Reviews of Damaraland Camp

"Beautiful setting of the this camp, lovely comfortable rooms.

Really enjoyed eating around a big table with other guests sharing experiences and exchanging tips.

Highlight was seeing desert elephants, even though it was a long drive to find them!" See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"The camp itself very good. albeit quite isolated. The rooms and food were fine.

It was, however, extremely difficult to travel to anything of interest, which was limited. The roads (!) are almost impassable and. consequently, every drive was uncomfortable. We did see the desert adapted elephant but had to drive for 2 hours there and back. Then the following day, we did the same drive to see the paintings on the rocks.

We do understand that this is not the fault of the camp, but feel clients should be aware of the limitations of this area. Incidentally, before viewing the paintings, we feel we should have been warned that the climb up to them was extremely hard work and a long way in very hot weather. I think that people of a certain age (us!) should have been told this, so an informed decision could have been made to take part or not." See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana

"We visited Damaraland Camp for three nights in June when we met up with friends who chose it. We knew going in that this camp wouldn't offer as much wildlife as other safari camps; however, even with lowered expectations we were disappointed. The only wildlife to see are the desert adapted elephants (which you can see at several other camps as well) and that's only if they happen to be in the vicinity. In our case, we had to drive almost three hours (over 50 kms) over very rough roads to see the elephants for about 15 minutes. Then, our friends drove almost three hours back to camp, only to repeat the same drive the next day to visit Twyfelfontein - which was about 9 km from where we had seen the elephants. I had to sit out that second day's activity because the previous day's long, bumpy ride had so exacerbated an injury that I had to spend the day in bed.

Disappointed that I missed seeing Twyfelfontein, I asked why they didn't combine the outings in order to save almost 6 hours of driving time and after many excuses, the explanation boiled down to the fact that if they combined the outings, there wouldn't be anything else for guests to do on the second day. The only other activities offered are walks and visits to a local village, which is really nothing more than one man's farm. Interesting - for a few minutes - but not a village.

The scenery is beautiful, but that can be viewed from other camps such as Doro Nawas, which is much closer both to Twyfelfontein and to where the elephants usually are. Also, staying at Doro Nawas saves you both an extra flight from Doro Nawas to the Damaraland Camp airstrip and a very bumpy drive from the Damaraland Camp airstrip to their camp.

The food at this camp was awful. Two guests got food poisoning while we were there and the staff seemed to have great difficulty coping with my food allergy. I constantly had to ask the servers if my food was free of MSG and they pretty much had to check with Vanessa, the food and beverage manager, each time. I often had to eat differently than my companions because much of the food served at this camp is cooked using packaged seasonings and sauces. In most other camps, my allergy was a non-issue as their food was prepared fresh.

Another problem I had at this camp was the outrageously contrived "African singing" and menu presentation. Other camps often present their menu in both English and the local language but they manage to do it without making me cringe. Here, the servers seemed to be reading from a script and combined their menu description with sound effects and a sing-song "Yummy, yummy!" Even the guides seemed embarrassed.

The camp itself is adequately comfortable, but certainly not luxurious. According to Wilderness Safaris, this camp is in the same category as Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp (a Classic Camp) but the differences are extreme. Hoanib is what it advertises itself to be - a luxury camp in beautifully remote wilderness. Damaraland Camp is absolutely not "luxury in the desert." It is at best a two star establishment and, in my opinion, a waste of vacation time and money. There are many, many other places that offer everything Damaraland Camp offers as well as other wildlife, other activities, and much better accommodations, food, and service.

The camp staff were enthusiastic and welcoming and several - including Desert Rose and Corbelia - deserve special recognition for their friendliness and extra efforts, especially during the day I was confined to bed. Overall, however, the staff - and especially the management staff - need more training and finesse for this camp to be comparable to its competitors/alternatives. In fact, given how poorly this camp compares to other Wildness properties, our group came to the conclusion that this might be a training ground for Wilderness management staff. Given the many options, I can't think of any reason whatsoever to visit this camp." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia

"Breathtaking location and superb welcome and staff. Nothing too much trouble.

Super 'room'. Star-gazing session, tribal songs at dinner, good food and wines.

Bush-breakfast, desert elephant safari, mountain-top sundowners and Boma dinner memorable highlights.

Excellent and knowledgeable safari guide.

Traditional tribal song farewell - quite moving." See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia; 3n in Zimbabwe

"This was to become our best experience to date.

We were met by Teek who was to become our guide for the duration of our stay. We arrived at the lodge to be greetly by drinks, cool towels, and a welcome song from the staff. This was to become a trend during our stay here. The staff would sing and dance after every evening meal. And also sing a goodbye song on our departure.

The elephant drive and outdoor breakfast led by Teek was an unforgettable experience. The evening meals which are communal, and themed, so that they are different every evening. They were truly an unforgettable.

The lodges were marvellous, and I would recommend this camp to anyone." See all these reviews: 22n in Namibia

"This is a truly remarkable camp located amongst stunningly beautiful mountains - quite breathtaking scenery...

It deserves the highest of accolades.

Abner our Guide for the Desert elephants was outstanding - by far the best guide of the whole holiday. The Staff manage to engender real enthusiasm for whatever they are doing.. Two of the Cooks were happy to give me a guided tour of their kitchen !

The Manager contacted Wilderness Safaris at Windhoek Airport in an attempt to track down any progress reports on Katrina's missing luggage." See all these reviews: 16n in Namibia

"Everything is perfect except the location of our chalet. Our chalet faces the sun in the afternoon so it is very hot indoor for the short break in the afternoon and no socket.

I like the activity of visiting nearby village very much. I appreciate the wilderness safari works well with the nearby community which benefits both from tourism.

We parked our car at a village and we were so surprised that they not only keep an eye on our car but washed it! Thank them a lot!
Please convey our great thanks to villagers. Beautiful and friendly villagers." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia

"The staff & camp atmosphere made this our best in-camp experience.

Gwen, Rose, Rhianna, our guide Abner & others made it a wonderful place to stay." See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia

"The camp is another true oasis in the desert and well worth more than two nights visit, we only wish we could stay longer. The perfectly charming yet utterly professional, mostly female, stuff made our stay here a most wonderful experience. These young ladies with all their accomplishments are a treasure and cannot be praised highly enough!

The camp itself is well situated in the landscape and the staff enhance the stay with bush breakfast on a hilltop at sunrise (a loo with a view included) and magical boma dinner after dark. We went on a guided walk on the first afternoon. The one hour uphill walk was worth every step as we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset and we learnt a few things along the way about the geology flora and fauna of this seemingly barren land. Surprise Boma-dinner and stargazing ended a fabulous day.

The nature drive to the riverbed was great next morning and we happened upon the desert adopted elephants fairly early. It was a great gathering of about 30 individuals, a breathtaking sight. We spent an hour or so in the vicinity, watching them feeding and then we turned back to the camp letting the elephants spend the rest of the day in privacy ( hopefully). Great and generous lunch waited for us and then we could enjoy the camps cool pool. Our guide was a little reserved at first but once we started to ask he revealed a broad knowledge of this unique place and even the stars." See all these reviews: 8n in Namibia

"Ten plus km up a rocky track to get there from the road - after the most amazing drive up the skeleton coast. Somehow better rooms than anything so far - with views to die for - different again. A sung welcome, the evening menu in click language - you have to hear it and dancing/singing too - and it is really clear no one is being coerced to do it - warms the heart honestly.

Out with Richard to see the elephants - out of Africa breakfast and the loo with a view hard to beat and on to the rock carvings. Pool very welcome for a bit of rest and relaxation." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia