As we were travelling from the Southern Cape to the Namibian border, we decided to make our first night’s stop in the Northern Cape town of Springbok. I thought that Willie had booked us into a little B&B or guesthouse in the town, but instead he opted for the beautiful Naries Namakwaland Retreat which lies on the edge of the Spektakelberg between Springbok and Kleinzee. The retreat has three accommodation options: rooms in the manor house, family cottages or their Namakwa mountain suites (the option that Willie had booked).
On the Naries Namakwaland website they describe these mountain suites as: state of the art, private, romantic & luxurious. They are all that, but what interested us was how these mountain suites were designed to blend in with their surroundings, so that from a distance it looked like they were just more dark boulders. The suite we were in was wrapped around a big boulder, so some of the interior walls were actual rock. The thought that went into the design of the mountain suites is inspiring. Once we had taken it all in, Willie announced “Well, it’s all downhill from here . . .”. A thought which was reinforced when we had a very nice dinner at the Naries manor house. We had no idea what awaited us in Namibia.
From a distance the mountain suites blend into the surrounding veld. ©LB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
Our suite perched on rocks and moulded around a boulder. ©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
Walkway from the car to the suite. ©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
The separate sitting room ©LB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
The bedroom with rock walls ©LB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
The bathroom design and fittings all followed the same theme as the rest of the suite. ©LB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
We arrived too late to wander around outside, but the next morning we could see how beautiful the area is. There are various activities one can do in the area, including the Quiver Tree walking trail.
Early morning view ©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
©WMB/notesfromafrica.wordpress.com
This post is part of my daily posts for October 2016 – otherwise known as The October Dash
Notes from Africa 
Naries looks amaaazing… what an experience! I had no idea this place existed! I am definitely putting this on my must-visit list.
It is quite extraordinary! I’m going to be posting about the various places we stayed at in Namibia too. Not all as luxurious, but good places to stay if you’re travelling around.
How absolutely beautiful both inside and outside . . . wish you could have stayed for a couple of nights – don’t think you would have been bored just sitting outside looking at the fabulous scenery. The idea has been used elsewhere in the world [am an architecture/design nut, so watch a lot of shows pertaining . . . ] but have not seen quite such elegant interiors: so exciting! Oh, my drat travel genie is lost again 🙂 !
Yes, a couple of nights there would have been wonderful. That area is well-known for its Spring flowers in August/September (the time we were there). If you would like to see what that’s all about, you can read this post written by a friend of ours: https://notesfromafrica.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/namaqualand-and-tankwa-karoo-the-namaqualand-national-park/
Willie and I also love good design/architecture. We watched the “Grand Designs” series on television. First, the UK version, but I think they also had an Australian/New Zealand series?
Thank you for the superb link: I hope everyone reading clicks on it! Actually it was my second time to view the spring flowers there: I had a lovely blogfriend in Pretoria who took her teenage daughters for a holiday and showed the area off almost as well – sadly methinks she has stopped her blog . . . was a great traveller and a good reporter 🙂 ! And, yes I also watch ‘Grand Designs’ amongst others and yes there is a very good Australian version with a knowledgeable host – perhaps I even prefer it because the Australians somehow have no hesitation to do the very unusual, oft on quite extraordinary areas of land simply not available in the UK. big hug Eha
I think that South Africans and Australians have the same “sensibilities” when it comes to modern design.
What a stunning place!
Yes, and very unusual! I like the trend towards building structures which fit into the environment and don’t detract from it.