Reviews of Sam's Giardino
Wildlife sightings and reviews
173 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Sam's Giardino and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
"Time to take a break from driving"
Sam turned out to be a very friendly and interesting person. He is very proud of his establishment and rightly so. We were able to relax in his lovely garden and we enjoyed the breakfasts and the evening meals - we only bothered to eat out once at 'Erics'.
Whilst in Swakopmund we enjoyed two trips that we had organised through Expert Africa - a day out with Ernst (Turnstone Tours) and a morning kayaking with Jeanne Maientjes (Eco Marine Kayak Tours). We were extremely lucky to have Ernst to ourselves and it was a very memorable day." See all these reviews: 20n in Namibia
"Sam's Giardino review"
Sam went out of his way to organise some excursions for us. The trip to Moon Valley was excellent thanks to another very experienced and accommodating guide.
Sam's hotel is extremely comfortable and we found the food absolutely delicious.
A great place to stay and, if the weather is good, there is a beautiful landscaped garden to relax in." See all these reviews: 10n in Namibia
"Swiss Sam"
The rooms are large and comfortable, and the food is very good." See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia
"Sam's Giardino review"
Room was small and had no fridge although our freeze packs were frozen for us. The guest house is 15 minutes' walk from the town.
Day trip to Sandwich Harbour - An excellent day with our guide, Ernst, driving over and climbing up the dunes, experiencing different shapes and colours of the sand. We saw very little wildlife, principally birds on the guano platform off the coast north of Walvis Bay, pelicans in Sandwich harbour and numerous desert insects.
Ernst is passionate about wildlife and conservation and shared his enthusiasm and knowledge with us in a most enjoyable and long day. Thanks to tide times and his passion to show us all that he could we were back at 7pm instead of the planned 5:30!" See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia; 9n in Botswana
"Nice break at Sam's"
Walvis Bay has some good boat trips that are well worth considering.
Just a comment for those planning a visit to the area, we drove from Kulala camp to Swakupmond and the roads were very poor and journey took us all day." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia
"Pity about the dog"
Although promised that the dog would not be in the public rooms when we were there (because of allergies) we had to persuade the owner to keep the dog out of the rooms." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia
"Sam's Giardino review"
We had dinner at Sam's the first night we arrived and the food was good. The breakfast was the best we had in Namibia - there was such a variety of things available.
Sam provides free internet access and tea/coffee with a wide selection of different tea bags. There are also lots of books (belonging to Einstein, his dog), that are available for browsing.
Sam's is about a 15 minute walk from the centre of Swakopmund - we walked and found it safe.
Overall, we found Sam's a very homely and friendly place to stay.
Sea kayaking excursion: This was a great half-day trip. Jeanne was very helpful and reassured us that the trip was safe. We saw lots of seals and dolphins - it was terrific when they came so close to the kayaks, and there are no other boats around. Jeanne kindly emailed us some digital photos of our trip.
Excursion to coastal desert: This was a great day-trip, even though we didn't quite get to Sandwich Harbour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and helpful. The rest of the party spoke German so he had to repeat everything for us. We loved driving and walking in the dunes, and running down them. We also saw a lot of bird life, including pelicans and flamingoes. Lunch was also excellent." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia
"Sam's Giardino review"
His phrase that has stuck is "Namibia is Africa for Beginners", it is absolutely true. Great choice for breakfast." See all these reviews: 19n in Namibia
"Sam's Giardino review"
Managed to get a table at the Tug restaurant in town, which is recommended for the food, even if the service was rushed." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia
"A unique hotel"
We ate in on two of our three nights, Pierre ably hosted our first evening, and both meals were enhanced by Sam's wine suggestions.
The location was great for getting around and seeing the sights. As ever the staff were friendly, happy and efficient." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia
"We had a ball on this trip, Ernst was a most knowledgeable and entertaining host. The civil engineering to get along the beach was great fun, the only shame was we only had a short time at Sandwich Harbour itself, this was because of the tides so even Ernst couldn't change that.
Dinner amongst the dunes with a flypast of pelicans was a bonus. The vast quantity of birds at the salt flats were breathtaking, as was the smell. All in all a great trip."
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