Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs B from Swindon
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
8
Excursions taken
0
Departure and Namibia overall.
Namibia between 13 Feb 2017 and 4 Mar 2017
"Our departure from Windhoek was not as smooth as it should have been. A very good car and driver (Sam) were provided by Wilderness to take us to River Crossing. Sam had not been told what time to collect us to go to the airport on the following morning. He and I agreed that 10.30 would be a good time and that he would get Wilderness to confirm by phone later, that didn't happen. At 8 am on the Saturday morning still nothing had been heard from Wilderness. At 9 the hotel manageress phoned Wilderness only to told that they'd have to look it up and phone back, Just after 10 am they phoned to say the car would come at 10.50. Surely something as simple as fixing a time should have been handled far better and we should have known the departure time on the Friday evening. The second trouble was at the airport. Sam had been instructed that we had to go the Wilderness office so that they could assist our check in. The office was deserted and Sam went in search of any Wilderness employees. This was wasting our time and we didn't need assistance anyway. Eventually someone from Wilderness did turn up. "Good morning, you are checking in for the KLM". He looked surprised to be told we were Qatar passengers and didn't need assistance. This performance didn't give us any confidence in Wilderness's management, perhaps it was just their weekend shift. Despite this poor finish the trip had been a great success. The itinerary worked and we saw virtually all the animals and birds we were after. With the full advantage of hindsight I think we should have stayed one more night at Bullsport. But it was great to see Namibia again after 26 years and the huge changes that have happened in that time."
Arranged By Tom Morris
Sun Karros Daan Viljoen
"Sun Karros Daan Viljoen review"
2 nights
Arrived
13 Feb 2017
"Sun Karros. The rooms were fine. Bedside lights were an arty creation of oryx horns, quite useless. Our room had a faulty lock on the door which was speedily dealt with when I reported it. The main problem with the place was the food. There seemed to be two systems of catering, the normal when only a few people were staying was over large portions of 'greasy spoon' food. On Valentine's Day when it was stacked to the roof they pulled out the stops and produced a very good dinner. The lake in front of the rooms has been reduced to a small pool by Namibia's terrible drought, though by now it may be filling up again after the heavy rains of recent days. But while its empty the outlook from the rooms is not very attractive."
Good
BullsPort Lodge and Farm
"Bullsport Guest Farm review"
1 night
Arrived
15 Feb 2017
"An excellent stay, food was good and the room were spacious and comfortable. They deserve an Oscar for the luggage stand provided. Why can't more hotels realise that two people are likely to have two bags? I did ask Michael to report that our shower floor was slippery when wet, I hope he did."
Excellent
Sossus Dune Lodge
"Sossus Dune Lodge review"
2 nights
Arrived
16 Feb 2017
"We were pleasantly surprised by a lodge that exceeds the normal low standards of government hotels. The staff were excellent, friendly and efficient. The food was good though sometimes slow to arrive. The portion sizes were too big. The length of the walkway to the rooms is a drawback but it did provide exercise after too much time sitting in vehicles. The rooms are very hot. However if one ignored the the warnings about baboons (which were conspicuous by their absence) and opened both front and back doors and all windows the afternoon heat was manageable. At night all windows remained open as there were no mosquitoes."
Good
Lagoon Lodge
"Lagoon Loge"
3 nights
Arrived
18 Feb 2017
"The interior is arty rather than practical. Bedside lights are dreadful, too bright and shine straight in ones face. But we were comfortable and service and breakfast were excellent. The local restaurants added an extra dimension to our time in Walvis Bay. We had lunch and dinner at the Raft. We thought lunch in the bistro was better than dinner in in the very crowded restaurant. The Anchor at the Walvis Bay Yacht Club we though was easily the best food of the three restaurants we tried. The Tug at Swakopmund was good but not to the same standard as the Anchor."
Excellent
Ondudu Safari Lodge
"Erongo Wilderness Lodge."
3 nights
Arrived
21 Feb 2017
"This place looked fantastic, lush green and full of flowers. The result of heavy rain about two weeks before our visit. We had a great room and the food was good as was the wine list. Though it was a long trek down from our room to reception and then up to the dining room. A few points that might improve the room. A mirror in the bedroom in addition to the one in the bathroom would help. More shelving and rather less hanging space would be an improvement, together with another luggage stand so there's space for a second bag. Does the safe really need to be on the floor and jammed into a corner? It's very awkward to use. The shower floor which was dished has been painted with some sort of composition this is slippery when wet. Fortunately the rocky top to the wall provides grab handles to save oneself."
Good
Damaraland Camp
"Damaraland Camp."
3 nights
Arrived
24 Feb 2017
"A nice large room but it's layout is not altogether practical. I gather that management is aware of the shortcomings. The chief problem is that the bathroom door is a roll up affair made of canvas with miles of cord to raise or lower it, life is too short to struggle with it. But without a door anyone on the verandah looks straight at the W.C.! I though the food here was sometimes a bit variable. But being dependant on the skills available in the local community must make it very difficult. The staff are charming all smiles and songs but do their work efficiently. The afternoon activities are a bit restricted by the wind from the coast which blows up the Uniab valley causing a dust/sand storm every afternoon. This pretty much rules out the riverbed in the afternoon, we tried it and it was unpleasant. An enjoyable stay that could even been for three days."
Excellent
Desert Rhino Camp
"Desert Rhino Camp."
4 nights
Arrived
27 Feb 2017
"Another great welcome here and a reasonable tent, though it did have some drawbacks. The bedroom part of the tent is rather cramped and the space is out of proportion with the overly spacious bathroom/wash area. The luggage stand needs to be at the back close to the shelving and hanging space. I wish Wilderness would copy the design of tent in it's own camp at Little Makalolo in Zim, they are just right. The gravel path has worn away from the wooden steps up to some of the tents. This has resulted in the bottom step being awkwardly high. The food here was good and special mention should be made of the bush lunches on the rhino treks which were excellent. All the staff, guides and rhino trekkers were enthusiastic and friendly.The rhino trekking drives can be very long and the tracks are are very rough. On two days we were out for nearly twelve hours. That was fine by us but it does mean it's only suited to the dedicated."
Excellent
River Crossing
"River Crossing."
1 night
Arrived
3 Mar 2017
"If a few things are wrong with a lodge or hotel it sensitises one to yet more problems. This sadly was the case with River Crossing. No help was given or offered to get our bags from the car up the steep steps into the hotel in pouring rain. There were no umbrellas provided so we had to sit and wait for the rain to abate before we could go to our rooms. The paved path stopped at my sons room no.5. A grit path continued towards our room no.6 but the descent to the room was over uneven bedrock, definitely sub standard even for a one night stay. The room itself was fine. The main pathway to the rooms had quite a few small branches (thorny) growing out from the surrounding acacias into the path. So one had to duck and weave ones way along. A man with secateurs could deal with the problem in minutes. The swimming pool was notable for the rich green growth of algae growing on the sides. Oh dear! There was a mini bar fridge in our room. It had a list of it's contents and the prices, why should one have to pay for bottled water? As I was going to bed I wanted some water. Imagine my surprise to find the fridge had no bottles of anything in it, and my total amazement that it's only content was an insulin injection pen for a diabetic! I reported this to the management in the morning they looked shocked and did apologise. The fridge in my sons room turned out to contain one bottle of water. Your website describes the food as fair I think that's about right. I should add that the manageress was very helpful in phoning Wilderness several times to try and find out what time we were going to be collected. And that the staff were friendly and helpful except over our arrival."
Poor
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Poor
Rooms
Average
Food
Average