Travel reviews by Ms S & Mr B from Charlotte

"This was a very clean and nice. We arrived after dark because of grocery shopping, cooler/coolbox hunting and dinner. The security guard let us in and said we could check in in the morning.

I found the owner extremely nice. Her breakfast was superb. She made the best bread of the trip. She offered us the last of her ice and some of her home made bread and a cooler/coolbox. The internet access was consistent and fast enough...something we didn't not frequently have in Namibia. Loved the blow dryer. Few places had a blow dryer in Namibia."

"Pending review
5 of 5 stars
We made it in time to do IT ALL! and we are so glad we did. We stayed in one of the room on the dunes. Be careful driving your car out there. We almost got stuck. The view was gorgeous. We were secluded enough to feel romantic. We went on the safari...and since we hadn't been to ETOSHA we were really impressed. I was a little shy to ask for the driver to stop where I wanted him too ...and am still kicking myself ....but we enjoyed it. We loved the cheetah feeding...but needed more preparation about how fast it was going to be. I thought we would at least stop the vehicle and have a 1.2.3 before they were fed. We had run the cheetah to the other side of the enclosure and at the end of the run back they were fed. I had on the wrong lens and missed it despite a warning.

I loved getting out of the car to watch them eat. Really fun. We went for the sundowner and as photographers we often appreciate the sunset more after it has gone down so we felt a little rushed to leave. We went on the night drive. Our driver tried for 3 hours to find us a leopard. I appreciate the effort but likely we could have in retrospect skipped this.

The room was beautiful...but Americans need to be instructed that that white rectangle on the wall was a heater that would keep the room from freezing. Loved the robe and hair dryer. Not many places we stayed in Namibia had these. One of the highlights of our entire trip was the Bushmen walk. LOVED IT. They were freezing and I felt a little bad but the pictures were amazing.

The meerkats, stinky the springbok, the oryx were surprising. I highly recommend the meerkats. We saw meerkats here on safari and no where else and then the following morning we photo'd the meerkats behind the lodge. They were adorable!"

"This is the only place to stay if you want to get to the dunes early. That is all I need to say in this review. If you want to get the shot of the Deadvlei in the shade and the dune lit like the Franz Lanting shot...then put off the trip until you can stay here.

We loved our room. The meals were excellent. The thing we disliked the most was the parking area was below the lodge. You were dependent on walking or having someone come down and pick you up by car and take you up. THe problem was that the person picking you up also took people's luggage to the room. So if you were unlucky to arrive at the wrong time...no one was there to pick you up. So we had to hike up with all our luggage. I think 50% of the time we had to hike the distance. That is really unacceptable. They desperately need a dedicated person.

We saw Oryx on the way into this lodge but never saw any animals at the watering hole here...but this is not why you are here. I wish they had a better map. I am very good with maps and assume they are accurate in orientation. Their map was not and I made some decisions based on it that were not accurate that cost us valuable time. I think something more organized to reference that described the hikes nearby and options of things to do would have been nice.

In the area, we enjoyed the hike at the Ses Reim Canyon very much. We hiked up Dune 45 and loved Hidden vlei and its serious hike and Dead vlei. Elium Dune was ok but we didn't hike to the top ...so maybe I didn't give it enough. I strongly recommend the helicopter ride to deadvlei for serious photographers. Our hot air balloon ride was cancelled but after some discussion we decided the helicopter was really the better option for us anyway. If you have a car, there seems to me no reason to do any activities with this lodge."

"We enjoyed our quick stay here. We were alittle confused upon arrival because from the direction we arrived the car park entrance was the first entrance we saw. You have to have "clicker" to get in...so we had no idea why the gate was not opening for us...but the security guard saw us and showed us how to round the corner and come in a different place. There ended up not being enough room for our car in the car park but we felt safe with the security guard.

We arrived just before sunset and it was clear that we were keeping the front desk person there....so don't be late. Everyone here was very nice. The night check in person wanted to help us with restaurant recommendations. We should have taken her up on this. Where we ate on our own devices was sub par.

The room was very nice. We figured out the white square on the wall was a heater. No blow dryer available here. The garden was particularly beautiful. I took mental notes of things to do in my own garden. Breakfast was really good and the gentleman who was working was delightful.

I recommend this place without reservation...as long as you know where to pull in!"

"This didn't start off so good. When we came to check in there was no one at the front desk. We inquired and waited, inquired, and waited, inquired and waited and about a literal hour later someone checked us in. This person has to give a talk to you about staying at the lodge and I guess he had to do that with the previous group that checked in...but it seemed like an unforgivable amount of time to make a guest wait.


We came here to go on a desert adapted elephant tour. We saw elephants driving ourselves on the way in and an elephant on the way out...but none on the 5 hour tour...which I understand. If you want a guarantee then go to a zoo...but Ahhhh!!!!. They saw them in the afternoon and made a point of coming to tell us they had seen 18 elephants...which somehow was supposed to make us feel better.

This lodge was beautiful and had a gorgeous view. I think in the morning they need to remember that their guests are freezing and maybe keep the dining area warmer so I don't have to wear a hat and gloves to breakfast. ...Keeping the glass doors closed still allows us to see the gorgeous view. For anyone driving in, we had to pass a Doro Nawas camp on the road that was a little confusing.

