Travel reviews by Mr U & Mr G from Germany

"The lodges location with private access to the National Park makes sightseeing really enjoyable"

"Great setting in a beautiful landscape, interesting nature drives and delicious food! What more can you ask for?"

"Stunning landscape and interesting all day nature drives including a visit to a seal colony and a Himba village - but the experience does not come cheap. Unfortunately, the kitchen and dining room of the main camp had burnt down three days prior to our arrival, and on the flight we were joking we might only be served smoked fish as a meal. No, it was not as bad, and - given the circumstances - the staff managed reasonably well to make the best out of it."

"Certainly a place where we could have easily spent another day or two. A small charming seaside resort with nice shopping and restaurants, a very clean Internet cafe to catch up with the news from home, comfortable roomy bungalows on stilts, and finally the Tug - a seaside restaurant run by the same owner as the Stiltz (the hotel will make a dinner reservation for you) - with delicious food and a great selection of mostly South African wines. The day trip to Sandwich harbour with Turnstone Tours was one of the highlights of our entire Namibia trip with hundreds of pelicans and comorants by their thousands near the shore."

"Close to the Twyfelfontein rock art site, also good chance of seing Desert elephants in an unusual environment"

"Beautiful landscapes combined with sightings of oryx, ostriches, impala, desert elephant and mountain zebra. Black rhinos, however, come at an extra bonus, and while our guide went out of his way to find them - he sprinted up several hills to see if he could find them on the other side of the mountain range - the effort unfortunately remained fruitless. On this drive, we saw some fresh lion tracks, which certainly added to the excitement, but the lion did not show either! Game is quite skittish, not surprising considering hunting is taking place some time of the year. Some dinners are served BBQ style in an open area some 200 yards from camp, beautifully lit by a large number of small lanterns."

"The real benefit of Ongava is its private game reserve with a high density and diversity of wildlife. We spotted lions and white rhino on several occasions, but missed out on leopard and black rhino, which also exist."

"Game drives in the private concession rather disappointed - the drive into Etosha park, however was satisfying with sightings of lion (far away), elephants taking a mudbath, close ups of spotted hyena and jackal, great birdlife, and of course, lots of zebra and giraffe. The game inside the park seems so used to vehicles, that you can come quite close to the animals."

"Used as an overnight stay on our drive from Etosha to the Caprivi strip, Hakusembe offered comfortable accomodation - the sunset cruíse offered is well worth the money."

"Lianshulu Lodge seems to be frequented by larger groups from the States with only few remaining private travellers. It took almost ten minutes for somebody to show up at reception upon our arrival while staff was listening on a lecture about the regions history given to the group travellers. We thought the boat rides were more enjoyable than the drives, mind you, after heavy rains in the wet season, grasses were unusually tall and game difficult to spot."

"Our hosts were going out of their way to make our stay as comfortable and enjoyable as they possibly could. The quality of the accomodation, service and food were all excellent, and both, boat rides and game drives, enjoyable. We did not see any predators here - the closest we came to was some drag marks which led us to find a leopard kill. Good sightings of a variety of kingfishers and some beeaters."

"The National Park in close proximity to the lodge is relatively small, so you encounter quite a few other vehicles. Boat rides are quite enjoyable with close encounters of lazy crocs and pied kingfishers feeding."

"Just what it is meant to be, a place to stay overnight on a long road journey. Nothing to tell grandma about, but."

"Okonjima is a special place in many ways. If you have missed out on wildlife viewings of cheetah and leopards on the rest of your trip, this is the place where you are almost guaranteed some close encounters with both. It is exciting, but not quite the same as spotting one or more of these beautiful creatures in the wild. Most animals that are scheduled to be released into the wild have been collared so they can be tracked easily - in the case of cheetahs this is done by foot, while leopards are tracked during game drives. We were kind of lucky on one day, as we came across three out of the five leopards living in the enclosure on a single day - one we tracked and two by coincidence. It is tricky to photograph the collared animals at an angle where you cannot see the collar in the image. Even if the animal looks backwards and the collar seems hidden, you usually spot part of the antenna on closer inspection of the image. Not to worry, the experience is great regardless. And at nighttime you can opt to be taken to a feeding place where you will encounter plenty of porcupines and, on rare occasions, even a wild leopard. Food and service are excellent, the accomodation is spacious and comfortable."

"We stayed here for a couple of nights before heading back to the UK from Windhoek. Erongo offers some pleasant walks and is popular with birders for some rare species like Harlaub's francolin. The viewing deck next to the dining room also offers a chance to see some bird species in the nearby trees. On the nature drive, do not miss out on the nearby rock paintings! Back at the lodge, the food and wine selection are very good. Internet is available against a fee at reception. If the weather is not too hot, visit the Omaruru chocolate factory for a tasting - the ones filled with liquor are particularly recommended."