Travel reviews by Piotr & Glen from London

"River Crossing was a really nice, quiet and friendly place to stop for one night and a good rest after a long flight from Heathrow to Johannesburg and then onto Windhoek.

The cottage was really nice, secluded and thus quiet, and the bed super comfortable, the shower had lots of hot water and the swimming pool in the main house an extra comfort.

The dinner was very tasty indeed and staff very friendly."

"As otherwise in Ghanzi there are not many options to stay overnight, the Kalahari Arms Hotel was fine for a 1 night stop over.

The dinner was really good, especially the piri-piri chicken livers for the starter! The cottage itself was fine. Although it cannot be helped, the bathroom had a big ant invasion however this wasn't too bothersome.

I would recommend staying here for no more than 1 night, but it is definitely worth having this option if you are doing a long drive towards Maun or Okavango Panhandle (which is where we were heading)."

"Nxamaseri Lodge was excellent - not least because Glen and I were the only two guests for the entire stay.

We loved the chalets, with the front being completely opened which meant getting to hear lots of animals in the night and early morning. The staff - Tiaan and others, and our guide, Phoraki - were all brilliant. The food is definitely another memorable thing about staying at Nxamaseri - the lady who cooks does an incredible job - the beef and then pork chops for dinner were amazing.

Really cannot fault anything there. Definitely worth coming back!"

"Whilst the accommodation was very luxurious, comfortable and relaxing, we found Divava to be exactly what it is, a luxury hotel & spa rather than a Namibian wildlife destination.

We enjoyed the dinner which was served to us in a private room, which was a nice touch; the food was nicely presented but perhaps the quality could have been better (definitely hotter in terms of temperature), bearing in mind that Divava advertises itself as a 5 star location.

It was a nice place to stop over at though but perhaps on the next travel would not be staying there and have chosen a more remote, or more wildlife-based, option."

"The first night we were the only guests at the Lodge which meant that we felt as if we were staying in a totally private venue! Excellent. We really enjoyed relaxing on the observation deck with book and cold beers, watching the elephants across the river and hippos, of which there were many!

We had a great river cruise with Alfred, saw lots of hippos, and our sun-downer was made super special by a sudden arrival of a herd of elephants on the river bank where we were having our wine! We were served a delicious dinner, at a lovely set table on the massive veranda deck, and slept incredibly well!

The next day had an awesome drive with Dusty - quiet to begin with but again, the sun-downer stop by the Hippo Pool was made super special by another - this time even bigger - herd of elephants (we counted at least 30, with lots of little ones) which came over to drink from the river. And the massive croc which was trying to get to one of the little elephants but was effectively nearly stampeded by protective mum and aunts was a sight to see! Superb. Food on the second night was great again and also we would like to mention how nice, friendly, laid back and helpful Annette, the manager, was to us, as was Michael from the nearby Lianshulu Bush Camp.

All of the other staff were also very friendly! The swimming pool is also a great option for a bit of chilling out and cooling down."

"We really liked staying here as the accommodation - tents on stilts - was different to the other places we stayed so far on the trip or were going to stay afterwards. The food quality was really good and Simone, the owner and manager, was very friendly, welcoming and helped to make our stay really nice, especially by joining us and others for dinner for the first night.

We really enjoyed lazing around the swimming pool (it is small but definitely does the trick and is excellent for cooling down) the following day and then the big combo drive with Derek. It started off quiet but our patience paid off - we came across a really massive male lion that we were tracking in our car for quite a while, until the point that he came across two warthogs - the lion at some point looked like he was going to go for a kill but in the end got too lazy and walked off into the grass.

We then joined a boat cruise and were rewarded with lots of hippos and another spectacular sight - a lioness and two male lions eating an antelope which they must have just killed, followed by the two males rolling around and playing in the grass. Fabulous."

"We cannot fault anything about Garden Lodge - enjoyed everything there, starting with the warm welcome from Gaby, meeting her friends from Germany, having excellent lunches together, brilliant food for dinners, cooling off in the swimming pool, enjoying the views from our veranda, and having a really excellent time with our guide on both river cruises and the drive.

While the drive itself was quiet in terms of animals, we did see a big python, and the abundance of birds was excellent. The river cruises were amazing - dozens upon dozens of buffalo, dozens upon dozens of hippos, lots of crocodiles, scenes of animal carnage - crocs, vultures and other birds of prey eating a fallen elephant; and a pack of lions with two cubs eating another elephant right be the river, with a protective mother attacking a crocodile that was trying its chances with going for one of the lion cubs!

Really incredible and so overall definitely recommend Garden Lodge."

"Ilala Lodge was a very nice if not overly-colonial looking place, although perfectly nice and thus enjoyable for our stay at Victoria Falls.

We enjoyed the swimming pool and the room we had, also breakfast was abundant and tasty, but otherwise we spent lots of time in the Falls park and both nights ate outside of the hotel, at The Three Monkeys right next to the hotel.

That is a place we definitely recommend for excellent food, really affordable prices, great cocktails and superb staff service."

"We were welcomed by the team from Galton House and, after sorting out the car hire, we got some rest and then had dinner in the city.

The breakfast was very nice in the morning and we were the only guests, which made for a very nice and private morning meal!"