Our room was clean. The room service excellent. We appreciated the hot water bottle and special attention from the room staff. I would have loved a robe (since the morning air was so cool) and a blow dryer... The staff was really trying to give excellent service and sang for us one night. The top of the lodge was a terrific place for night star photography. It was a fine place to stay to go to Twefelfontein, the petrified forest, and organ pipes. I would have like to have taken in the living Museum as well."

"We just spent the night here. We gassed up and provisioned up and moved on. This place worried me from the outside but was extremely acceptable inside. I thought this was how all our lodging would look like in Namibia. This was our most basic room...but it was relatively clean and felt very safe which are the most important factors to us. The town was fantastic ...but dusty. Loved walking around this town and seeing the mix of Himba and Herero people walking around. Fascinating."

"We had the best service of the trip at this lodge. I can be needy and tend to have lots of special requests. This lodge handled every single request with grace. The location of this place was amazing. We had no idea we were going to be on the river within sight of the falls. In fact our room is in the backdrop of our pictures of the falls. WoW. It was terrific to fall asleep to the sound of the falls.

The only negative was the lack of electrical outlets in the room but we could charge at the front desk easily. We took in the rafting and a slightly debacled crocodile walk (not the lodges fault), sunset waterfall shots, sunrise waterfall shots, and a Himba visit that was really excellent. This lodge helped me get models for a photo shoot at the Falls for which I am appreciative.

The room is tent walled and ceiling'd with a wood floor an insuite bathroom. Mosquito nets provided over the bed. We had electricity provided to our lights all night long."

"This is another NWR camp that has parking down below the lodge and poor service of pick up and drop off because the person asigned to do pick up has been assigned other duties. It is a long way between rooms so if you arrive while someone else is being dropped off then you are out of luck. Again we had to hike up to this reception area from a remote parking area.

The room was gorgeous. The ride on the shuttle on the narrow side walk was a blast. The driver was very nice too. The food was excellent. I missed having a robe and a blow dryer. We arrived late and left early but enjoyed this place. There were plenty of electrical outlets in the room which was a rarity."

"Because Saskia put on our reservation that we were Keen Photographers we were offered an upgrade after a cancellation to a room facing the water hole. Amazing. I guess I had not had it pommelled into my head that this was the best of the best of the best waterholes and to spend time at night here at the waterhole.

I had not figured out the game are cold in morning and no around until 10 or 11 in the morning and the absolute best use of my time was to stay up and watch the watering hole. Instead I would peak at it as I passed by and then run to my room to go to sleep because I had to be up early. MISTAKE. My biggest regret of the whole trip. What I did see was magical.

Guy was sick here so I did spend plenty of time at this very nice watering hole during the day. This was one of the best watering holes we saw on the hole trip. Don't waste it! I think our room had a little rodent or something bigger than a lizard...but a refrigerator took care of my food worries. The room otherwise was great. I missed a blow dryer. The meals were excellent.

I had heard that rooms on the water hole were bothered by all the noise of the tourists. Nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone was Church quiet at the watering holes."

"Our room was very simple here. But totally adequate for us. We don't need luxury. Just clean and safe. The water hole set up was quite intimate feeling. Kind of natural arena style which kept you closer to the animals.

We caught a rhino just after sunset at the watering hole and this was magical. We didn't stay long at the watering hole. The fire had burned a lot near Halali. I hear a trash burn got out of control. So sad. Totally preventable."

"This open layout room was beautiful...but I really wanted a door to the toilet. I love the designer's work that does these rooms at NWR places. I liked our room but was not crazy about the hike required to go to the water hole, to reception, to eat dinner or breakfast.

The waterhole here is not as good as Okaukeujo or Halali but we managed to get what I think will be stunning elephant drinking shots at sunset. Just lucky. The waterholes seems overgrown to me. It limits what you can see.

The raised walkways needed maintenance. IN the US this would never be acceptable. People might fall thru those broken boards."

"We had a very nice stay for 2 nights at Nhoma camp. These are simple tent rooms with wood floors and tent ceiling and walls. Furniture is simple and functional. The bathroom is connected. The first night porcupines ate the water line so there was no water for showers in the morning.

The toilet kept malfunctioning....but this is the place to stay to be close to Arno who I esteem was the resident expert. He was more chipper in the morning and gruffer as the evening went on. His frustrations with Namibia, the government, NGO's, and the bushmen were palpable ...and understandable. I think he is a realist and unfortunately a little miserable. I appreciated very much his expertise and his honesty. I think some others in the camp did not. I found his discussions eye opening.

Don't drive that last little bit to this lodge without a 4 wheel drive. The sand is steep and deep. The lodge is within walking distance of a Bushman village. The visits were genuine and not fake. They were and were not as I expected. Overall a very very nice stay. I recommend a 2 night stay to be able to visit the village and go on a Bush man hunt. Ours was long and very hot. Be prepared."

"We stayed in Main camp. It is hard to imagine 2 levels of nicer facilities at this place. This was beautiful. My favorite interior design was at this facility. I took pictures all around the room.

We loved our Cheetah walk and leopard tracking. We had a sundowner with a sleeping leopard. The staff seemed to be completely oriented toward our satisfaction. The internet was unusable. It was just too slow. Our view room was nice but we had quite a hike to the lodge. The food was excellent.

We had a little ant problem... but no big deal."

"I was so impressed with the service provided by this place. The staff were all very nice and determined to make it an excellent stay. I liked the communal sitting for dinner. It made for nice conversation. They were flexible with our check in times.

THe rooms were totally adequate. ..not as fashionable as some rooms we had stayed in...but we don't need that. We appreciated teh availability and the included meal."