Reviews of Okonjima Bush Camp

"The title is perhaps a little harsh. But in comparison to the Wilderness Safari lodges we had stayed in, this privately run conservancy was our least favourite lodge. Not however that there was any lack of good animal sightings, far from it. But it was poorly managed, notably in the check in and the restaurant service.

On arrival I was asked to write my email address into no less than three separate forms and there seemed to be masses of paperwork to fill in. The restaurant service was regularly poor, and at times there were no staff attending to the needs of clients eating for maybe 10 minutes at a time. That is frustrating when there are drive deadlines to be met. Having said that, there are pluses too.

The Bush Lodge villas are comfortable and spacious if a little tired by reason of their age, and one had the feeling that Covid had hit this place hard and they were struggling to get back to normal. The place is a private fenced reserve of about 400sq. kms into which the notable introductions are leopard and white rhino.

The key drive is a leopard tracking drive, using some rather old fashioned looking UHF aerials to find the leopards, most of whom are collared. We spent almost three hours tracking without success in an overly full vehicle (seven guests, with those at the rear having a poor view) and had more or less given up hope before we found a male drinking at a waterhole and had an excellent few minutes with him at very close range. The animals are clearly very habituated to the vehicles so there is an element of artificiality about seeing them from such close quarters. Then on the way back to base we found a second male, by chance, with another good view. On other drives we were searching for rhino, with the number in the reserve a closely guarded secret. Our driver followed tracks and we seemed not to be having any luck when we came across first a large male, who obliged us with very good views as he searched the ground for the scent of his colleagues, four other males whom we eventually also found. Again they were undisturbed by the vehicle and walked by at very close quarters.

The other highlight was two sightings of bat-eared foxes out during the day which is unusual, and there were plenty of sightings of giraffe, zebra (including Hartmanns Mountain Z) kudu, eland, sable antelope small buck, oryx and wildebeest. Birds were good too and I was glad to have a guide who knew his birds. Other trips were less crowded and I did two drives on my own which is always good fun. Food was rather dull and uninspiring, and we heard others saying the same thing. The atmosphere of the place was nothing like as friendly or efficient as the Wilderness lodges, which may be an unfair comparison. There is a small swimming pool. One irritating feature of the set up is that there are some activities which are not included in even the full board price, including a night drive, and for which a £50 per head charge seems excessive. A pangolin hunt at night is even more expensive at £100, but there is a lot of tracking work involved in spotting these persecuted animals.

For anyone who like us had got accustomed to the high standards of the Wilderness Safari lodges in the more remote areas of the country, where the scenery is the main attraction, I would think this place would disappoint." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia

"The mission at Okonjima has changed from rescuing/relocating big cats to educational efforts, but it still offers opportunities to see big cats up close and personal.

Large separate areas are set up for the lions and cheetahs on the reserve, while leopards roam the entire property. In addition, we saw a larger variety of animals here than on any other reserve on our Namibia trip.

But the highlight of our visit was in the AfriCat research center, where a tranquilized cheetah was brought in for a check-up. The new director invited other Okonjima staff and lucky visitors there at the time to crowd into the examination room and observe the process, then help staff groom the cheetah's matted fur coat. That experience will be remembered for a long time." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia; 5n in South Africa

"The thatched chalets were beautiful with the main chalet having 2 double beds and the bathroom with plenty of windows in the front half overlooking the plains and a small water bath for birds.

On the other side of the path to the front door is a second chalet which is your open air living room with 2 comfortable looking stretch chairs looking towards the front, drink making facilities and fridge. There is also a container which has a jar of bird food which you can throw out to get a flurry of Guinea fowl visiting.

Having said all that, we were only there for one night and were barely in our room (beyond sleeping) which made it seem a bit of a waste.

We went for the leopard tracking both in the afternoon and the following morning and were successful each time." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia

"Can’t wait to return! What a fantastic way to end our trip, our guide was excellent, he was very professional and funny too.

Our meals were the best on this trip, the staff was absolutely amazing and the dining area was ever so lovely. I loved our spacious room, and there were guinea fowls and wart hogs right outside at times.

We went for some lovely walks, and our morning drives were wonderful.

The rhino tracking activity was one of the highlights of this trip, and so was the sighting of a leopard who walked past our vehicle. We even saw one male rhino as we were leaving the camp on our last day, what a privilege!" See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"Same as previous comments" See all these reviews: 21n in Namibia

"We stayed in the Villa last time. The facilities in the Bush Camp were excellent.

Although there are lots of collared leopards, actually seeing one is not a done deal. We tracked at least 7 over two days and actually clapped eyes on two. They are not big animals and if they do not want to be seen, they will not be.

Very knowledgeable guide who, to quote "did his level best to find the leopards". He certainly did, with some outstanding off roading.

It is a little sad seeing the cheetahs living out their lives in compounds but we understand that when they tried in the past to release them into the reserve the local leopards killed them.

Although not guaranteed, you do have a very good chance of seeing leopard here." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia; 1n in South Africa

"The rooms were very much to our liking." See all these reviews: 21n in Namibia

"Wonderful rooms, great staff and excellent food.

Did both the evening & morning game drives which were very good with knowledgeable guides.

Just wished we'd stayed here for more than one night." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"Our room was fabulous with floor to ceiling windows overlooking your own small private waterhole with another room adjoining outside set up as a day room with 2 day beds, tea & coffee, mini bar etc. Plenty of bird feed included too!

We had a group of warthogs drinking and bathing in the waterhole also visited by springbok and sable. We had Zebra roaming outside and on one morning we woke up to several giraffes in the very near distance with a couple of young ones laying in the grass.

We went on 4 Leopard trekking drives during our stay and Gabriel our guide was determined and did his upmost to find leopards for us. We managed to see 6 different ones including one with his Aardvark kill up a tree being stalked by another leopard plus a brown Hyena which all was very exciting.

We also visited the Africat Centre which was very interesting and found the 2 Cheetahs that live in the reserve ( in around 60 acres). Very nice to get up close to these and take some photos. Gabriel also arranged for us to watch from the hide the 2 lions having a feed that have been raised here since cubs when they lost their mother.

All the staff here were very friendly." See all these reviews: 21n in Namibia

"What an experience! Although it’s more of a fenced reserve than our previous stops we did see more big wild animals. On our arrival we saw warthogs( my favourite) zebra, red hartebeest, brown hyena and black backed jackal. Also a little genet. We did two guided tours. We saw the rescued cheetahs they have and a wonderful lilac breasted roller.

We were privileged to meet a pangolin that bustled past my feet! Here again we were on our own so the experience was so much more moving !

The accommodation was fabulous. I would recommend without hesitation." See all these reviews: 6n in Namibia