Travel reviews by B&A from Warwickshire

"Hosts Gisela and Rudolf were very welcoming and full of ideas for nearby eating places. Joes Beerhouse was our very successful choice. Nearby was a shopping centre with a chemist for the prescription drugs we had left behind. We also stocked up for our next stop at self-catering Desert Quiver Camp.

The room was very comfortable with "all mod cons", including aircon and fridge..

Breakfast was a huge spread of food, some of which got squirrelled away in our cool bag for a picnic lunch on our trip south. Our hosts were very helpful again with directions, although there was really only one road! Rehoboth was the main stopping place: the second garage on the left had the best toilets! Interesting town history of the Baster community."

"Unique! Well, there are other places to stay but the whole desert experience is unforgettable. This place is well described in the guide books. Quite new, the outdoor canvas-covered kitchenette may not last too well but it is fine for this year. We were able to self-cater for evening food and had breakfast down the road at the main lodge. There was a little moment of doubt about our being able to have breakfast for free. But we were early and we didn't make pigs of ourselves so no harm done.

We joined the queue of cars to enter the park at dawn when the shadows on the dunes are at their most spectacular. It is also not as boiling hot as it would be later. Everyone drive very sensibly, well spaced out, and most stopped for a photo opportunity or two. Two hot-air balloons were the focus of several holiday snaps.

The well-organised transfer to 4WD vehicles allowed us to relax and enjoy the scenery. I wouldn't have liked to let the air out of my own tyres, even if 4WD, and miss the views. Clambering over the dunes was quite tiring! It was good to get back to the camp's swimming pool..."

"We had stopped at Walvis Bay before "Swakop" and (apart from pelican sightings) thought the place was a bit sad and run down.
Swakop, as they call it, was just like a small town in Germany. It still is, in many locals' minds, the German Colony it used to be.
And none the worse for that! Those who like beer will find plenty of outlets: Kucki 's Pub was our choice.

Cornerstone Guesthouse was friendly and comfortable. Only one other couple, also from UK, were present at the ample breakfast. Out to explore the shops before a dose of culture at the excellent museum - a "Must See" in our opinion. A great deal of effort had been put into planning and displaying the items.

Tried, but failed, to get a SIM card that worked in my phone but the positive side of that was that just next door was another German pub that did an excellent thick vegetable soup for the gentleman and an equally nourishing Greek Salad for Madame.

We then had our one and only "tourist trap" incident when a little man sold us two completely rubbishy nuts onto which he had carved our names - couldn't say no!

Back to the guesthouse to write postcards and get advice on tomorrow's drive. We were advised not to miss sundowners at Tiger Reef so we went and thoroughly enjoyed the view, the company and the calamari."

"Great location and, despite others' comments, enjoyable food. But the whole experience was spoilt for us by the lack of ventilation in the room. There WAS a fan but it was high in the roof and turned at about 60 rpm - once per second. Useless.

The rock carvings were well worth all the effort, although our guide was having a "bad hair day" and was very sulky. A French couple asked to see some other carvings but were ignored. The other attractions were d-I-y: organ pipes, burnt mountain and my favourite, the big hole in the ground named (I believe) wondergat. Some other tourists had got there first and we were able to find the way down by following the sound of their conversations (!!)

Back at the camp we enjoyed the swimming pool with natural waterfall/shower and ended up at the upstairs bar where we discovered a very good menu of snacks with a good selection of sensibly-priced wines.

After another good breakfast and the assembling of lunchtime bacon sandwiches we hit the road for Etosha via Xhorixas, where two of the camp's staff lived and who begged a lift. One was actually a guide who could have led us to some elephants had we the inclination.

Stopped at Outje for groceries. Numerous intrusive police checks were worrying. Petrol/Deisel was tricky with some places wanting only cash and some with no toilets. The OK bazaar was the best place we could find for supplies."

"Everything that a Game Lodge should be: compares favourably with most similar places in South Africa, particularly Kruger and Hluhluwe. Good self-catering facilities but we had to ask for crockery and cutlery, no real problem.

The game itself was well distributed. Large herds of bok but few elephant. Few cats (only Lion).

Roads quite good: our Renault Duster was perfect. Good air-con and slept well!"