Sendelingsdrif is the main rest camp and headquarters of the remote Richtersveld National Park, set on the bank of the Orange River where it forms the border with Namibia. It is a stark, mountainous desert of jagged ridges and dry ravines, one of the most rugged and arid corners of South Africa, and the camp is the gateway to it.

The chalets look out over the river and the Namibian hills beyond, a green ribbon of life cutting through bare rock. A pontoon ferry crosses to Namibia from here, and the camp has fuel, a small shop and a swimming pool, useful supplies before heading into the park's demanding 4x4 country.

The Richtersveld is a botanist's landscape, famous for its halfmens trees, quiver trees and an extraordinary variety of succulents adapted to fog and heat. Days are hot and nights cold, and the silence and clear desert skies are a large part of the appeal.