Travel reviews by The Dassies from Cumbria

"The tents were very large and well furnished. Ours looked out over a water hole and channel that were visited by numerous elephant

The highlight of the stay here was seeing a pack of wild dogs. Our guide was excellent and found the best spot to photograph them from.

As the brochure said there wasn't an abundance of game on the way to the reserve but once there we saw buffalo, lions and many different species of birds.

The service was good, staff met us on every return from a game drive with wet flannels. A nice touch."

"This is a very special camp with luxurious tents set on the water's edge. Immediately on arrival we watched a herd of elephants swim across the channel.

Our guide was excellent and took us to see a hyenas den. We also saw a leopard, lions, elephants, buffalo, warthogs, hippos and several species of birds.

On our last night we had a private candlelit dinner for two on a pontoon out in the channel. It was very special."

"The standard of the tents here was not quite as high as the other camps. There was no electricity in the tent hence no fans. As it is very hot in September during the day we were quite uncomfortable.

There were also small details such as not being given wet flannels on our return from the game drives that meant the service here was not of quite such a high standard as in other camps. However the staff sang to us before dinner on two nights which was very special.

We took a trip out to the heronry on the double decker boat which was the highlight of the trip."

"This was a fantastic camp. The staff welcomed us with a song which was lovely. They also sang to us after our dinner one night..

Our tent was very luxurious and we had an outdoor shower (as well as an indoor one) where we could watch the wildlife while we showered.

Our guide had a great sense of humour.

The only negative was that on a couple of nights there was not quite enough food. This was probably because there was a party of people there with very healthy appetites. Once they left the portions seemed to be adequate."

"The water based activities were the highlight here. We visited the heronry twice. There were large numbers of egrets, storks and pelicans. We also went fishing and watched a fish eagle catch fish. Our guide was very helpful in trying to meet our wishes in respect of the water based activities.

The land based game viewing was not so good as the wildlife was fairly scarce. As the brochure had pointed this out we were not disappointed.

The staff sang to us on two of the three nights we were there which was lovely."

"We received a very warm welcome here. The staff were particularly helpful and allowed us access to our room as soon as we arrived early in the morning."

"Bagatelle was our first experience of a Game Ranch. The staff were very welcoming and helpful and were happy for us to upgrade to a wooden chalet on stilts.

Our guide, Paul was excellent, and we particularly enjoyed chatting to him during and after dinner. We particularly enjoyed our introduction to the four cheetahs they have here in the morning. It was well worth fitting this in before starting out on the long drive to Fish Canyon.

We would have liked to have stayed a second night. With such an early arrival in Windhoek with Air Namibia from London Gatwick it would have been possible to drive straight to Bagatelle and have 2 nights. It would have been nice to have this as an option although appreciate there can be flight delays."

"Canyon Lodge is quite a large lodge and because we arrived at the same time as several other guests we felt the welcome was a little impersonal. It was quite a drive from the lodge to Fish Canyon for sunrise and sunset photographs.

As we are keen photographesr it may have been better to stay at Grande View Lodge."

"An amazing and very special place. We stayed two nights and barbecued on both and then sat and watched the stars, the first night in total isolation as there were no other guests. In the morning we found two Klipspringers staring at us through the window.

The landscape here is beautiful, the mountains appearing to float on a sea of grass.

The Eagles Nest is however some distance from Luderitz and getting to Kolmanskop to take photos ar sunrise required some effort. We also found the gates to Eagles Nest locked early in the morning and had to wait until staff arrived to unlock them. Its worth checking that the gates will be open if planning to leave early. Nevertheless we wouldn't have missed staying here for anything.

Rather than staying at the Desert Horse Inn for our third night it probably would have been more convenient to stay in Luderitz although this would have made the drive longer the following day."

"The Desert Horse Inn provided perfectly adequate acommodation for our third night in Aus.

The staff here were very hepful."

"We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here including our evening sundowner and our all day game drive. Our guide, Italy, was very knowledgeable and helpful. It was the only lodge where we had a guide and vehicle allocated to just the two of us.

Before dinner the staff entertained us with a tradional song and the menu was explained to us in both English and the native language, a very nice touch. The meal on the first night was excellent but the standard on the second night was not so high.

The accommodation is in the process of being refurbished and enlarged. This is needed to ensure that Wolwedans maintains its status as one of Namibias most luxurious lodges.

We particularly appreciated the hot water bottles as it was very cold at night."

"Sossus Dune Lodge is ideal for photograpers wishing to visit the dunes at sunrise and sunset. We were able to use their private entrance to the Park which allowed us to gain access long before the public gates opened. As we had a 4x4 we were able to drive ourselves beyond the end of the tarmac road to Sossusvlei, this would not have been possible in an ordinary vehicle. Guides were available at the lodge to take us in but we preferred to be independent.

