If you have the bucks, the NamibRand Nature Reserve is where I like to escape the masses that can crowd Sesriem at the entrance to Namib-Naukluft National Park. There are luxury lodges here, such as Kwessi Dunes or &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge, which are well-regarded if pricey. I prefer the organised overnight walking safaris: light pollution is minimal here and the skies are among the darkest and clearest on earth. Immersed in the silence of the desert darkness, I experience a humbling connection to the cosmos.