Reviews of Okonjima Plains Camp

"We are in Okonjima nature reserve, a family run lodge and conversation project. Once it was a cattle farm, now a 200 km2 nature reserve established in 1992. Through “AfriCat” focusing on the large carnivores; rescue, rehabilitation and release.

We are in the Plains Camp in the protected area. A bit like Jurassic Park, our little village is surrounded by fences to keep the large predators out! We all remember how that worked out in Jurassic Park ;-)

We leave the protected area tracking leopards. In front of the safari vehicle, our guide tracks the collared leopard with an antenna. Beep – beep – beep the sound get higher when we get closer to the animal. Why does it instantly remind me of Sigourney Weaver “Alien” from 1979?

At first, we see a beautiful young leopard in a tree. It decides to vanish into the bush.

Then we track a large leopard in the bush. It´s difficult to find. Amazing how deep into the scrubs we get. No easy route out again. There she is. Just next to a large tree. Guarding her evening meal in the tree. We keep some distance; leopards are very protective when it comes to protecting their prey.

Back in the Plains Camp again after an exciting game drive. Okonjima was just a stopover on our route to Mundulea (link), but it turned out to be a positive surprise. We were in the “standard rooms” rather than the “view rooms”. They were large and spotless clean, had all necessities and a fantastic view. Hard to imagine the view rooms can be much better!" See all these reviews: 35n in Namibia

"We were only here one night. Had stayed here previously, and the activity we most enjoyed was the night hide. We enquired about this, and we’re told that it was only available as part of the night drive.

So we paid £100 and did the night drive, only to discover that the hide was only available to Bush Camp guests! Disappointing.

The night drive was at 8.30, so we went for 7.00 supper. Service very slow, but we just managed to finish, only to discover that the drive was 9.00 - wrong information.

A disappointing end to a lovely holiday." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia

"The stay at Okonjima was the highlight of our trip. The whole camp is stunning: we were quite blown away by the quality and size of our room and by the trips we made.

Our introductory talk was informative and felt very personal. Our request to visit the Africat foundation at a time to better suit us was instantly sorted. We felt it was a bonus to be with the same guide, Asser, for all three of the trips we made; he was so helpful in providing a means for me to get in and out of the vehicle, from a step to a pile of rocks! It made our visit feel much more personal and tailored to us. Asser's knowledge really made this visit something special.

The morning game drive was wonderful, despite the freezing temperature! We roamed the vast reserve and truely felt that we were the only visitors, going off on routes that no one else took.
The leopard tracking was incredibly exciting and the first spotting of the leopard was magical. There was no rush to leave; we watched and followed her for over an hour, with the guide changing the vehicle's position frequently to ensure the best camera angles.

The visit to Africat Foundation was, again, made by Asser's informative presentation on dealing with big cats on farms; it helped us to understand the reasons behind the problems. The visit to the cheetahs was, of course, amazing.

The food here was delicious. A copious breakfast was awaiting after an early morning drive. Service at dinner was excellent.

We visited Okonjima 22 years ago. It was fascinating to see how it has developed, grown and changed, whilst keeping to the family-feel that it always had. We appreciated that many staff were interested in our tales of that visit and we have a request to send the photos." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia; 7n in South Africa

"Another cracking camp, and a room with a view - simple but again with a panorama of bush and grassland to look out on and well designed and spaced out. In retrospect we could have stayed here three nights instead of two as the drive to the airport is perfectly do-able in an afternoon for an evening flight. This is the only camp where we took advantage of the activities due to the limitations on self-driving in the main reserve (although we did one of the self-guided walks) - we went out twice with our guide John M who was very knowledgeable and great to talk to.

As with the Etosha camps, not listed but seen were springbok, greater kudu, and banded mongoose, and Okonjima is the first place we actually saw warthog. We also saw red hartebeest.

Wild dog are listed below but are not present in the reserve, as neither are lion and cheetah (although individuals may be present at the Africat centre). We saw spring hare on a night drive, and the close-up views of a leopard on the late afternoon leopard-tracking was stupendous, especially as the animal ignored us and carried on hunting." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia

"The View rooms are superb. Views out over the savanna so you can just lie in/on the bed and watch the wildlife as it passes. This is in the inner reserve (where the lodge and research stations are), so that is limited to antelope, warthog, jackal etc.

Drives into the outer reserve with the knowledgeable trackers/guides are fun and often result in the sighting of leopard and the night drives give a different perspective of the environment.

Cheetah are seen but these are held in large enclosures within the inner reserve as they are rescued animals that cannot be released into the wild." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia; 6n in South Africa

"Amazing reserve with excellent facilities and game drive and activity opportunities.

We had a view room, which was lovely and provided the perfect end to the holiday when we had our own audience with giraffe, kudo and springbok." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"We really enjoyed the setting of Okonjima Plains Camp and the rooms had a lovely view overlooking the plains where we could spot antelopes and warthogs and the sunset was lovely. We were also very impressed with the food.

The activities were disappointing. We did leopard tracking but our guide did not seem very knowledgable. We spent ages trying to find a leopard in thorny thickets and then he gave up quickly trying to find the second leopard.

We then visited the cheetahs and the Africat building where we found out they are no longer rescuing cheetahs from farms to rehabilitate them and return them to the wild as the project had failed and all the cheetahs in the reserve had been killed by the leopard and brown hyenas." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia

"brilliant location for Leopard and white rhino. The most amazing rooms with big picture windows onto the plain outside. Great water hole just outside the main building with regular animal visitors. Peter was an amazing guide - so knowledgable and interesting." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia; 2n in Botswana

"Okonjima gave us a perfectly situated first stop on our 3 week self drive: an easy few hours drive from Windhoek and yet moments after we'd entered the main gate the kids had already spotted their first antelope, giraffe and zebra.

Just as Expert Africa had advised, to begin with the size of the Barn and the style of the check-in felt a little impersonal, but as soon as we got to our rooms and found a family of warthogs sunbathing on our terrace we started to love the place. Our interconnecting View rooms were enormous, with those fabulous huge windows providing cinematic access to the wonderful open vistas around the lodge, and the ever changing wildlife grazing just outside. With winter temperatures colder than usual we found the rooms very chilly at night and in the morning, but the thick blankets and hot water bottles meant we were never cold in bed.

The food at Okonjima was as delicious as we'd been told it can be, with extra efforts being made to provide simpler meals for the younger kids when requested. But as others have said it was the opportunity to get close to the wildlife which stood out, plus the chance for the kids to visit and learn about the work of the Africat Foundation. We found this an invaluable introduction to the issues of conservation, community and tourism which were a constant during our trip.

Thanks to the time taken by our guides here to educate and explain, our kids started the trip in just the way we wanted: engaged and learning as well as enjoying. Our game drive guide Felix deserves a special mention: awesome off-roading skills and total dedication meant an unforgettable afternoon spent with 2 leopards, plus a very special drive home under the stars. Okonjima was voted by our 12 year old as the place he would most like to return to in Namibia." See all these reviews: 22n in Namibia

"Okonjima Plains Camp was a fun and comfortable stop on our vacation.

The rooms were comfortable. The food was very good. Our family especially appreciated the effort of our guide to help us spot animals and teach us about the wildlife.

We felt very fortunate to see an aardvark on our night excursion and to see 3 leopards on our tracking excursion." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia