Travel reviews by Mr DS from Surrey

"Directions to the lodge could have been better.

Very pleasant for an overnight stay close to Windhoek after a longish journey.

The Namibian cheese was wonderful!"

"We have graded 'facilities' as 'excellent' primarily on account of the fascinating waterhole"

"Again, the waterhole was reallly interesting.

Could have been more sunloungers round the pool.

Food was good, and it was obliging of them to charge me (the vegetarian!) half price for the buffet dinner.

Staff could have been a bit better informed (for example, we asked for details about the obviously recent bush fire, and the grave at Rietfontein (I think it was there), but the lady at reception didn't seem to know very much."

"Fine for an overnight stay. Food was good value. Pleasant grounds - liked the peacocks!"

"At first sight, the lodge seemed a little bit, well, underwhelming, but after we'd settled into our tent by the river, we found it a most friendly and comfortable place to stay. Johann was a mine of information; we enjoyed the river cruise - v good value. Bird life on the river was fascinating - not to mention the crocs, and the hippo who came out of the river to graze at dinnertime.

Lovely to sit outside our tent and just watch the river."

"Generally disappointing. The overall atmosphere was lacking, although the staff did try hard.

Activities very over-priced compared to other lodges (eg a river cruise was NS$480 per person, as compared with NS$180 or possibly NS$190 at Ndhovu). Overall lack of wildlife actually at the lodge - hardly any birds on the river, for whatever reason. Access was difficult, 40kms of very rough road - although a new road is slowly being contructed.

We were pleased to leave, to be honest."

"Transfer arrangements from Kasane airport to the hotel worked well (interesting river crossing etc!)

Enjoyed watching the animals in the grounds, lovely swimming pool, really good buffet breakfast. Choice of dining options for evening could have been better.
Hardly the fault of the hotel that the falls on the Zambian side were particularly dry this season!"

"Loved the game drives, river trips, food, location, everything.

Except there was a problem with our transfer from Kasane airport to the lodge; luckily it was pointed out to us that the drive to Chobe Game Lodge was NOT possible in a two wheel drive vehicle, before we attempted it, and we feel that Expert Africa should have arranged a transfer from Kasane airport to the lodge.

Luckily, Connie, one of the lodge guides, happened to be picking up another couple at the airport and gave us a lift; otherwise, we would potentially have had a major problem."

"Fine for an overnight stay, but wouldn't have wanted to spend more than one night."

"Loved the river trips; interesting trip to Tsodilo hills (a long way though!). Good to eat at one big table with the rest of the guests - interesting conversations.

Our designated guide, Small, worked hard for us. Transfers to and from the lodge were an adventure in themselves. Only thing was, your directions are now somewhat out of date - there is no longer a striped pole indicating the pick-up point, but a new sign advertising the lodge about 5kms from the turn-off to Tsodilo!"

"In restrospect, we felt that we needn't have stayed here at all, and would have preferred an extra night elsewhere, and then just driven from Nxameseri to Kalahari Bush Breaks for the final night; road surfaces were excellent, and it would have been easy to cover the distance in one day.

Hotel itself was adequate, but next door was a bottle shop one side and a take-away the other, and when we arrived, around 2.30 on a Sunday afternoon, the place was full of drunks - which kept up for the rest of the day. The hotel felt secure enough, but it felt rather uncomfortable that the guard and padlocked gates were to keep out wild people rather than wild animals!"

"A relaxing place to spend our last night - wonderful for star-gazing!

No activities as such were offered, but the dogs were entertaining (T-bone accompanied us on a short bush walk!), and nothing at all to complain about."

"Food was excellent, quite a performance, and they had made a real effort to provide my wife (vegetarian) with an interesting meal. Bar area was comfortable and welcoming.

A good place for the 1st overnight stop in Namibia. 1st experience of 'klick' bushmen language! We were a bit too tired to take advantage of the late afternoon game drive, after flying overnight and wandering around Windhoek for a bit, so we sat by the pool and relaxed instead.

We didn't realise there was the option of an early morning game drive next day, but it didn't matter - we saw plenty in Etosha!

We never did work out why two Sociable weaver-birds were so fascinated by one of our wing mirrors!"

"Evening sundowner walk up the kopje was good, especially the free drinks.

Ideal for visiting Fish River canyon, obviously."

"It was very cold, we had not been warned about the temp and winds! We'd only brought clothes with us suitable for a chilly English summer evening. No heating in the rooms and hot water in short supply. Went to bed with hot water bottle!

Also we tried 2 of the advertised trails and both times the signposts were inadequate. This could potentially be serious if caught on the mountain after sunset. Would be happy to talk about this."

"Early morning trip to desert and dunes very good. Guide only average, more of a driver than an expert on the area.

The lodge wasn't really prepared for vegetarian meals."

"We found the location of the B&B disappointing, after what we were used to! It was cold and windy when we arrived, so being close to the sea wasn't a particular advantage; a sea view would have been nice but wasn't available. The main problem was the distance from Swakopmund - certainly wouldn't have been a 30 minute stroll along the beach. We had to drive in and out of town, through a rather dreary and lifeless suburb (people commented that it was rather like the retirement area of Eastbourne!)

Giancarlo was charming, however - no reflection on him. Two nights would have been enough for us, rather than three - an extra night in Etosha instead would have been great.

We went on a day trip to Sandwich Bay with Turnstone tours which was expensive but very good. The guide, Ernest, was excellent very knowledgable and friendly. Would recommend to others."

"This lodge was absolutely great, everything you could expect, the best we stayed at! Just looking over the balcony of our 'tent' at the valley and the mountains, and feeling that we were the only ones there.

The 'sundowner' with drinks and nibbles, watching the sun go down, sharing the view with a small group of Hyraxes - that was great. Service was very, very good, bird-life was fantastic, particularly around the restaurant.

We found our trip in search of the desert-adapted elephants rather too long and a bit disappointing - we found them in the end, back at the water-tank in the village, more or less where we started. And we found that three stops for food, drinks and 'comfort' during the course of the morning were rather unnecessary. But our guide tried very hard - he was determined that we were going to see these elephants! And they were, of course, well worth seeing."

"We were very close to the waterhole, which was great! Lots of activity there (pity we missed the lion brothers!) Only problem was the camp, like the others in Etosha, is being re-furbished, so it looked a bit 'unfinished' and the restauarant was temporarily housed in a large marquee, very chaotic! The buffet was a bit of a scrum!

Discount for vegetarians if you only want the salad bar, but you have to make a point of it.

Didn't find the service all that friendly - could have done with more staff really.

We weren't expecting to have to pay a N$500 deposit on the contents of our room - that wasn't really a problem, but I did make it clear that there were two less towels in our room than it claimed in the printed itinerary. Just in case!"

"Our room was excellent - sunken bath, his and hers sinks! Our loo was open-plan, which seemed a bit strange.

if you were two friends sharing, rather than a long-married couple, this might have been awkward!

Quite a long walk from the parking area carrying our suitcases. Again, a lot of building work going on, but it should look good when it's finished.

The waterhole was disappointing - not much action. Though we did see meerkats on site, which was lovely - not having seen many 'in the wild'."

"All of the activities were extremely well-structured, and our guide, Jacques, and his assistants were a pleasure to be with. Jacques was very knowledgeable indeed, and we loved seeing the cheetahs and MJ, the leopard, who strolled casually across the track in front of our vehicle (after much searching!)

The layout of Main Camp was good - the garden area, the bird tables we could see from the restaurant etc. And we liked the lions too (though Tess growled at me!)

On our last morning we did the Bushman walk, and were very impressed."