Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs F from Bristol

"A lovely hotel with pleasant,helpful staff,good food and splendid views over the ever changing lagoon.

We could have stayed longer"

"One of the best places we have ever stayed - the location is magnificent, guiding superb, facilities excellent as is the food."

"A good place for a night in Springbok - the owner was very helpful and welcoming."

"We wished we had two nights here as we did not realise there was so much to see.

The staff were happy, friendly and helpful. Rooms clean and comfortable. The first time we have ever seen a giraffe sitting down in the park - it was gone when we returned that way later so must have been OK.

A gem of a place!"

"An enjoyable stay with some good night and day game drives. We felt that the staff needed to relax - they were doing everything right but seemed rather tense to us.

We disliked the ' bushman village experience' - they had made it clear that it was put on for us and these bushmen were the jeans and t-shirt kind normally but it still managed to be embarrassing. A much better way, we think, would be to have these people come to the lodge fully clothed and show us traditional clothes and perhaps things like making fire and string etc. perhaps a visit to N'homa would be of benefit we did not feel voyeuristic there."

"There were only four of us staying here so we felt very well looked after.

The staff were lovely- ready to talk, joke and answer all our questions.

Excellent guiding and game drives."

"Pleasant one night stay - only people there"

"I had developed a fluey cold at this point so found this a good place to read and take paracetamol!

However Kevin enjoyed some pleasant walks and a good game drive"

"Our first evening meal spoilt by a rat running over the foot of the lady on the next table. When we pointed it out to the waiter he just shrugged and walked away.

No jackals roaming the camp this year now there is a rabies problem which we were pleased about but perhaps they kept the rats down!

The rooms are staying well cared for although no crockery and cutlery for BBQing now.

Checking in and out much quicker than previously."

"Lovely room with amazing views.

The drive from Okaukuejo unbelievable with plentiful sightings of game, even a rhino walking past the car in the middle of the day.

Meals were only average at best, and staff needed training in customer relations and service."

"Wonderful stay - happy staff, knowledgable guiding, great rooms and food. Eating round a big table always a delight with the conversation flowing free.

With no moon the stars were amazing although we needed someone to tell us what we were looking at.

I think we enjoyed the service so much because it was such a contrast to Okaukuejo and Dolomite"

"Not disappointed - this was one of our favourites last year and had not changed.

The staff are friendly, helpful and can sing as well!

Desert elephants were found in abundance, rooms lovely and well cared for, food delicious, the Friday night BBQ. a treat."

"An excellent place to stay at either the beginning or end of a holiday.

The manager able to suggest a restaurant and book a taxi for us - nothing was too much trouble.

Rooms very clean and well kept"

"The owner was in Switzerland but the staff did a very good job of feeding us - we think that perhaps there would have been a better sharing of information about the facilities had someone with a good command of English had been present."

"Well looked afer by a young man who was put in charge of us."

"A great place to stay-rooms are excellent and the guiding was brilliant. Nothing was too much trouble for our guide.

Sitting round the fire at night, meeting some guys who were canoeing the length of the Okavango from the highlands of Angola to the Delta unforgetable-just an amazing place to stay."

"Probably our fourth or fifth stay in this lovely spot - just relaxing on the deck we watched otters playing in the river with a few hippo basking upstream while a fish eagle watched from a tall tree on the opposite bank.

Lovely sunsets from the boat and good company round the table at dinner. Horst really makes everyone welcome and took us on a great trip - seeing lots of roan, sable , tsebe and lechwe. The giant baobab is not to be missed."

"Very interested in the work the owners at Nkwazi are doing in the local village as we (our town) are involved with a village in the Gambia doing very similar things. This is the first time we have seen such involvment on any of our trips."

"It would have been helpful if someone had explained to us that the restaurant had moved since our last visit as we wandered around on the dark for a while before finding it.

A geat improvement with the paths concreted so now there are no loose boards and it is much quieter walking to the waterhole which was as quiet and empty as ever.

Some good game viewing at waterholes at this end of the park - often on our own as fewer people around.

