Travel reviews by HarlowJones from Oxted
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
8
Excursions taken
1
My Feb 2023 trip
Namibia between 3 Feb 2023 and 19 Feb 2023
"Wonderful first trip to Namibia.
Exceeded our expectations and we enjoyed all aspects of the trip. Landscapes are stunning, animals are exciting to see and we felt that the lodges and overall trip was making a positive contribution to supporting local people and environment efforts.
Would recommend kayaking with seals at Walvis Bay as a side excursion. Going out of season did mean that a couple of lodges were very quiet but in the positive side we had some personalised excursions, found that the Etosha waterholes were not mobbed by visitors and that the heat was manageable.
We would certainly recommend this trip and ExpertAfrica to others - thank you to Tracy for the fantastic service and also for sending us the Namibia guidebook which we found so useful and used extensively."
Exceeded our expectations and we enjoyed all aspects of the trip. Landscapes are stunning, animals are exciting to see and we felt that the lodges and overall trip was making a positive contribution to supporting local people and environment efforts.
Would recommend kayaking with seals at Walvis Bay as a side excursion. Going out of season did mean that a couple of lodges were very quiet but in the positive side we had some personalised excursions, found that the Etosha waterholes were not mobbed by visitors and that the heat was manageable.
We would certainly recommend this trip and ExpertAfrica to others - thank you to Tracy for the fantastic service and also for sending us the Namibia guidebook which we found so useful and used extensively."
Arranged By Tracy Lederer
Galton House
"Galton House review"
1 night
Arrived
4 Feb 2023
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
BullsPort Lodge and Farm
"BullsPort Lodge and Farm review"
2 nights
Arrived
5 Feb 2023
"BullsPort is a bit of an outlier compared with other accommodation as it’s a working farm and quite rustic which we enjoyed but may not be everyone’s expectation.
We were well looked after by the owner and did all of the local walks which were a good introduction to Namibia and allowed us to start spotting wildlife (mainly baboons, kudu, klipspringer and hyrax and one very surprised snake.). Food was simple but generous - we ate zebra two nights running and would have preferred some variation.
Overall clean, well located for a two night stop and a good insight into farm life in a desert.
We visited the Neuras vineyard after BullsPort and would recommend it for novelty value and a good cheese board."
We were well looked after by the owner and did all of the local walks which were a good introduction to Namibia and allowed us to start spotting wildlife (mainly baboons, kudu, klipspringer and hyrax and one very surprised snake.). Food was simple but generous - we ate zebra two nights running and would have preferred some variation.
Overall clean, well located for a two night stop and a good insight into farm life in a desert.
We visited the Neuras vineyard after BullsPort and would recommend it for novelty value and a good cheese board."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Average
Food
Average
Facilities
Average
Hoodia Desert Lodge
"Hoodia Desert Lodge review"
2 nights
Arrived
7 Feb 2023
"The lodge only had one other set of guests on our arrival and we were alone for night two so we got an unusual experience of the lodge.
Facilities are excellent as is the service and we were very well looked after including our day trip to the dunes which we very much enjoyed.
A highlight for us was stargazing - the moon was rising early so we asked the staff to switch off some lights to allow an early view of the Milky Way. They obliged by switching off all the lights and we had a spectacular view of the night sky - never to be forgotten.
The food requires a shout out - truly excellent food, served and presented with care, we were genuinely blown away by the quality given the remote location- a real treat."
Facilities are excellent as is the service and we were very well looked after including our day trip to the dunes which we very much enjoyed.
A highlight for us was stargazing - the moon was rising early so we asked the staff to switch off some lights to allow an early view of the Milky Way. They obliged by switching off all the lights and we had a spectacular view of the night sky - never to be forgotten.
The food requires a shout out - truly excellent food, served and presented with care, we were genuinely blown away by the quality given the remote location- a real treat."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Meerkat
1 sighting
Oryx
4 sightings
Hoodia Sossusvlei excursion
"Hoodia Sossusvlei excursion review"
8 Feb 2023 • All-day excursion
Wonderful day out with first class lunch under a tree in the desert.
Having a guide really brought things to life.
Having a guide really brought things to life.
Excellent
Cornerstone Guesthouse
"Cornerstone Guesthouse review"
2 nights
Arrived
9 Feb 2023
"Lovely guest house, very clean, bright and welcoming with good breakfast and central location."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Food
Good
Rooms
Good
Facilities
Average
Mowani Mountain Camp
"Mowani Mountain Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
11 Feb 2023
"Stunning location, beautiful rooms, delicious food - luxury in the wilderness."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Okaukuejo Camp
"Okaukuejo Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
13 Feb 2023
"We were travelling out of season so staying here was largely to take advantage of the waterhole to see animals that we might not otherwise see.
It’s a mixed bag - the rooms are very basic but clean and the food is simple with a limited selection but we found it to be very good and with nice service.
One surprise was the bats living in our room which gave us quite a shock - luckily we had substantial mosquito nets which also work well on bats.
The pool was most welcome as it was very hot but you can see that the camp is underfunded by the lack of things like pool loungers and umbrellas (shade was at a premium).
The waterhole is fascinating and we did see rhino several times which was a treat."
It’s a mixed bag - the rooms are very basic but clean and the food is simple with a limited selection but we found it to be very good and with nice service.
One surprise was the bats living in our room which gave us quite a shock - luckily we had substantial mosquito nets which also work well on bats.
The pool was most welcome as it was very hot but you can see that the camp is underfunded by the lack of things like pool loungers and umbrellas (shade was at a premium).
The waterhole is fascinating and we did see rhino several times which was a treat."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Service
Average
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Poor
Food
Good
Sightings report
Black Rhino
2 sightings
Cheetah
Many sightings
Eland
Many sightings
Elephant
Many sightings
Giraffe
Many sightings
Lion
2 sightings
Oryx
4 sightings
Spotted Hyena
2 sightings
White Rhino
2 sightings
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
Mushara Bush Camp
"Mushara Bush Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
15 Feb 2023
"Charming camp, very much our view of the ideal safari accommodation.
Lovely tents, welcoming service, nice food and well located for Etosha park.
On-site family of warthogs and various small animals wandering through in the evening is a bonus.
Had a close encounter with a mongoose while having a cup of tea!"
Lovely tents, welcoming service, nice food and well located for Etosha park.
On-site family of warthogs and various small animals wandering through in the evening is a bonus.
Had a close encounter with a mongoose while having a cup of tea!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Sightings report
Cheetah
Many sightings
Giraffe
Many sightings
Oryx
Many sightings
Wildebeest
Many sightings
Zebra
Many sightings
Ai Aiba Lodge
"Ai Aiba Lodge review"
1 night
Arrived
17 Feb 2023
"Beautiful views and interesting to see the rock art.
Buildings are rather dark and not our favourite.
Food was good."
Buildings are rather dark and not our favourite.
Food was good."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Food
Good
Rooms
Average
Facilities
Average
Sightings report
Giraffe
3 sightings
Clean, simple, friendly and with secure parking - ideal for a one night stay and to give you time to freshen up after the long flight."