"The location of the Ranch is fantastic and our tent was extremely comfortable. The private jacuzzi on the veranda was wonderful. We enjoyed a very nice hike and also the dinner was very good.

Upon checking in we had a bit of a funny experience, as the representative on reception looked a bit confused why two men would be on a honeymoon, and after we explained to him, he then even asked, "so, who's the lady" - which was slightly odd and misguided. I would suggest that for the type of place that Bagatelle aims to be staff should avoid comments like that. Otherwise everything was fine."

"One of the three highlights in terms of where we stayed during our trip. Little Kulala is excellently located, and we had the most private cottage, the concept of the massive deck area and interiors is wonderful, and we also enjoyed a sleep on the roof bed under the stars, with the full moon.

The staff were incredible - welcoming, friendly, helpful, with an excellent sense of humour, those to mention especially were Andrew, Ingrid, Rosa, Eduard, and our guide Chris. The activities were excellent, perfectly organised, both the two sundowners and the trip to Sossusvlei.

Definitely recommended!"

"We found the location very good, for exploring Swakopmund. It is a guest house and does what the name suggests - we had a lovely room, very private, the breakfasts both days were very nice; the staff weren't present that much but we did not mind this at all - preferred to be left alone and in any case, we were out most of the time.

We must mention the two highlights of our stay in Swakopmund - firstly, our kayaking trip with Jeanne Meintjies in Walvis Bay Lagoon, seeing thousands of seal, playing with them, rescuing a seal pup, also so much enthusiasm, knowledge and wonderful service from Jeanne. We recommended the trip to two people whom we later met at Desert Rhino Camp, who were going to be a few days later in Swakompund, and they contacted Jeanne and also went kayaking, and both got back to us to say that the activity was absolutely excellent.

The second highlight was our dinner at The Tug by the jetty in Swakopmund - best seafood we have had in a long, long time."

"When we arrived at Mowani we felt like just relaxing, which is exactly what we did - reading books by the swimming pool, then on our private veranda with a gift of a sparkling rosé wine from the staff to recognise it was our honeymoon.

The sundowner - the location - is brilliant and the dinner that followed very good, with excellent service from Gerard. After dinner we had some drinks around the fire, and the manager spent a good amount of time speaking with us, which was a really nice touch."

"Desert Rhino Camp was by far the best part of our entire trip! There is absolutely nothing we could fault - from the welcoming of all the staff, led by the wonderful Elfreda, Simon, with particularly wonderful service from Elerie and other staff, to all the wonderful dinners, particularly the private "honeymoon" table that was set up for the two of us by the swimming pool.

All the singing, the dancing in the evenings, and the private and really moving farewell from staff, were something that we will not forget. We were made to feel so "at home", welcomed, felt like we were amongst old friends! We also met two great new friends, with whom we did all the activities, and that also made our time even better - not to mention the excellent service and sense of humour from our guide, Erwin.

When we were leaving we had absolutely nothing negative to feedback to Eflreda, and said afterwards that it will be very hard for any other place to be better."

"We had a nice stay at Hobatere - by far the best part was the service and friendliness of all the staff, and also the night drive when we got to see lots of nocturnal animals, and the very rarely seen aardwag.

The dinner was nicely set up for us in a private part of the garden, and we were recognised that it was our honeymoon, and so the service from everyone was really lovely.

The rooms are a bit tired but we understand that the Hobatere Lodge was only recently re-opened, so we hope that it has a successful future."

"This was the third Wilderness Safaris camp we were staying in during the trip. While Little Kulala and Desert Rhino Camp were outstanding, as per earlier feedback, Ongava was let down by service.

The location is wonderful, as was our very private tent, and the waterhole viewing from the verandas is incredible - particularly seeing 5 black rhinos while having dinner - were all very memorable. But in terms of the service, we felt it was quite distant, at times even strange (with one staff arguing that we shouldn't get a glass for a bottle of beer as it might get knocked over!), and also not once was it acknowledged that the trip was our honeymoon.

There was one lovely lady who served dinner to us both evenings, and another very friendly lady who served breakfast, but otherwise the service didn't feel very personal. Also on departure I was settling the bill and found the guy doing the check out to be rather cool, with not even a handshake for good-bye. It was a shame as the two previous lodges which are part of Wilderness Safaris were excellent.

We would not come back to Ongava, but perhaps even stay within Etosha at one of the camps there."

"What a wonderful camp to finish our memorable trip! We absolutely loved it - the room - even though called Standard - was excellent, the massive lapa brilliant for relaxing and for food, the activities and getting to know the work of AfriCat were all outstanding.

We really enjoyed the drives, and by far the highlights of the stay at this camp was the quality of the food at dinners, the acknowledgement of our honeymoon, and - most importantly - the friendliness of all the staff. We had a wonderful guide, Ims, helped by Opari, who were both extremelly funny and friendly, open-minded and helpful, and Ims particularly knowledgeable for a guide who is only 21 years old. And of course the staff at the Camp - led by Tobias, Angel and all their other colleagues, particularly Dennis, who looked after so well in terms of drinks from the bar. Absolutely fantastic time and we felt it was definitely worth spending two days before flying back there.

We will certainly consider staying at this camp again, and will be following the work of AfriCat, as we have made a donation to the NGO already."