Travel reviews by Mr H from California

"We definitely stayed one night more than we should have -- but since I got a cold and my wife a stomach bug on arrival in Africa, it was very good that we had an extra day to recover.

The ambiance is wonderful, but basically it was more touristy than we wanted. The chef is good, but wildly overreaches his level of competence.

Strongly recommended for those who want to chill out at the start or end of an Africa trip."

"Our first stop on a 3-stop safari in Botswana. The rains had just started so the elephants had moved out, but they moved back the next day. We got to see a Serval twice, but no other cats. Good birds."

"This is not for everyone, but for me it was a life-time experience. We were there for 2 nights, and wish we had had 3 or 4.

We were lucky as the other two guests didn't like the experience and left early, so we two got to have the camp to ourselves. The guides were fantastic, and the pacing of the walking was just right. When you are walking, you don't see as many animals as close up as you do from a Land Rover/Cruiser (sometimes a good thing!).

Walking is a chance to experience the entire system, and feel its rhythm. We learned footprints, felt the pattern of land use by animals (from giraffes to termites), and had some time to just let Africa pass through our consciousness.

The other highlight of the walking trail was spending time with our hosts/guides. This camp gave us a much better feeling for the spirit of Botswana than any other experience, and the honesty, caring, and thoughtfulness of our guides was amazing. The food was great too--thank you Coulee!
A"

"This was the other highlight of our trip to Botswana. We were lucky to have "Moa" (Moamowedi Monwela) as our guide for 4 days.

The area used by this camp is extensive, so you can go for game drives and not be on the same roads each time. But we were lucky that over 4 days we had time to do a walking safari, and two water trips.

My wife is an educator, and a teacher of teachers, and she was blown away by Moa's ability to integrate and synthesize information, to use pattern to illustrate process. His knowledge of the animals, plants, birds is very deep, but his ability to explain what is really going on to people at very different levels of experience and knowledge was extraordinary.

Otherwise, the camp seemed to be run along the lines of other Wilderness Safari camps. Meals with a few staff, but mostly you talk to other guests. Self assured, very competent, but a little generic. The staff likes to stroke the guests' egos, which I guess is important to some, but a little tiresome to others."

"Convenient location, but the owner was a little concerned about our going out after dark, which was difficult when we didn't have a car. Two good restaurants w/in walking distance.

The most difficult part was that the only bank machine within walking distance didn't appear to be connected to international networks, and we had no Rand, so we didn't have any money until we were able to get downtown the next day.

Allan, the owner, is the friendliest man you will ever meet, and he will do anything for his guests -- except stop talking so we can express our desires! The room was large, and the breakfast delicious. They just got wireless for the building, but don't expect to be able to do much more than basic email."

"A great way to see Namibia.

Andre Schoeman knows the country inside out. Go for the geography, geology, history, and the story of conservation in Namibia.

Try to read the book on the Skeleton Coast before you go -- but it is available for purchase at the end.

If you can afford it, you should go."

"No comments. Repeat"

"Service was decidedly mixed. The hotel was nearly empty, and perhaps they gave everyone time off, but it was hard to even get a glass of lemonade in the afternoon. The trips were very generic -- you and 500 of your closest friends get to tramp across the dunes at Sosusvlei.

The guide was very sweet, but basically untrained on the biology of the region. Wilderness Safaris knows how to promote itself (lots of advertising material for other camps available if you want it!), but the experience here was very generic.

The advantage of this site is that it has a special entrance so you can get into Sosuvlei before the crowds, but our Land Rover broke down, and we missed the window."

"The owners were away, and Peter and Marilyn Brickford -- he is a leading conservationist in Namibia -- were in their stead, so we had a wonderful time talking about just about every conservation topic in the world.

Great birds, great walks, great landscapes, great geology, good wildlife, competent food, and a wonderfully welcoming atmosphere. We could have stayed a week! (We got the honeymoon suite -- fantastic accommodations, but up 3 flights of dangerous stairs). Not for the mobility impaired -- lots of stairs, lots of hidden dangers like patios without rails."

"Sam welcomes you by pulling up a chair to your table and launching into a conversation about Namibia, or Switzerland, or wine, or any of his many interests. He serves a large dinner if you wish, and has a range of wines that he pours by the glass. He seems to be obsessed to provide a "European" level of service in a medium-sized bed and breakfast in Swakopmund.

We had dinner twice and breakfast 3 times, and enjoyed it. The rooms were spacious enough, and the staff very helpful and friendly (the electricity went out twice, city-wide or nation-wide, we never found out which). There is not much within walking distance, so it helps to have a car. We particularly enjoyed the other guests: a geologist and a safari operator, from whom we learned a great deal."