Reviews of Grootberg Lodge
Wildlife sightings and reviews
99 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Grootberg Lodge and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
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85% success
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"Not recommended for rhinos"
We arrived too late for an afternoon activity on our first day, and had pre-booked rhino tracking for our second day (although, again, they didn’t have any record of this). The terrain here is extremely rocky, which makes for very bumpy game drives. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone with back problems! We found the game to be very sparse and also extremely skittish – the fact that trophy hunting was done here until very recently certainly shows.
We drove for around 3 hours before reaching the target rhino area, where our tracker (only one – I got the feeling there were supposed to be 2 or 3 of them, but it was rhino tracker change-over day, where one set of trackers go in and another come out) searched for several hours to find fresh tracks, but with no success. For most of this time we were just sitting in the jeep waiting, which got extremely dull after a while. If we had known in advance that this is what it would be like we would have taken a book to read! We found out later on that they have had a big problem with poaching over the last few years, and they are now down on only 5 rhinos, so your chance of seeing them isn’t very high.
Also no power sockets in the rooms, so you have to charge devices in the main area. No wifi. The pool was empty. In general the lodge staff are friendly and helpful (especially the assistant manager Silvie)." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia
So when they arrived at Grootberg, the lodge was not expecting them. The team at the lodge did their best under the circumstances, but the pool hadn’t been filled and their rhino-tracking activity was far from the usual standard that we’d expect.
We’d have expected the rhino tracking to be a long and bumpy day, on rough rocky tracks. However, with a full complement of rhino-trackers from the community we would have expected the expedition to be more interactive and more successful.
We’ve apologised to these travellers in a very tangible way.
"Africa Specialist | Namibia"
Giraffe
3 sightings
Oryx
1 sighting
Spotted Hyena
1 sighting
Zebra
3 sightings
"Amazing Location"
The rooms have the same views (being perched on the cliff edge). They are compact but comfortable. No power in room but masses of charging points in a cupboard in the main building.
We had pre-booked the rhino tracking and spent a full bone shaking day with guide Dessie and trackers Joseph & Jacob.
It took serious tracking skills to find a male black rhino. We personally didn't actually have to walk far at all. We also went to the anti-poaching camp and chatted to the policeman which was interesting.
Saw mountain zebra, lots of giraffe, oryx, and large ele herd at end of day.
Good staff all employed from the local community. They sang to us every night which we loved." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia
Black Rhino
1 sighting
Elephant
1 sighting
Giraffe
1 sighting
Zebra
1 sighting
"place with the best view"
Heavy shower ruined excursion, but benefited everything else. Very steep drive up the mountain. Lodge provides transfer service.up the very steep entrance, which wasnt mentioned in the notes provided by Expert Africa. I spotted it in the guide book so we were prepared for it.
This place was very connected to the community which we very much enjoyed, the staff were absolutely lovely" See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia
"Grootberg Lodge review"
Excellent staff who took time and great care to ensure our puncture problem was taken care of while we were out for the rhino day.
Very commendable!!!
Excellent lodge, clean and well presented." See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia
Black Rhino
1 sighting
Giraffe
10 sightings
Oryx
5 sightings
Zebra
10 sightings
"Wonderful views"
Giraffe
2 sightings
Oryx
2 sightings
Zebra
2 sightings
"Amazing View"
Also a shame we were not allowed to hike around the lodge" See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia
" Grand view at Grootberg"
Very good evening meal. Staff were helpful and friendly. Arrived too late for us to do activities so saw no animals there.
Other guests reported zebra sittings and there was evidence of that near the buildings in the morning." See all these reviews: 9n in Namibia; 5n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe
"Grootberg Lodge Review"
The staff were amazing and we loved the feel of it being a conservancy. It certainly felt as if the staff were all stakeholders in the venture. They took a personal interest in making sure that the guests enjoyed themselves and we were treated to an iced cake in celebration of our 40th Wedding Anniversary.
The only adverse comment we could make (although we feel it churlish when everything else was excellent) was that the design of the individual chalets meant that at night when the door was closed, they were rather airless making sleep a bit difficult. However, we would not cite this as a reason not to go there as our stay was so good in all other aspects.
We took a day out, rather than another animal safari, to take the Damaraland cultural tour (including visiting a school and a village) and would certainly recommend this to other travellers." See all these reviews: 16n in Namibia; 3n in Zimbabwe; 1n in South Africa
Elephant
3 sightings
Zebra
10 sightings
"Grootberg Lodge review"
Saw lovely springbok, lots of Oryx,, Kudu, mountain zebra, black eagle.
Impression that, as a community project if they were expecting it to be run by locals alone by next year, they were falling short of expected standards. Examples of poor maintenance." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia; 2n in Zimbabwe
"Grootberg Lodge"
Black Rhino
1 sighting
Giraffe
1 sighting
Oryx
1 sighting
Zebra
1 sighting
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