The room was lovely however maintenance poor - one shower head badly corroded - it wouldn't take much to either replace or remove it."

"Great animal viewing at the waterhole - a shame we only spent one night.

Facilities as poor as ever - with a captive audience I can't understand how there isn't a thriving little supermarket, gift shop etc with staff who want to talk and interest you with things but customer service is not something you find in Etosha."

"Not that easy to find unless we just missed a road sign - we came upon the waterhole first and spent a long time watching giraffe, zebra, oryx, warthog and elephant - and a few ostrich- looking up we could see the buidings blending into the dolomite hill behind - a splendid location - and next time(!) we will spend two nights here.

Our road here was the less travelled one -- at one point we had to weave among springbok and zebra just sitting and standing on the gravel road as if no cars had been passed in a long while.

Not a place for those afraid of heights but the view from our room really did make distant elephants look like ants.

Meal times were a bit weird with long waits while food came from the kitchen to one of the two dining rooms."

"After the rather laid back or couldn't care less attitude of some of the staff in Etosha the service and care at Doro Nawas was like a breath of fresh air - we felt well looked after and as if the pe0ple really cared that we had a good stay with them.

The rooms had amazing views although we were bitten one night and thought mosquito nets could be a welcome addition.

The game drives excellent with knowledgable guide and driver - our sghiting of desert elephant amazing - we have tried to see them for years.

However the best thing was the singing at night - firstly a song to hope you enjoyed your meal and then all the staff joining together from manager to kitchen staff to sing a few local songs at the end of the meal.

We also met here one of the most inspirational women I have ever met - a Damara lady and area manger - whose name i did not write in my diary and wish I had - although I wrote her story in my book."

"Helpful staff , clean rooms, good food, and central location - all that we needed for our stay in this seaside town"

"Wow - what an amazing place - fabulous rooms with extraordinary views that changed with the light during the day, well informed guides, pleasant friendly staff, star gazing with experts, top class food and even some of the local singing - what a way to end what had already been a holiday of a lifetime. (We've had a few of these in Namibia!!)

Arriving by plane a real luxury to be spared the long drive - although we do enjoy the driving - but it seemed to give us an extra day of activities. Game drives, balloon flight, trip to Sossusvlei - I've run out of superlatives - just one of the best places we have ever stayed.

The star gazing too was excellent - both with the telescope being tutored by experts and from our bed when waking in the night."

"Harbourview Yzerfontein - spent two lovely days here visiting the West Coast National Park - spring flowers amazing - friendly, welcoming , clean self catering on the edge of the bay - views and star gazing wonderful

Bushman's Kloof - road from Clanwilliam now tar so journey much easier - food ,venue, room and trips/drives all excellent

Masonic Hotel Springbok - basic,welcoming,friendly - OK for a quick stop over

Goabib Mountain Lodge-warm welcome, great farm drives with lots of knowledge about the area , domestic animals and game

Villa Violet,Windhhoek - booked after recommendation from friends who stayed there in July - helpful staff, booked taxi to restaurant etc Well decorated room, clean, good breakfast

The places I booked were good although I would try somwhere else in Springbok another time - Bushman's Kloof (WE stayed there with Sunvil perhaps twelve years ago) was outstanding"

"As we arrived the baboons were raiding the bins around our cottage area - they were very fierce and snarled as we tried to get out of the car- once inside and reading the warnings about these wild animals we felt quite vulnerable -
The room was clean and comfortable if basic, food in the restaurant at dinner and breakfst was good, service friendly.
We didn't see the baboons again but they put us off the place"

"What we most noticed was the improved attitude of the staff - they were friendly, courteous and helpful - organisation was much better - collecting keys, getting back deposit etc welll organised

The rooms are being kept well and have not deteriorated since we were last there so I think perhaps standards of care have improved all round.

The waterhole was amazing - giraffes at sunset coming to drink, lion and rhino in the dark, antelope and elephant in large numbers during daylight.

