Reviews of Okonjima Plains Camp

"On the road:
Drove to Okonjima via Outjo and Otjiwarongo. Amazing Outjo Backerei, good unfancy food, lovely staff and incredible value. No cash in 3 ATMs in Outjo, found some at one of the petrol stations at Otjiwarongo. We didn't find any petrol station out of fuel anywhere on our trip.

Upsides: the perfect place to finish your trip. By now we had seen and learned about animals and were not fazed to see them up close which you do from the minute you pass through Okonjima's gate. They are much more used to human contact and whilst they still run away, animals are regularly very close to or crossing the road. We did 2 of the unguided walking trails which we never would have dared to do at the beginning of our trip.

Excellent spacious functional bedroom with huge bathroom. Lovely view of the plain through glass window the whole width of the room. Not a fancy "Wilderness" bedroom but no worse for it, I actually really liked our room. However, the huge "Barn" main area where reception/dining room is located is a very cool space.
Excellent food, beautifully presented.

Lovely staff, every one we came across
Nice pool area and round swimming pool, although the water didn't look very clean. Still went in several times, very refreshing
Very good leopard game drive using telemetry to locate some of the collared leopards. Didn't give it an Excellent only because our vehicle was full and we had become very used to either small groups or being on our own on activities. I think we were lucky!

Downsides:
Many more people here. When the game drive goes out at 4pm, there are 8 full vehicles setting out (admittedly not all to the same area)" See all these reviews: 20n in Namibia

"We really enjoyed all aspects of our stay.

The room, main lodge, staff, food and activities were all of a really high standard.

We also observed a huge range of wildlife in addition to those listed below.

Once again extremely well- informed guiding." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia

"Four leopards, including a cub! Plus so much other game on the drive in/ out.

Great staff and so lovely to have warthogs, jackals etc wandering in front of our (enormous) room. We went on a leopard tracking drive, and were grateful that our well-informed guide was happy to sit for over an hour watching one leopard rather than moving on.

Later he went out of his way to find other leopards.

Really nice to have several options for self-guided walks as well. Would happily have stayed longer." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"Remarkable stay! We got upgraded to the Bush Camp!

Everything was outstanding, from the food to the accomodation!

Probably the best food was had here and the Onguma camp." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"We spent one night at Okonjima and would thoroughly recommend it.

The food and service were good and we were able to track 2 leopards on our game drive.

Our room was huge and had a lovely view overlooking the plains." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"We booked a View Room and it did not disappoint. All we could say when we entered the room was 'WOW'. All of one wall was a window out on to the plains and you felt like you were actually with the animals. There was a veranda with chairs and a bed with linen provided if you wanted to sleep outside. We didn't as there always seemed to be jackals close by.

We were in room 10 which was quite a way from the main building so we tended to drive down at meal times and for activities. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor tables and lovely firepit.

The staff were very friendly. The first activity we booked was Leopard Tracking and Daniel the guide was excellent. It was so exciting as he persevered in looking for one particular leopard who suddenly appeared on top of a mound of earth. We next booked a Night drive and although we realise that you might not see loads of animals, the guide did not engage with his guests and his light was broken and the red cover kept coming off which made it difficult to see anything. We spoke to the lodge manager as we were very disappointed with the whole trip and felt that it had been a waste of money. He admitted he'd had similar feedback and made a note of our comments but did nothing else. In hindsight we should have asked for a refund or at least a reduction in the cost as it was a very expensive trip.

We finished off with the Africat Carnivore Care and Information Centre which included a visit to the enclosures where they keep the cheetahs which cannot be released. Peter our guide was excellent and talked about the cats as if they were his family as he knew them so well. A perfect way to end our stay at Okonjima." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia

"The guides here were incredible and we learnt a lot.

It was amazing to get so close to lions, a leopard and cheetahs. Very interesting learning about Africat.

The lodge is very nice and food is excellent. Staff were very friendly." See all these reviews: 7n in Namibia

"We were actually upgraded to the gorgeous Bush Camp. This was the most traditional luxury accommodation and the additional room with loungers overlooking the watering hole was special. We felt the pool was out of the way and not inviting us to take a dip and the activity at the watering hole was mostly birdlife and a few warthog.

The attempts to upsell on the tours was quite clear - we were more interested in the night safari after two weeks of daytime safaris and they seemed shocked we would choose not to do the leopard safari with a 50/50 chance of sighting. We just weren't sure it was a risk worth taking at the end of three weeks expenditure!

We did eventually choose to do both but were late back from the sundowner tour and waiting staff seemed unaware we had a 45 minute turn around before the next outing and had prepared a lovely private meal for us in honour of our honeymoon, we felt really bad abandoning but were being chased by the guide for the tour and had to leave most of the wine and our dessert course behind. It didn't seem very coordinated or personalised.

We were very lucky to spot 3 leopards - one without a collar and the guide was fantastically knowledgable. Any more than 6 in the truck was problematic as some guests refused to share their row or insisted on outside seats which meant Tom had to squish in the front with the driver and I had to be very mindful of others in my row that couldn't see the wildlife if I wasn't contorted in a weird shape on our row.

Curios shop was huge compared to others and actually stocked wildlife books where no-one else had - a little late on our trip though.

The walking trails were a great option but we couldn't take advantage with the short stay we had." See all these reviews: 10n in Namibia

"Our view room was stunning. I appreciated how well spaced they were from the others and from the main lodge. To be able to lie in bed and gaze out at the plain, with springbok and kudu and giraffe grazing just outside, was wonderful. I loved the veranda with the day bed.

The service was extremely friendly and upbeat across the large number of staff.

The swimming pool was a little murky when I swam in it at around 2 pm on the day I arrived there.

A highlight was eating dinner just a few metres from the waterhole and watching various species of antelope come from drinks.

The food was delicious and well presented. I felt the lunch was overpriced, compared to what we'd seen in other locations in Namibia (315 ND per plate). This price was not on the menu we were given and while we should have asked the price, we assumed it would be in line with what we'd spent elsewhere (closer to 200 ND per plate).

We went on a leopard sundowner drive and an early morning visit to Africat and the cheetahs and lions there. Both were great and I enjoyed learning more about the work of Africat." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"This is a very unique place and experience" See all these reviews: 16n in Namibia