes, great service.....And some of the darkest skies you can imagine (hence IDA Dark Sky Reserve Gold Rating).

..cave paintings. That might swing it!

[AlexB67]

Looks like great observing spot, very nice 

[scarp15]

Pretty spectacular, if only UK star parties could be like that.