Travel reviews by Ms O from Vancouver

"Nice spot but we were there less than 24 hours, so I haven't any comments."

"We had a great time here and loved the location. We had a very nice tent off at the far end so we could pretend we were all alone with the scenery.

Our guide on the Sossusvlei trip was really good. Otherwise, though, service was friendly but slightly off. We never really understood what the activity options were. Perhaps there should be a schedule posted? Nor could we determine the cost of our drinks (we were on a half board tariff) until we checked out."

"Cornerstone has nice, conveniently located rooms. What really sets it apart is the service. Everything was simply made easy.

Dinner reservations made, breakfast moved up to accommodate the kayaking, advice and assistance with anything we could think to ask. Lovely, lovely team."

"I'm so glad we stayed here for two nights. The scenery is gorgeous: a rugged, rocky bowl strewn with random boulders. It looks like giants tossed them about.

Much as I enjoy safari outings the lack of exercise can be wearing. Erongo Wilderness Lodge has a number of walks leading from the camp. We did the Sundowner and Baboon walks. Both were of easy to moderate difficulty and had great views at the top.

I also went to Paula's Cave. Saw lots of birds and some animals (baboons, zebra, dikdik) on the drive. The art itself is quite interesting.

The birding was very good with lots of noisy lovebirds flitting about and a number of endemics (Monteiro's hornbill, rock runner, etc). Casually sitting on my deck with ordinary binoculars and a pocket guide I spotted over 20 species.

Speaking of which the views off the deck are spectacular. Absolutely loved the design of this place. Tents were nestled into the rocks and angled away from each other to enhance privacy.

The food was very good and the service friendlier than usual. Walked with Clausus (not entirely sure about his name, he's from the Caprivi area) and he was fun to spend time with.

The pool was a little murky, but they had a severe water shortage. So that's quite understandable."

"Ongava was terrific. The waterhole was quite prolific. Without leaving camp we saw impala, kudu, giraffe, zebra, an elephant take a bath, and, one night, lions.

On the game drives on the reserve, we saw white rhino and lions, in addition to the usual suspects. Really liked that we were allowed out of the jeep to view the rhinos. Our guide was Bono, and he was very good. He provided a great introduction to Etosha and helped us plan our crossing after we left.

The camp generally was slightly more rustic than some of the other places we stayed, which I enjoyed: it seemed a little "wilder". That said it was very comfortable.

This camp was more social than others. Management socialized with guest and guests were encouraged to mingle. It made a nice change."

"The Outpost is gorgeous. The main villa is beautifully decorated and to call the accommodations "tents" seems misleading. It was certainly the chicest tent I've ever seen.

This was toward the end of our trip. We'd been driving rough gravel roads and rushing from activity to activity for almost two weeks. Mushara was an oasis of calm and relaxation. We went into Etosha with a guide in the morning and saw some interesting animals (large herds of giraffe - some sparring, cheetahs, hyena, and a black rhino). Came back to the Outpost intending to have lunch and a break and head back out. Instead we just relaxed into a lazy afternoon.

We were the only guests, which could have been awkward. However, the service was nicely balanced between attentive and discrete. The lack of other guests highlighted the oasis feeling."

"We arrived at Okonjima to find we'd been upgraded to the Villa. It was phenomenal. Two other guests joined us for dinner the first night and the next morning's activity. Aside from that we had the place to ourselves. It felt like a private house, but with a bunch of staff including a chef.

The activities were great too. Really enjoyed the cheetah tracking, especially because we were allowed to approach closely on foot. We did it twice. The first time we had to chase them down and had quite a long walk. The second time we found a pair quickly. These ones were kind enough to stay still and pose for us.

The Africat tour was very informative and provided another opportunity to get quite close to a leopard and cheetahs."

"This was a quick stop before catching an early morning flight out. The pool and deck areas were very nice.

The staff was friendly too."

"We stayed here only one night as a rest break after the flight down. It was pleasant and comfortable.

Dougie Wright, the manager, gave us a bit of a game drive, which we enjoyed at the time but was quite overshadowed once we continued on our trip."

"We really enjoyed our stay at Tau Pan. The camp itself is lovely with beautifully designed and very comfortable rooms. We particularly liked how well visually integrated the camp was with its surroundings. Staff was very friendly in general and the evening campfire fun.

Our guide, Lucky, and tracker, PK (sp?), were wonderful. They were friendly and extremely knowledgable. We'd never been on safari before and so had no idea what to expect. Lucky and PK taught us a lot and were simply good company over fairly long days. Lucky is particularly knowledgable about birds, and PK's bush skills are fascinating and impressive. The guides were all quite friendly, and we had a great time with them one evening when they regaled us with stories from their guiding experience. Another staff member, Milady, was a gracious hostess.

