Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs Ant from Surrey

"The staff were all very friendly and helpful, the room was comfortable and very interesting with its 'open' shower, and the breakfast was good. We were also intrigued to discover that Prince Harry had also stayed in the same room as us in July! We ate out in Windhoek in the evening so didn't experience the dinner available at the guesthouse but noted that several other people did eat in.

Please note we did not stay at Galton House - we stayed at the Olive Grove - so the ratings below are for the Olive Grove."

"We had a lovely stay at Okonjima. The room was delightful with an uninterrupted view over the plains.

The staff were very good and helpful, the guide was excellent and found 5 cheetahs and one leopard, as well as plenty of other wildlife."

"We were disappointed that Onguma was, effectively, some distance (in time, at least) outside of the Etosha National Park. The camp was well situated directly overlooking a waterhole that was visited by a large number of animals throughout the day.

However, after Okonkjima the game drives seemed average at best. We were quite disappointed with the morning walk - we seemed to learn a lot about termites - and saw nothing reasonably close or special.

We saw most when we were relaxing and looking out over the waterhole and we also enjoyed relaxing at the swimming pool."

"We had a problem with the room we were allocated, as the hot water didn't work and a section of roof was loose and clattered around in the high wind in the early evening. However, the staff were very good and offered us two other rooms to choose from (another bush chalet that was close to the road and a waterhole chalet).

In the end we choose the waterhole chalet because of its location, although it was quite a bit smaller than the bush chalet and felt slightly cramped. However, it was very conveniently situated for the waterhole which was the highlight of the camp. On the first night we saw 8 rhino's at the waterhole and the next day at one point there were 17 giraffes at and around the waterhole. We also saw oryx standing in the waterhole to drink while other animals were around the edge.

The only activity we participated in was a night drive which was initially spoilt by high winds and then heavy rain but the guide was very good and found some interesting wildlife for us."

"We thought Doro Nawas was delightful - a wonderful setting and very friendly and helpful staff. The chalets were very spacious and charming with great views over the plain and the ability, if you wanted to, to wheel your bed onto the verandah and sleep under the stars.

We had a very good morning game drive to find desert adapted elephants and drove ourselves to see the rock engravings and organ pipes.

One highlight was the impromptu (or so it seemed) singing by the staff at the end of the meal on our second night."

"The Lodge's setting, overlooking Windhoek, was good but we didn't enjoy the very bumpy 10 minutes drive over a not very well maintained gravel road to get to it and didn't think it was really much closer, time-wise, to the airport than the Olive Grove - the main reason it was recommended to us.

It was unfortunate that our stay coincided with an office party and the waitress who served us for dinner wanted us to sit outside next to the office party having pre-dinner drinks, rather than sit inside. She had pointed out that the dining room was stuffy and it was much cooler outside, but some guests arriving later insisted sitting inside and the patio doors were duly opened to provide adequate ventilation!

So we accepted a table outside (before the other guests arrived) but after placing our order were left waiting for some time before our food arrived. During this time we became disturbed by the noise of the party goers and their smoking, so we had to ask to move inside. While this was more comfortable we were still forgotten by some of the waiting staff and had to remind a waitress that we were waiting for desert. She was very apologetic, but it didn't make up for the fact that either other waitresses or the kitchen staff seemed to be swamped by the demands of the party.

We had to leave before breakfast the following morning and were supplied with breakfast bags but, despite telling the staff that we needed one gluten free meal at dinner, the packed breakfast was not gluten free.

In hindsight we would have been much more comfortable and would rather have stayed at the Olive Grove."