Travel reviews by Mrs V from Boulder

"The Peech was a fantastic location and hotel for our family's stay in Joburg as we started our African journey. We loved the location as it was in a quiet area and also close to a shopping center where we ended up having to visit in order to buy some clothes as our luggage did not make it to Joburg with us.

The staff was the best we have ever experienced: Everyone from the front desk to the restaurant to the driver that they hired out to help us get to and back from the Apartheid museum and the shopping mall nearby. Also, the front desk staff went above and beyond our expectations in helping us get in touch with Delta airlines and SouthAfrican airways to inquire about our delayed luggage. Also, once we left the hotel, they followed up with an e-mail that we had left a t-shirt in one of the rooms and would we want it sent to us and if so, where.

I would recommend the Peech hotel to anyone who wants to visit Joburg."

"We enjoyed the location and the whole experience was wonderful.

The only thing that would have made it more comfortable is if they had outdoor heaters at the pool restaurant. It got quite chilly in the evenings and we would have enjoyed our dinners more if we were warmer."

"I was unsure what to expect as this was a recommendation by Expert Africa. Since our family had already done a land safari, on a previous trip, and we knew we would be doing them at sites after Chobe, this river safari was really special. It gave us an experience and a view of the animals that is almost impossible to get from land. Also, we've been on river boats before.

I really liked that our cabin was above water rather than below. We got as close as humanly possible to elephants and crocodiles. All the activities on the smaller boats were great as well. We took advantage of fishing one morning as well as seeing the animals much more closely. Our main guide's talks about the animals and the village on the river were very informative.

The only thing that could have worked out better was if John was more helpful in confirming our next day's flight from Zimbabwe airport back to Namibia. In the morning of our last day, I asked John to check with the local tour company that was going to pick us up to check on our flights. He said he would see what he could do. He never got back to me and I failed to follow up. The next day, after we got through immigration and passport checks to get to Zimbabwe airport, we found out that our flight was delayed by 8 hours! Later, we learned that all other travelers were notified by their travel agencies about the delay and the travel agency had found accommodations/activities for them to do during their delay. That was not the case for us and one other couple from Spain. We ended up staying at the airport for 8 hours. Even the other couple's travel agency came and picked them up and took them back to their hotel for most of that delayed time. I think both John at Chobe Princess and Expert Africa could have alerted us to this situation as other travel agencies seemed to have been able to do so.

I will say that on the boat we did receive our luggage. It finally caught up to us and I believe this was due to the efforts of Wild Horizons/Africa Sport & Leisure, as well as Expert Africa, Avani and the Peech hotel, as well as South African Airways. We thank all of you for the herculan efforts to get our luggage to us 6 days after the start of our trip."

"We ended up spending very little time at the hotel as we arrived very late and left early the next morning. The hostess was very friendly and asked all of our questions. The breakfast was delightful.

This was the only place where we could hear the noise from the room next door. They were watching tv and that was annoying after traveling all day and wanting to go to sleep. However, they stopped watching tv right after we went to bed, so it stopped being an annoyance. It would be nicer if the facility had better noise reduction capabilities."

"I was unsure what to expect at this camp. I thought of it as a stop-over between Windhoek and Etosha National Park. Everything was first rate from the moment we arrived until we left.

The lodge and its reception/restaurant area are amazing. The leopard track was fantastic. We also had the chance to see the wild dogs and walk with the cheetahs. The service was great.

This stop we definitely a highlight and I highly recommend including this stop to everyone who plans a trip to Namibia."

"We loved our private waterhole. It seemed like this was the appetizer to Etosha National Park. We saw one elephant at the waterhole.

The next morning, one of the staff members gently knocked on our door at 7 am to let us know that there was a lioness walking in front of our rooms to the waterhole. That was the only lion we saw on our trip.

The wait staff, specifically, Edwil, was very attentive and I'll be forever grateful for his knock on our door to come out and see the lion!"

"I think my expectations were set too high regarding Halali camp due to the article I had read in Wall Street Jounral. Compared to Okaukuejo camp, I thought the facilities and the food was worse here. I know everyone will have a different experience at each waterhole based on the specific day and time of day. We had much more luck at other waterholes along the way and at Okaukuejo camp than at Halali.

The dinner was dismal. There was supposed to be wait staff, but they were overloaded and could not get to all the tables. Dinner was below average; breakfast was better."

"The waterhole we saw on our way to Okaujueo camp and the one at the camp were the ones where we saw the most number of different types of animals. Also, the waterhole at Okaujuejo camp was made more special for us because we saw one black rhino there.

The food and service was better than Halali camp."

"Our arrival was our most negative experience compared to all the other places we had stayed. Everywhere else we felt welcomed and that the reception desk staff was happy to see us. Here, the European woman greeted us with a quick hello and handed us off to someone else to show us the rooms. Once we got to our rooms, we found out there was no water in our two rooms. I brought this up right away. At first the European woman and the owner tried to give us different stories about shortage of water and when we can expect to have water during our stay, and when we need to go without water, and some of it was "oh well, it's Africa, and there's a water shortage. Deal with it."

Finally, the owner agreed to move us to two different rooms where there was running water and there was hot water. He said that the initial two rooms they had given us do not receive water from their reserve tanks. My question is if those rooms do not receive water, how do they expect anyone to stay there? In the end, we had a fine stay, but the start was terrible as we arrived tired, hungry and a need for using the bathrooms and shower and seeing there's no water and no one alerted us to that upon our arrival."

"We had a great stay at Sam's Giardino. Sam is a very pleasant man and he has a bit of a oasis in the city.

The only thing that would have been nicer is if we were about 5 minutes closer, walking distance, from the heart of town."

"We enjoyed our time at OR Tambo hotel.

We asked if we could stay an extra half day before our flight and, although, there was an additional charge, they were able to accommodate us.

We also had dinner and breakfast there and both were fine meals, especially breakfast."