Reviews of Okonjima Bush Camp

"Okonjima is a supremely comfortable and luxurious place to stay - it is the only place we have ever stayed where we had a day room as well as a bedroom/bathroom. It was a nice touch for each room to have its own mini waterhole - we enjoyed feeding the birds with the seed left for us, including a very patient hornbill.

We saw many animals there, including leopards and a pangolin. It was thrilling to get so close to them, although they were easy to track due to their radio collars. Our guide, Gabriel, was quite a character and full of information about the wildlife. We enjoyed our jeep trips out with him, despite the cold mornings.

The staff were very welcoming and the food was exceptionally good." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"we were upgraded to the bush camp. had a lovely room with it's own waterhole to which a family of warthogs came to drink.

food was good and they accommodated our sons needs.

john m. was a goods guide with a knack for finding things and we saw everything we wanted to except for pangolin and aardvark (not seen elsewhere either)." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia

"Bush camp is beautiful, confortable, cleverly designed and with beautiful fittings
Private mini waterhole and associated lounge is a must
Public areas (bar & restaurant) are wonderful
Food was the best of all lodges we staid" See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"Okonjima was one of our last destinations during our amazing two weeks in Namibia, I confess I thought I had seen it all at this point. Okonjima delivered some of the most incredible experiences of our holiday. The setting is delightful, anywhere with a 28km drive is going to be good! We were at altitude at about 1500m so the air was thinner and the wind much more crisp and biting in the winter which made for a couple of cold drives in the bush.

The main lodge is so beautifully designed around a watering hole and each lodge had its own mini watering hole. We had a leopard guide for the first evening and she seemed to lead us on a wild goose chase through the bush until finally revealing herself to us right next to the vehicle. In the evening light the whole scene was breathtaking. The following day was planned to be a relax day for us, we setup in our lodge for reading and taking pictures of the birds next to our mini watering hole only to be treated by: Springbok, family of Warthogs and a real treat a family of Sable all within 2metres on the other side of the window completely oblivious to us." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"Again the welcome talk was about what wasn’t included. There were also staff problems and we gave feedback at the time.

I personally didn’t like the accommodation though it was spacious.

The food wasn’t brilliant and there was the same lunch menu each day.

Our guide seemed unused to visitors who were pleased to see and understand every bird and insect. In other words it was all about leopard sightings and he mixed up a female with a male. Luckily we had a vet on our jeep !

We felt the guiding experience was rather manufactured overall." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"What a place this was! The c20km drive to the Bush Camp from the road itself was really interesting, so by the time we got to the Camp itself we were very excited to see what was on offer.

The rooms were superb and the huge, separate lapa (we called it the party room!) was a fantastic addition. The setting for meals was also beautiful and the quality of the food and service was excellent.

The trips themselves - we did 4 in total, 3 game drives and a visit to the Africat foundation/cheetahs/lions - were brilliant. We had a great guide (Immanuel) who really knew his subject expertly as well as the leopards we were tracking. We were lucky enough to see a leopard hunt, stalk and then kill a steenbok; then saw it again with its cubs; had a leopard walk up so close next to the vehicle that it's tale almost brushed up against us; and 3 rhinos up close at a water hole......amongst other more "normal" sightings!

It really was an extraordinary place and made for a perfect end to our holiday; I would also say that 2 night minimum are needed here.

It was also a very easy drive from here to the airport for our flight home, along very good quality tarred roads (part of the B1 is now called the A1 as it's a dual carriageway!)." See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia

"great leopard watching" See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"When we arrived at Okonjima Plains Camp (for our stay of three nights) we were informed that we had been upgraded to accommodation at the Bush Camp, which was indeed of the very highest standard (these comments .

It would be hard to imagine a more luxurious setting. Our room had wide windows looking over the bush, with a conveniently-placed watering hole not more than a couple of metres away, that during our stay was visited by warthogs, meerkats and all kinds of birds, including some spectacular hornbills.

Our meals, at the main lodge building, were outstanding (and the setting, on the edge of the bush, was breathtaking). The staff were attentive, friendly, warm and helpful.

The lodge is geared to offering visitors the experience of sighting animals in the wild, with numerous activities on offer to help ensure that they do. We visited the night hide - none of the animals decided to come out that night, and Juuson, our guide, seemed more disappointed than we were. He was determined to make up for it on a drive early the next morning, on which we saw rhino, wildebeest, hyena and leopard (amongst many, many other things).

Like the other Namibian guides we've met, Juuson was full of insight and enthusiasm for his work. We got an extra insight into his skill when we met another visitor who was out for a long walk alone. A few minutes after that encounter Juuson stopped the vehicle and pointed at the ground nearby and said "Hmm, he *said* he wasn't lost, but he spent quite some time here walking around in different directions trying to decide where to go" - clearly, a good guide can also track human animals very effectively.

There are numerous walking trails at Okonjima, accompanied by some slightly eccentric maps. The trails are not always sign-posted as well as they could be and it was a little too easy to lose the trail. But walking peacefully in the wilderness, we saw all kinds of things at close hand - it was a beautiful thing to be able to do.

Our stay at Okonjima was a first-class experience." See all these reviews: 5n in Namibia

"Okonjima should be on a different scale than any other lodges. In my opinion, and my son's, it wasn't just excellent -- it was perfect.

We stayed at Bush Suites which was stunning. The Suites could be in Architectural Digest as is. More importantly, the staff was far and away the best I have ever seen. Melissa and Gideon seemed to really want everything to be perfect for us -- and they listened to what we wanted.

We chose to go on a leopard drive with Gideon but told him about our interests in the smaller stuff. We saw bullfrogs, terrapins, tortoises, dikdiks, etc. as well as leopard and brown hyena He also was very knowledgeable about plants and birds. We arrived back late from the drive due to a severe rainstorm. Three different people were posted to check on our safety and Melissa had a fire going for our arrival "home." Unfortunately we could not do a night drive or pangolin walk due to the rain.

We had said we wanted to see the center in the morning but Gideon did not blink when we changed our minds to a game drive at 5:30 am. My son stayed up all night videoing the night time animals including a genet cat that Melissa told frequently appears in search of grapes. My son didn't want to miss a minute with unnecessary sleep.

I actually hugged Melissa goodbye something I have never done in 60 years of traveling. I cannot say enough.

Our only regret is not staying a second night." See all these reviews: 10n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana; 1n in South Africa

"Upon arrival, the cheerful gate attendant happily told us we had been upgraded to Bush camp, so this review and ratings apply to there rather than the Plains Camp (which we are sure is nice too!) We had previously stayed at Bush Camp 4 years ago.

We arrived from Windhoek in time for lunch, and we had already been pre booked onto the afternoon activity, starting at 4pm. We were staying for two nights, so signed up for further morning, afternoon and night activities to keep us occupied for our time here. The room is very well equipped, and we also enjoyed the 'open air sala' lounge area next door to relax and drink tea whilst observing the wildlife between activities.

We enjoyed all of our meals here and think the food is excellent. Gideon, our guide was great and very knowledgeable. We shared a safari vehicle with 4 other guests for all activities bar one (which they didn't do). It was also nice to catch up with Opari, our guide from 4 years ago.

As like last visit, we are very impressed with the levels of research and conservation that takes place at Okonjima. We hope to return again!" See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia; 4n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe