Travel reviews by Mr D & Mrs S from Hants.
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
9
Excursions taken
0
Namibia Sept/Oct 2014
Namibia between 24 Sep 2014 and 12 Oct 2014
"Had a fabulous trip , enjoyed the country and it's people. A great experience we will delight in reliving it with our friends and relations through the 3000 photographs we have taken.
."
."
Arranged By Sabina Hekandjo
Galton House
"Galton House Windhoek"
1 night
Arrived
25 Sep 2014
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Average
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Average
Ondudu Safari Lodge
"Erongo Wilderness Lodge"
2 nights
Arrived
26 Sep 2014
"Enjoyed our stay here very much, interesting environment ,good walks ,good guiding an excellant food.
Could easily have spent 3 nights here. Very cold at night but good warm duvets."
Could easily have spent 3 nights here. Very cold at night but good warm duvets."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Mushara Lodge
"Mushara Lodge"
2 nights
Arrived
28 Sep 2014
"Excellant rooms and easy to access Etosha from here.
The service was chaotic with no-one apparently in overall charge especially at mealtimes.eg having been asked when we wanted breakfast when we arrived there was no table for us, not being asked preferance for food at breakfast and the buffet arrangement such that you had difficulty getting to the food. Also the bar bills etc had to be signed for at the end of evening meal, which meant you had to wait for them to be produced rather than leaving when we were ready. This seemed to be for the convenience of the staff not the guests."
The service was chaotic with no-one apparently in overall charge especially at mealtimes.eg having been asked when we wanted breakfast when we arrived there was no table for us, not being asked preferance for food at breakfast and the buffet arrangement such that you had difficulty getting to the food. Also the bar bills etc had to be signed for at the end of evening meal, which meant you had to wait for them to be produced rather than leaving when we were ready. This seemed to be for the convenience of the staff not the guests."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Good
Service
Poor
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Average
Anderssons Camp, Namibia (this camp has since closed)
"Anderssons Camp"
2 nights
Arrived
30 Sep 2014
"Had great time here , excellent animal viewing at waterhole, helpful staff .They even arranged for our punctured tyre to be mended while we were there.
Also good guiding into Etosha ,saw a rhino fight and a leoprd. Could have stayed 3 nights."
Also good guiding into Etosha ,saw a rhino fight and a leoprd. Could have stayed 3 nights."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Not currently featured by Expert Africa
Damaraland Camp
"Damaraland Camp"
2 nights
Arrived
2 Oct 2014
"Beautiful area ,took us longer to get to the pick up point than expected then waited an hour for transfer ,however delightful family at the tranfer point kept us entertained so this was not a problem.
Attentive staff and good food, long communal table for meals good as everyone fell into conversations. Alot of fly in guests.
Guide here was not as good as in other lodges, lacking in enthusiasm and English could have been better especially for guests whose first language was not English. Game drive lasted 5 hours and nowhere to stop for loo break, a challange for everyone.
Saw many of he desert adapted elephants which was a highlight."
Attentive staff and good food, long communal table for meals good as everyone fell into conversations. Alot of fly in guests.
Guide here was not as good as in other lodges, lacking in enthusiasm and English could have been better especially for guests whose first language was not English. Game drive lasted 5 hours and nowhere to stop for loo break, a challange for everyone.
Saw many of he desert adapted elephants which was a highlight."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Etendeka Mountain Camp
"Etendeka mountain Camp"
2 nights
Arrived
4 Oct 2014
"Had a wonderful time here. Dennis and Bonnie make a great team and we learnt alot from them.
Guiding very good saw 9 young lions lying in the grass ,a treat indeed."
Guiding very good saw 9 young lions lying in the grass ,a treat indeed."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Sam's Giardino
"Sam's Giardino"
2 nights
Arrived
6 Oct 2014
"Characterful place with warm welcome from Sam. A little out of town but easily walked . Had one meal here which was very good. A bit noisy in the morning as staff arrived and Beethoven barked otherwise room was fine.
Did not do any activities here as needed a rest after driving down the salt road along the Skeleton Coast. A another day here would had been good to do some of the local trips."
Did not do any activities here as needed a rest after driving down the salt road along the Skeleton Coast. A another day here would had been good to do some of the local trips."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Average
Service
Good
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Kulala Desert Lodge
"Kulala Desert Lodge"
2 nights
Arrived
8 Oct 2014
"Large busy lodge close to the dunes . Had an excellant guide here who made it all fun and interesting. We climbed Big Daddy ,what a sense of achievement. It was easier and even more fun coming down.
Staff very friendly and liked to chat which made you feel vey welcome and relaxed."
Staff very friendly and liked to chat which made you feel vey welcome and relaxed."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Zebra River Lodge
"Zebra River Lodge"
2 nights
Arrived
10 Oct 2014
"Sadly the worst lodge of our trip. Had a slightly run down air about it and although welcomed by the pleasant staff our feeling was it was not well run. It transpired that the owners were away as was the only guide. The lady who was standing in for the owners was charming and did what she could to make us feel at home. However on our last evening a coach arrived of self catering guests with us as the only other guests which was not very pleasant. They also left at 5am which disturbed our sleep
There was little in the way of organised activities which was ok for us we did 2 walks on the day we were there but there was no guiding as advertised as the guide was away. Our short sundowner drive was with the maintenance man.
Our very dirty car was cleaned for us for which we were very grateful"
There was little in the way of organised activities which was ok for us we did 2 walks on the day we were there but there was no guiding as advertised as the guide was away. Our short sundowner drive was with the maintenance man.
Our very dirty car was cleaned for us for which we were very grateful"
Poor
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor
Location
Average
Service
Good
Activities
Poor
Rooms
Average
Food
Good
Facilities
Poor
Feedback response
The lodge replied at length, very concerned by our travellers feedback and made the following comments.
The owners and the guide were away at the time of these guests visit. We now understand that when this happens, there is no relief guide to take the activities. There are marked trails on the property for guests to do unguided walks. The owner has confirmed that the maintenance man is also one of their drivers and that he often takes the sundowner trips, which the owner feels “ do not need a qualified guide”. Their resident guide would usually do these trips too, but they promote up-skilling within their staff and consider his absence an opportunity for their maintenance man to gain experience. Their resident guide was trained up through the ranks in a similar way.
There was a group staying at the lodge at the time and they occupied the rest of the rooms. That group did leave early, at 5:00am, to go on a day trip to Sossusvlei.
The owner has apologized for the noise and disturbance caused by the groups early departure.
The owners and the guide were away at the time of these guests visit. We now understand that when this happens, there is no relief guide to take the activities. There are marked trails on the property for guests to do unguided walks. The owner has confirmed that the maintenance man is also one of their drivers and that he often takes the sundowner trips, which the owner feels “ do not need a qualified guide”. Their resident guide would usually do these trips too, but they promote up-skilling within their staff and consider his absence an opportunity for their maintenance man to gain experience. Their resident guide was trained up through the ranks in a similar way.
There was a group staying at the lodge at the time and they occupied the rest of the rooms. That group did leave early, at 5:00am, to go on a day trip to Sossusvlei.
The owner has apologized for the noise and disturbance caused by the groups early departure.
Africa Specialist | Namibia
Only criticism is promised tea and homemade cake but no cake only rusks!"