We found the roads in Etosha to be much poorer and in some places felt that only a four wheel drive would navigate them however there were signs of work being done on the main road through to Namatoni"

"Drive to Namatoni very slow and uncomfortabe - road in very poor state
Clean, spacious room, well decorated, bathroom excellent

Stars amazing, waterhole elephants very close so some good close ups

Had a close encoun-ter with an hyena at a waterhole-we sat and watched him for maybe 30/40 minutes-we were the only people around -felt very priveledged"

"Warm welcome, clean well decorated room

We went on a sunset cruise - actually champagne sunset cruise according to the bill the next day - offered beer and wine - and thought it overpriced when we got the bill (asked the cost of any 'extras' after this experience! )

A pleasant meander down the river however the driver couldn't tell us the names of some of the birds and seemed to ahve very little knowledge or English which doesn't worry us but he seemed to have very little knowledge full stop - felt this was a management issue as the guy was try his best"

"Lianshulu had a deserted air - we were the only ones staying there and there were very few staff.
The rooms were fantastic - just as we remembered.

Almost felt as if staff were waiting for us to finish dinner so they could escort us back to our rooms as soon as possible - food was adequate but not outstanding although when we mentioned we liked fish someone caught a couple of small boney river fish for our dinner
Birds and game drives were excellnet - the guide friendly and knowledgable

The road from Kongola is being tarred and although it was reported to be taking three more years this will make getting there much easier - we drove down a parallel gravel road and found the signage to the lodge very poor - if we had got there late we would not have been able to see it.

Very disappointed with our stay here and thought it very over priced but the staff available were doing the best they could

We had looked forward to revisiting Lianshula again as we remembered it as a very special place - we were disappointed and did not feel it gave value for money"

"one of our favourite places and we were not disappointed

Fantastic noises in the night - we felt we were on a film set - good game drive into the park and boatrides down the river with knowledgable guides - a wonderful experience - we could have stayed longer.

Nothing was too much trouble - when the local garage had no petrol they managed to go and get us some the next day saving us a long bumpy ride

An amazing place - we would recommend it to anyone who wants a relaxing stay - a day relaxing on the dack watching a fish eagle hunt is a memory for a cold winter day back home- just wish the pottery wasn't so expensive now."

"Amazing journey to get here - the'jetty' for the last part of the trip just a few planks at the edge of a flooded field. We felt as if we were on an adventure - which of course we were.

Our guide 'Mr P' was brilliant - knew loads of facts, strong enough to push us through the drying river on a makoro and confident enough to suggest what we needed to see, patient enough for us to get good photos of some of the birds who were a bit too quick for us.

One suggestion - they have lovely bread at lunch and dinner so get rid of the soggy rubbery toast at breakfast and serve bread instead."

"Scary drive from the road - had we known the road was so sandy and with sharp stones we would have rung ahead and arranged to be met - they would have been quite happy to do this.

Good food, lovely acommodation, friendly people-learned a lot - the rhino here are magnificent and we seemed to see quite a few
An absolutely brilliant experience - would recommend a visit here to anyone wanting to see rhino.

The waterhole round which our tent was sited was busy all the time - although we went out on drives we could have just stayed there and let the wild life come to us."

"We did not enjoy our stay here - the room was adequate but very 1950s - nylon covers etc.

Did not like the idea of animals in cages - a lonely cheetah striding up and down, porcupine in another small area, emus?? inAfrica

Went on a night drive that was quite pleasant but felt with a more more knowledgable guide might have seen more.

Two small bottles of water, a beer and a glass of wine cost us 277 N$ - treble the cost anywhere else - even in Cape Town's Waterfront

Although there were several staff around when we loaded and unloaded the car no one offered to help us with our bags

Will not be visiting this place again"

"We lleft ourselves a long drive back to Cape Town...

Roads brilliant so stayed first night at Goabib Mountain Lodge - warm welcome , lovely room, good food and close to the road fro a quick get away in the morning.

Second night Clanwilliam Lodge- not a good experience as husband picked up a tummy bug

Last 3 nights at The Cube Guesthuose Hout Bay - wonderful room and views, great advice on what to do, best breakfasts we had eaten,"