We saw quite a bit of wildlife including three separate groups of lions, antelopes galore (primarily springbok and oryx, but also hartebeest, kudu, steenbok, duiker), bat eared foxes, jackals, ostrich, lots of birds and an impressive looking cobra. Others in camp at the time saw a cheetah hunt. Birds spanned the range from eagles and vulture through ground birds to lovely little bee eaters.

The bushman walk with PK was excellent and a nice break from the jeep. The trip to Deception Valley is well worth it but LONG and covers some rough terrain.

The food was of generally high quality but the remoteness of the location means there's a little less fresh food than some other camps and more of an emphasis on stews and roasts."

"We only spent two nights at Kanana, but enjoyed our time there. The tents and central areas are lovely. Game here is not as plentiful or diverse as some other locations but we were lucky enough to see a leopard hunting on a night drive. We also saw giraffe, hippos, impala and a semi resident elephant, George.

The primary focus is on water activities. We had a fun motor boat trip through papyrus lined channels to a heronry but this wasnt the right season for most birds. We did see some marabou storks. Other interesting birds included saddle billed storks and ground crossbills.

Our guide was Kenny who was knowledgable and easy to get along with. He had a sense of humour too - tipping us off to the "Ugly 5" at the heronry. His bush walk was also interesting. He knew a fair bit about the plants and their uses (including how to use a poisonous one to feign illness and get out of school as a boy).

One problem was that our transfer flight to the next camp was booked for shortly after 10:00, which meant our mokoro trip the second morning was rather short. The manager, Murray, was upset about this but unable to remedy the matter.

Murray was an engaging host. We were the first guests of the year and greeted with sparkling wine accordingly. He's a larger than life character, and my husband in particular enjoyed staying up talking with him by the fire.

The food here was notably good."

"Shinde was wonderful. It had a very nice balance of land based and water based activities and diverse wildlife. Since we arrived early in the day our guide, Banolo, took us on a mini drive from the airstrip and in 15 minutes we saw lots of elephants, zebras, giraffe and of course antelope. That evening Banolo was able to track down a leopard with her cubs and a few days' old kill. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

Camp common areas are quite lovely, resembling a very elegant tree fort. The tents were very nice too, but not as spacious as those at Kanana. Like Kanana Shinde had a number of pleasant service touches such as coffee delivered with the wake up call and in room brandy with glasses. The swimming pool here was a little larger and a pleasant place to spend time with refreshments stocked in a cooler. The food was good.

The hosts here are a married couple Farley (sp?) and Maggie. They are excellent hosts; evenings around the fire were entertaining.

Banolo was a good guide. While having a leopard around was lucky, he also knew quite a bit about animal behaviour and birds. We spent a relaxed evening fishing with him that was a lot of fun. We did catch bream and the kitchen cooked it for us too.

There weren't many other guests around so we pretty much had the run of the place and very personalised service."

"Lebala was another lovely camp. The tents are particularly nice here, being large and quite airy. Also appreciated the return of outdoor showers (both Kwando camps we visited had them). The common areas, while perfectly pleasant, werent quite as nice as the Kerr & Downey ones. Generally Kwando seemed to have nicer rooms while Kerr & Downey had nicer common areas. I think that Kwando should have reference books available, esp for birds. The food was very good - especially baked goods.

Game was variable. We were lucky enough to have a pack of wild dogs in the area (we didnt really realise at the time how rare this is) but on a few drives didnt really see much. But it's entirely possible that's the voice of a jaded safari-er at the tail end of her holiday!

Again I was very impressed by the staff who were uniformly pleasant, courteous, and competent. Our guide Kanawe and tracker Bowman were cheerful and knowledgeable company. Staff were a little more gregarious here than the other camps - perhaps they'd worked together longer."

"Loved the Vic Falls Hotel. Classic colonial grandeur next door to one of the wonders of the world. The breakfast buffet was excellent and drinks on the terrace looking over the bridge and the falls mist cant be beat. We did the formal dinner on our last night and it was excellent, but it was a little sad to see how few patrons they had.

The town of Vic Falls was an interesting place to spend a couple of days, but it's clear the locals are in tough economic times. Whenever we left the grounds people tried, persistently but politely, to sell us curios and even wanted to trade for articles of clothing and shoes. That said there was an active tourist policy force in evidence who helped to keep the hawkers manageable.

Also had a nice dinner at a restaurant in town (near the hotel, just across the tracks) called Mama Africa's. It was the one time we were able to try local cuisine on our trip."