Travel reviews by Dr M from Rickmansworth

"This was just a stopover for us but the rooms, setting and meal were all good.

As a stopover location it is excellent as it is a 5 minute drive from the B1 just north of Mariental."

"A fantastic experience walking through the NamibRand Reserve in the company of our excellent guide Sebastian and camping under the stars. We learned so much about the environment and wildlife and the scenery is spectacular.

The 2 camps we stayed in were in beautiful locations and the team did extremely well serving up tasty food, setting up our camp beds and even providing hot water bottles. Going to bed under the stars and waking up to see the sunrise (with cups of tea in bed provided) was fantastic.

If you go in July/August prepare for it to be very cold at night - the Tok Tokkie leaflet can be a bit misleading as to what you need to bring. Take lots of warm layers, down jackets are ideal, hats and gloves.

Lastly we have a family member who is gluten intolerant and despite the challenging catering conditions she was given gluten free bread, cakes and meals whenever food was provided.

If you like getting close to nature and walking don't miss this trip!"

"Little Kulala is a smart, modern resort. We arrived having just completed a 3 day walk, camping out under the stars so felt a little scruffy but were soon put at our ease.

Little Kulala is all-inclusive which we didn't realise beforehand so all meals, drinks and activities are included. We were assigned a guide and we agreed an itinerary for our 2 night stay. Of course this included visiting Sossusvlei, Deadvlei and climbing one of the Dunes but also included a nature drive and quad biking near the lodge (not on the dunes!). Little Kulala is lucky to have private access to Sossusvlei so do not be put off by how far it is from the main gate.

The level of service is excellent and the food is healthy and delicious. A highly recommended place to stay and be well looked after."

"Because Brigadoon is a B&B this felt rather impersonal compared to our other holiday accommodation but this is probably the nature of the accommodation in Swapokmund.

The rooms and at the side and rear of the main house, behind a secured gate and surrounding a nice garden. There seemed an emphasis on security with a guard present in the evening for the parking area. Unfortunately a couple had their rear windscreen smashed even though the guard was present and this was rather unsettling.

We have a family member who is gluten intolerant and had contacted Brigadoon about this in advance but no gluten free bread was provided.

The en suite bathrooms are 'open plan' i.e. there is no door between bedroom and bathroom which was a bit strange.

It would have been useful to have known in advance that July/August is peak season in Swapokmund and evening meals/activities need to be reserved well in advance. We were lucky to manage to get on to a trip kayaking with seals at Warvis Bay at short notice and would highly recommend this to other visitors."

"This is a large lodge with functional rooms serving buffet breakfasts and evening meals. It is in a good location for the nearby Unesco rock engravings and we highly recommend visiting. Organ Pipes and Burnt Mountain are also nearby although we found these disappointing.

What made this for us was the trip to track desert elephants. I use the word 'track' loosely as actually our driver seemed to stop and ask the locals which way to go! However we found the elephants so who is to judge. And the elephants were magnificent. They were quite some way from the lodge but the scenery here is fantastic and provided a beautiful place for a sundowner on the way back."

"Damaraland is enchanting and Etendeka has a great atmosphere - we highly recommend this to those who are happy to put luxury to one side to experience this beautiful place.

The 4WD drive in from Palmweg is stunning and is a game drive in itself. The double tents have stunning views, spotless outside toilet and the famous drop bucket showers. Everyone eats together and so this was good chance to meet other travellers, some of whom we bumped into later at other locations. Our teenagers were pleased to meet other kids of a similar age.

The owner Dennis and our guide Bonny made us feel were in a special place. Dennis has a telescope and encouraged us all to look and understand the Southern Sky. Over dinner Dennis was happy to share his views on the Namibian environment and to discuss related political issues.

We highly recommend visiting Etendeka Mountain Camp and we wished we had more time to walk in this area."

"Having stayed both here and on the Eastern side of Etosha, in retrospect we preferred the landscape of Etosha more on the East. However Okaukuejo has a fantastic watering hole within the camp (surrounded by a wall) where you can just sit and watch the animals come and go. This is particularly amazing at night and it seems no 2 nights are the same. On our first night we watched a herd of elephants there and on the second night there were several rhino.

It is also very convenient to stay inside the park. This saves a 10k drive in and out of the gate each day with a variable amount of queueing.

The camp shop sells a good guide to all the animals and birds you are likely to see in Etosha and includes a good map. It is a shame this isn't offered to you when you buy your permit as we only found it by accident and other people didn't know about it.

The camp shops don't sell much in the way of food. You can get some snacks and frozen meat but you can't buy the ingredients for an entire lunch or dinner.

The buffet lunch/ dinners are pretty repetitive and cafeteria standard. But it is all about the waterhole!"

"Mushara Outpost consists of a stunning main lodge with double luxury tents in the grounds. To be honest you can hardly describe these as tents at all. They are fantastic hugh ensuite bedrooms that just happen to have canvas walls. They each have an indoor and outdoor shower, minibar, veranda...It is very quiet and relaxing here. They do not take young children.

Dinner is superb and eaten communally. Pre dinner drinks are taken around an outdoor fire.

Mushara is a few kilometers from the Von Lindequist Gate and then 10km on to Namatoni camp. There are are several good watering holes near to Namatoni. We saw lots of animals here."

"There is one big reason to visit Okonjima: Africat.

At Plains Camp no activities are included. However there are many things you don't want to miss such as leopard tracking, cheetah tracking, visiting the Africat Centre and possible a night drive. On the grounds that we were unlikely to ever visit again we did all of this and this added a substantial amount to our bill but it was worth it. Children aged 16 and under are charged at a reduced rate. The trips are amazing and should not be missed. Our guide was excellent and highly informative. The landscape is stunning.

Plains Camp is has a highly modern main building, food is served amongst wood burning stoves and is delicious although not it is not always made clear what you are being served. The staff are all extremely friendly and good fun. Highly recommended."