Reviews of Okonjima Bush Camp

"The chalet was fabulous. Just perfect - extremely well planned, every amenity you could wish for. Having one side built of canvas, which can be rolled up, is a wonderul innovation. Beautifully sited, you really felt as though you had your own private home in the bush. A highlight was for me was being able to feed the birds. It was really difficult to tear myself away from the chalet to go on the activities! I could have spent the whole day there relaxing and just enjoying the antics of the birds and warthogs.

I enjoyed the activities and being able to get a closer view of usually very elusive animals such as leopards and wild dogs. Obviously it's not the same as tracking totally wild animals, but this was as I expected. As an added bonus, on the drive back to camp one evening we also saw a wild leopard. He crossed the road right in front of our vehicle and much to our delight, hung around for a minute or two, giving an exceptional sighting.

Tiena the receptionist/host was very helpful and really co-ordinated everything extremely well. Thanks to Tiena, throughout the two days everything was very well organised.

It is the perfect place at which to end a stay in Namibia. My only regret is not staying for 3 nights." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"We booked a night at Okonjima Bush Camp on our way back from Etosha to Windhoek - and with hindsight wished we'd had 2 nights.

The accommodation is extremely comfortable and had constant entertainment from a succession of guinea fowl, warthogs and birds outside our room. The rooms are widely spaced (no noise from human neighbours) but the walk to and from the central area is very sandy and unpleasant in any form of open shoes/sandals. Meals, taken communally, were excellent.

Clearly with the animals being tagged and tracked electronically, there is a very good chance of sightings - although these are not guaranteed as the dense scrub can prevent animals being seen (about 1 in 5 leopard trackings are unsuccessful). However our Sundown drive very quickly found one of the 6 leopards in the 500 hectare reserve. In the morning, we went on the Cheetah drive, finding a group of 4 of the 9 cheetahs in the 16000 hectare reserve feeding on donkey they had killed. Okonjima are in process of removing the fences to combine these reserves to allow a greater cheetah population. In between these drives, we went to the night hide to watch porcupines and honey badgers feeding.

Once you accept that Okonjima is a rehabilitation centre and that the animals are tagged and at least partly habituated, this is a very comfortable and relatively easy way to see some rare animals. After a hectic 20 hours there, we wished that we had booked a second night." See all these reviews: 10n in Namibia

"Fantastic in all respects. We wished we had had 2 or even 3 nights here because it is so good and there is so much to do,
The View rooms (which we had) are much better than the garden rooms

The guides are amongst some of the very best." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia; 6n in Zimbabwe

"Very friendly and helpful, a briliant start to our holiday" See all these reviews: 5n in Namibia; 4n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"We enjoyed this, though wouldn't have wanted to stay longer." See all these reviews: 16n in Namibia

"Probably the highlight of our holiday. Arriving at our chalet with the sides of the tent removed and warthogs on the lawn was a magical experience. We had the chalet furthest from the restaurant but nearest to the wildlife, which was great. Bird food was provided to attract the smaller inhabitants and we sat for hours soaking up the sun and watching the birds.

Trips are expensive, but worth it. We went out on our first night to find leopards. The leopard's collar didn't detract from the experience at all for us and it was almost a hard to find as an uncollared one. The next morning we tracked cheetahs on foot. Our guide Rohan was excellent, although not so popular when he pointed out the frost beside the road - we were cold enough already! The cold was forgotten once we found 4 cheetah having their breakfast (an oryx apparently). We stood watching them for nearly an hour and there was no pressure to leave until we were ready and craving a nice warm breakfast.

The food was excellent and sitting around large tables chatting to the other guests was great. We'd have been happy to stay for another week, although we would have liked more jumpers as it was freezing cold." See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia; 6n in South Africa

"We went on drives to track leopard, cheetah and hyena. The leopard, cheetah and hyena wear transmitters and our guides found them every time.

The animals we tracked did not seem to mind our presence at all - so to that extent it is nothing like seeing one of these animals in the wild - but it is still interesting to get close to them." See all these reviews: 19n in Namibia

"We were delighted to be upgraded to the best room in the Villa complex. What an amazing, exclusive place. We were well looked after by AJ (guide and manager), Martin the cook and Joanna the housekeeper. We had a lovely time here and didn't want to leave!!! Six other guests were also upgraded and we had a great time talking at table and around a fire after dinner.

Fabulous!" See all these reviews: 25n in Namibia

"Fascinating to come back here after 16 years and see how it has developed in both facilities and strategy. Okonjima is not your regular lodge and tracking cats via radio collars in very large enclosures is a different experience - but a fantastic one!

We stayed in Bush Camp, which has lovely, comfortable, open rooms, well spread out. The bird food was a nice touch and attracted a flock of great sightings. Our guide Albert was a top man who really went the distance for us. We tracked leopard, cheetah and scrambled up a bushy escarpment on foot to find hyena.

It was really interesting to visit Africat and see its work in action and hear about the increased focus on education." See all these reviews: 6n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"On arrival we found we were not booked for a garden room as requested, fortunately this was rectified.

As returning guests we were made very welcome.

Both Leopard and Cheetah tracking was excellent. I was privileged to be lent an ATV to track their four wild dogs, a rare and unforgettable experience. I also had the opportunity to talk to Tristan about my interest in Cheetahs which has already given me some new avenues to explore." See all these reviews: 7n in Namibia