Ongava Game Lodge has a rustic overcoat that fails to conceal its underbelly of luxury and elegance. The 14 enormous thatched chalets each have an en suite bathroom - with a view - and a large verandah looking out over the reserve.

You are perched on top of a hill here, so the views out from the main deck are well grand but this also means it's a trundle down to your room and back up again. The main lodge is open-sided under a canopy of timber and thatch and has a split-level living area, a dining room and a bar. The swimming pool looks out over a floodlit waterhole. There's a hide at the waterhole too. Splendid.

Ongava is a 30,000ha private game reserve on the southern edge of Etosha. There are three other lodges in the reserve - Little Ongava Lodge and Anderssons @ Ongava, for complete luxury and Ongava Tented Camp for an elegant sufficiency. The reserve has all of Namibia's wildlife and is the biggest custodian of black rhinos in Namibia. A highlight of the private reserve is a walking safari in which you track both black and white rhino or you can do white rhino approaching- with an armed ranger of course.