A Welcome from Cynthia’s Basecamp in the Amargosa Basin
I’m Cynthia, founder of Cynthia’s Safaris and Cynthia’s Basecamp, ensconced in the Amargosa Basin and in the rural township of Tecopa, California,. I guess you would call Tecopa a gateway community to Death Valley National Park, but to me, it is much more.
More than two decades ago, I left Las Vegas, crossed a mountain pass, and dropped into a remote desert landscape that stopped me in my tracks. The light, the ridges, the strange ache of recognition — I knew, in a way I could not explain, that I had come home.
So I closed my city chapter and built a life in the Mojave Desert.
The transition was not as romantic as you might imagine. The desert had to season me before it would let me stay – and before I could learn to share it with you.
It beat me up, cradled me, challenged me, frightened me, nurtured me, and finally empowered me. Over time, I learned its roads, seasons, animals, silences, dangers, histories, and gifts.
And then I learned how to share them.
So I built Cynthia’s Basecamp.
It could never just be a convenient lodging stop for Death Valley travelers. There was too much close by in our Amargosa Basin to be known. My focus was, and still is, the Amargosa.
Here is my woman-built desert world — a place of rooms, meals, stories, backroads, hot springs, field camps, moonlight, stars, guest gatherings, and local knowledge earned over time.
Through Cynthia’s Safaris, hosted stays, private gatherings, field camps, and my Field Notes from the Amargosa, I welcome travelers, families, students, artists, retreat leaders, and curious people who want more than a place to sleep.
They want comfort without losing the wildness.
They want a little push toward the backroads, the canyons, the challenge — and the thrill of discovering they can do it.
They want someone who knows the secret places and how to get there.
What feels remote to most is home to me.
This is the life I built.
Now I am inviting you to share it.
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