The accommodation at the camp was very spacious and of a high standard, higher than many of the other lodges we stayed in. There were only a few other guests here so we enjoyed a la carte meals rather than the usual buffet, and the undivided attention of the staff. The Lodge is still relatively new and we felt that the staff were trying very hard to reach the standards set in privately run lodges.

We had an amazing balloon ride across the dunes at sunrise, well worth getting up early for. The staff were very helpful and drove us to the Park gates where we were met by the balloon operators. The Camp is however quite a distance from where the balloons normally take off and other lodges in the vicinity would be more convenient in this respect. Our primary aim however was to take early morning and late afternoon photos of the dunes so this lodge suited us perfectly."

"The Stiltz is a very convenient base to explore Swakopmund from. The staff here were very helpful. When we were unable to book a table at the nearby Tug restaurant they were able to secure one for us."

"This was our favourite camp. The scenery around here is very mountainous and beautiful. Sundowners were particularly special as they were enjoyed on a rock plateau with fabulous views of the sunset and they were accompanied by excellent canopes. Views from most of the "tents" were also stunning.

After our meal on the second night we were entertained by the staff who sang a number of traditional (and less traditional) folk songs. This was very special.

One of the highlights of our holiday was the morning game drive in search of desert adapted elephants. Our guide, Aton, was excellent and went to extrordinary lengths over very difficult terrain to find the elephants. We were eventually able to get close to a herd of about twenty elephants, including three young ones, for amazing photo opportunities. We must have observed the elephants for half an hour or more in total."

"Hobatarere Lodge was almost unique amongst the lodges that we visited as it is run by the owners, Steve and Louise, who chatted to us and other guests before dinner. This was a very nice personal touch which made our visit here particularly enjoyable.

The game drives were excellent, we were lucky to catch our first sight of lions during our morning drive and saw them again during our evening drive. We were also able to watch the lions from a hide overlooking a water hole.

This Lodge was well worth the drive, some distance out of our way, to visit."

"We were disappointed to find that although we had booked a chalet adjacent to the water hole it turned out that there was a row of chalets in front of us and we could not actually see the water hole from our chalet, although it was only a hundred yards or so away. The chalet was also semi detached which we had not expected.

We did ask to be upgraded and offered tp pay the difference (the chalets closest to the water hole are considerably larger) but, even though one of the larger chalets was empty for the duration of our stay, the office staff would not consider this. We found the administration of this camp to be unnecessarily beauracratic and the staff unhelpful. The restaurant was large and impersonal and the food disappointing.

However we would not have missed staying here as the wildlife at the water hole was amazing and made up for everything. One of the most exciting moments was near sunset when a herd of elephants appeared on the horizen and hurried towards the water for a drink and bathe.

We also watched rhino, at one time there were four together, drinking after sunset at the, by then,floodlit water hole."

"We loved the luxury of this camp. Our "tent" was very well equipped and we took full advantage of the bath. The food here was excellent and overall we felt very well looked after.

Although we had spent two days exploring Etosha on our own, and had been amazed by the prolific game and thought we had seen nealy every species, we took advantage of the game drives from the camp. This was well worth it as the guide knew where and when to spot the game and pointed out a number of species of antelope that we had not previously seen. He was also able to spot lions in the grass which we would otherwise have missed."

"Erongo Wilderness Camp was a welcome rest from the hectic pace of the other lodges. The owners gave us a warm welcome ,were very helpful and chatted to us before our evening meal.

Our tent was located on a platform above rocks which accommodated a family of rock dassies which we spent many hours watching and photographing. They were equally curious about us and kept peering out from the rocks at us. We also watched a variety of birds from the restaurant drinking from nearby rock pools.

We enjoyed the evening nature drive, the highlight of which was a walk up to a cave to see rock paintings."

"The visit here was a particular highlight of our holiday. The accommodation was very spacious and attention had been given to small details such as providing a small pool for the birds immediately outside our room and a supply of bird food which enabled us to attract birds to the logs adjacent to the pool. We saw a number of exotic species and spent several hours watching and photographing them.

There were great opportunities here for viewing leopards and cheetahs. We enjoyed a particularly exciting drive tracking leopard and were rewarded with sightings of two leopards relatively close up.

Our guide on this occasion, Maurice, was particularly expert at finding the cats and very helpful in postioning the vehicle so that we could take photos. We also tracked cheetahs on foot which was also very enjoyable and rewarding.

On the last day morning we visited the Africat project and our guide described in detail the work that the project is undertaking, including rehabilitating injured cheetahs in to the wild. It was very interesting and their were numerous opportunities to take close up photos."