Reviews of Doro Nawas
Wildlife sightings and reviews
499 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Doro Nawas and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
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"Spectacular setting - a great stay"
After a brief orientation by the staff, we were taken to our room which is described as a "natural-walled unit". The walls were canvas and the ceiling vaulted and thatched giving a wonderful open and airy feeling. The veranda from the room opened out onto a beautiful view of the plains. There was an indoor and outdoor shower and the option to sleep out under the stars on the veranda.
The food at Doro !Nawas was some of the best we had on our trip, especially the second night there when they prepared a perfectly marinated and prepared barbecue. Before sitting down to dinner we had what was probably the most relaxing evening of the trip, sitting around the open fire on big bean bags enjoying a glass of wine and watching "Dora" the resident cat make her rounds.
We were up very early on our first morning to set off with a guide to look for desert elephants - certainly the highlight of our stay there. The guide did a wonderful job of informing us about the flora and fauna and well as showing us how he tracks the elephants. He gave us a lot of information about the desert-adapted elephants as well as some of the individual members of the herd, and once we found them we were given as much time as we wanted to observe and photograph them.
The other excursion we made that day was a self-drive to see the San rock art at Twyfelfontein, one of Namibia's World Heritage sites. We also learned that the Twyfelfontein area is said to have the largest variety of scorpions in a single location - 13. Remember to shake out your shoes before you put them on! We actually did see a scorpion back at the lodge, but it was taken care of expeditiously by members of the staff...
We didn't have time that day to visit the Petrified Forest so we set off the next day and made a stop there en route to our next destination. There we also saw the very old Welwitschia plants.
Doro !Nawas was probably one of our favorite accommodations during our trip to Namibia. The total experience of the lodging, guided trip and geographic location made it a very memorable stay.
P.S.: The internet access in the reception area didn't work well. It wasn't actually broken but the wire on the back was loose and nobody made too much of an effort to fix it, which was really okay." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia
"Sleep under the stars (with the bats!)"
Spacious, well arranged, huts with both inside & outside shower. The highlight was wheeling the bed out onto the terrace and sleeping in the open air. To be able to lie back and star gaze was very special. The bats flying close to your face for a while, gave it an added twist! Cold in the morning, so the thick blankets provided were definately needed.
A superb trip out into the valley to track desert adapted elephants with our guide Mwezi. After looking at the tracks in the dust, we rounded the corner and were up close and personal with a large group of elephants. Fascinating to sit and watch the different behaviours of young and old elephants in their natural habitat.
Also enjoyed sitting on the bean-bags around the camp-fire in the central area." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia
"A DREAM!!"
So friendly and helpful and they read the menu out to us in Click language and English and sang on our last night which was fun!
Erwin took us to look for Desert Elephants but due to the time of year they had gone further up the river bed and he just said 'we aren't going back to camp until we have found them' which was great seeing as the excursion should only have been half a day (it turned out we found them in time anyway, but we liked his determination'. There were only 3 of us in the Jeep so it was really personal and he answered all of our questions really well.
The rooms were huge, the patio was fab and the view was out of this world. We were initially going to stay at another lodge close by but we were so glad it was fully booked and we stayed here instead. The food was great as well and the pool was stunning (although it could have been cleaner- possibly my only criticism but I advised Doro Nawas at the time too).
I do have to say getting there was not easy on the route suggested to us in a 2WD. The D2612 was not an easy road and we had to turn round and go back on the C35 up to Khorixas and then on the C39 which was much better. At the rate were driving on the D2612 we could have walked the same pace. But that is not a criticism of Doro Nawas." See all these reviews: 9n in Namibia
"Doro Nawas review"
"The ideal place to relax and explore"
Trip to stone drawings was very pleasant and edifying. Lovely guide.
Trip to the desert elephants was a good excursion and was well done as was the visit to the native village. Sun downer was welcome although blowing a gale, but ponchos helped as supplied.
Friendly, courteous and a delightful place to spend time." See all these reviews: 10n in Namibia
"Doro !Nawas ace place"
Both trips at Doro !Nawas were excellent. Our morning trip to Twyfelfontein and the Damara Living Museum was very interesting. The evening trip in successful pursuit of the desert adapted elephants was one of the big highlights of the holiday. We were so much closer to a herd of 13 elephants than we would have expected - and for so long. Amazing." See all these reviews: 21n in Namibia
"Spectacular and remote"
Dinner was introduced by the waitress in english, then in her own 'click' dialect, then she sang a song - a lovely touch. Food was above average and there was a vegetable kebab for the Vegetarian Husband (cooked on a corner of the meat BBQ, but it was nice thought!). After dinner, sat outside with our wine, on huge beanbags by the firepit and lanterns, looking at the stars - very memorable.
No hairdryers or wifi in the cabins, but that didn't bother us at all.
Just one night, would have liked to stay another." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia
"Doro Nawas review"
There was a very friendly welcome from the manager {Agnes} and her assistant {Maureen} but the ambiance is perhaps less slick / more homely than in the other camps. Our room safe did not work and the information in the room about timings and activities proved to be out of date but the staff were helpful {especially Freesas who helped with the tyre replacement}." See all these reviews: 16n in Namibia
"Doro Nawas review"
We took ourselves to Twyelfontein on the second afternoon and enjoyed the trip around that with the local guide. It was interesting. We stopped at the petrified forest on our way north the following morning which was a pleasant and interesting stop too. Glad we did this in transit and not in the heat of the day.
This lodge was slightly disappointing in two respects. Firstly the staff (but not all) were not generally as welcoming and helpful as at most other places. We hadn't realised we were not full board before we arrived rather hot and bothered after the trip from Swapkomund, and thus there was a tricky conversation about the trips out. When we came to pay they really hadn't a clue about what we had had as extras and we could easily have got away with paying less than due. Having said that it was still a great place and would recommend it. As an aside it is an easy drive by 2x4 to the main lodge from the main road.
Secondly the food was very variable. Breakfast was excellent as was a barbecue one evening but some of the other meals were poor especially a spaghetti lunch. This was fed back there." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia; 6n in Botswana
"More elephants than you can shake a stick at"
Can not fault the place at all
We did the elephant tracking trip and saw a group of twenty they were very relaxed with us and came very close to our vehicle A few years back we did the same trip and the elephants were very wary of us would not allow any vehicle to get near them they must be getting used to tourists" See all these reviews: 21n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana
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