Travel reviews by Mr C & Mrs V from Avon

"The staff were very welcoming, friendly and helpful.

The room was very comfortable and perfect for a one night stay.

After a long flight we wanted to have a walk but realistically Olive Grove is not within easy walking distance of the city centre. However the staff did suggest it was not a good idea to walk to the centre and offered to get a taxi for us.

Our dinner and breakfast were both excellent with a good choice."

"The room was comfortable and inivative in design. A hair dryer would have been useful. Given the distance of the room from the main lodge it would have been good to have had means of making drink or being able to store cold drinks without having to make a specfic trip back to the main building.

The food was well presented and a good selection both at breakfast and dinner. There was a limited choice for lunch. The staff were all friendly, obliging and informative.

Taking into account that we did not have independent transport and the weather was on the cool side within the lodge there was little to do so perhaps a 3 night stay was one night too many. Two activiites can and were done on one day, morning and sundown drive. The guides on both these activities were knowledgable and very informative. The remaining day we spent in and around the lodge the conclusion was that this was one day to long."

"The room was comfortable and spacious but the outside area had very little shade. Again no means of making a drink or storing a cold drink. There was also very few areas to relax in and around the main lodge that were comfortable and shaded. This was especially noticable at lunch time , there was a good selection of food which changed each day but no where to sit outside within the shade. It wouldn't have been to difficult to have put up a few umbrellas during the day time.

The food on the whole was very good, the choice may be considered excessive. Whilst the service was acceptable we didn't think it was as personal as we experienced elsewhere. This is possibly due the large number of guests compared to the other lodges.

All our activities whilst there were enjoyable. However the lack of our own car and our restricted ablity to participate in walking activies which were more than a short stroll meant that perhaps three days was too long."

"All the staff were exceptionally attentive and welcoming. Nothing appeared to be too much trouble.

The room/suite was very spacious and comfortable with luxury toiletries plus a TV. Laundry was returned the same day and was the best of all the laundry facilites of the whole trip.

Although there was no tea/coffee making facilities it was only a few paces to the main house and they were more than happy to provide drinks as and when asked for.

Suggestions for activities were provided. Bearing in mind we had prebooked a trip we wanted to ensure that any other activity we did would not replicate that. The staff went out of thier way to make sure this wouldn't happen and arranaged a boat trip which was excellent.

The first night we decided to eat at the Villa. As it turned out we were the only guests eating in that evening. This could have been a loney experience but the staff made it an enjoyable experience with excellent food, good wine and a pleasant atmosphere which made for a special meal. Breakfast each day was good, nicely presented and a good choice.

Being in a town made a change from the lodges and provided some shopping opportunities that weren't really available elsewhere. Gave us an opportunity to see a different aspect of Namibian life.

Whilst here, we organised a day-trip to Sandwich Harbour for these guests. They commented about this:

We enjoyed this trip immensely. Ernst the guide was exceptional as a guide and host - he made the day. We couldn't have had a better guide and he provided a very enjoyable lunch and interesting background information on Namibia as a whole. He went out of his way to ensure we saw Snadwich Bay, digging away sand so we could get through whereas some other guides decided it was too much like hard work and returned home.

We highly recommend the Turnstone tour and particularly Ernst."

"Compared to other venues this lodge is best described as average. The rooms were basic , the towels etc had seen better days. Food overall was good with a very good breakfast selection. However as we do not know the relative cost of staying here compared to the other lodges so we may be judging this unfairly given the price.

The elephant safari was enjoyable but we got the impression that we drove around for almost 3 hours and happened to come across 3 elephants at the end. The guide was not very inspiring compared to others."

"Dennis was an exceptional host as well as being extremely knowledgeable. We enjoyed the communal meals, although there was no choice of food the meals that were presented were very enjoyable. All the staff and guides were helpful and friendly.

The outside bucket shower was fun. It was surprising how little water you actually need to have a shower!

If you have difficulties walking then some of the walking activities were not easy and so Chris couldn't particiapte in them. The walk led by Dennis was by far the most interesting.

The afternoon activity guides were very good and knowledgeable and the 3 drives that we went on were all different in terms of the animals we saw and the information we were given.

Dennis had difficulty finding confirming the times of our air transfer with Wilderness Air."

"The accomodation was as anticiapated and the balance between 'camping out' and some elements of luxury were achieved. Unfortunately the weather was extremely cold during our stay so the overall experience ( especially in the bathroom) was marred by the weather. No fault of the lodge. The laundry service was quick and efficient.

Food was average, with no choice for starter or desert. The main courses were not particularly memorable or hot. The waiting staff were very friendly and helpful. Breakfast was disjointed and not sufficent time was allowed between the start of service and the departure time of the morning activity.

One guide was allocated to us throughout our stay which was good as it gave you a chance to get to know him. He was extremely good on the afternoon property guide ( ie in Ongava itself ) but the day excursion in Estosha was less productive. It was not helped by the fact that we were extremely cold throughout the morning which took the edge of the trip. It was a shame that more blankets etc had not been provided."

"We had a private transfer from Andersson's camp to Treetops. The vehical was an open 4x4, which made for a long very dusty drive ( not too good for somebody with breathing problems). However, even though it was a transfer, the driver went out of his way to make sure we saw more animals as we passed through Estosha. Apart from the dust ( and driver did his best to minimise the dust) we enjoyed this transfer more that the previous day's activity in Etosha.

The bugalows were as anticpated and well equiped.

David and the chef at Tree Tops were very attentive, welcoming and good hosts. One evening we had a bbq where it seemed an exceptional quanitity was cooked. However it was all very good. Choices were available at other meals all of which was cooked well and presented nicely. There was a very good choice for breakfast and the chef was happy to cook a variety of options for each of the guests.

Given that we had spent the previous days in Etosha we only did one activity (the Rinho drive) and spent the rest of the time relaxing. If you do not have a car the actual activities are somewhat restrictive."

"The staff were extremely friendly,helpful and nothing was too much trouble.

The rooms were excellent and fully equiped with fridge, coffee/tea making facilites and quality toiletries etc.

Given the size of the lodge dinner was disappointing. There was no choice. Whilst it's presentation was more sophisticated the quality of the actual food was no where near the quality we had experienced at the other lodges. Breakfast was good.

We were rather rushed into an afternoon activity as soon as we arrived and didn't get a chance to catch our breath. The same guide (Norman) was allocated to us during the stay who was very good and obviously very committed / enthusiastic about the project. It did feel a bit like being bomarded with information. Our other activities with Norman were excellent and possibly the highlight has to be the afternoon drive through a thunderstom being pelleted with hailstones and getting soaked. All was taken with good humour as we sought refuge at the other camp, were given warming drinks, dried out a little and then continued our drive."