Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs B. from Richmond

"Hilltop guest-house located in a pleasant area of Windhoek with a nice view over the town. Rooms very clean and comfortable with a great breakfast served on a terrace overlooking the surrounding area. The guesthouse is with 15 minutes walk of Joe's Beerhouse, a great place for an evening meal, very good food at reasonable prices and an amazing atmosphere. It was recommended by Hilltop's owner."

"The Erongo Wilderness Lodge offers a unique experience in very well equipped tented chalets set in the Erongo mountains. Our chalet had a large deck with comfy chairs and lounger overlooking the distant plains. The camp manager, Katherine, was very accommodating and helped a lot with arranging activities. Our guide for all our activities. "Gelasius", was very knowledgeable about fauna and flora of the area and had a very endearing personality. The food and the service in the restaurant was excellent, with dinner served on the outside deck. The sundowner walk was a highlight, hiking to the top of a kopje to see the sun set. Would also recommend the sundowner excursion to Paulas Cave. The lodge has a nice little pool set into the hillside but only has room for a few comfortable lounge chairs.
All in all a great stay"

"Camp Kipwe is situated in a spectacular setting in Damaraland with extremely comfortable and well equipped circular chalets set into the hillside overlooking a desert landscape. One of the unique features is a sundowner bar located at the top of the hill just above the lodge. Amazing views and sunsets. The lodge has a very nice dining room serving excellent food and great wines.
The owner of the lodge was very accommodating and arranged a private tour for our group one morning to look for the desert elephants. This lodge has a beautiful small pool set into the rock hillside with a reasonable quantity of lounge chairs. It was recommended to us by our guide that we visit the Damaraland cultural living museum just a few kilometres from the lodge, and this was a great recommendation, being able to experience the life of a typical local Damaraland village. Our guide, "Taffy" who led us on the early morning activity to see the elephants, was a very knowledgeable and personable driver/guide.
Camp Kipwe was one of the overall highlights of our trip"

"Mountain Lodge is located in the Etosha Heights private reserve which is ajoins the south boundary of Etosh National Park. The lodge has large duplex style lodge units situated on a hillside, which have amazing over the lowlands where scores of animals migrate to from Etosha park. The units are extremely comfortable, well equipped, and with large decks overlooking the plains.
The main lodge has a very nice lounge and dining area, aswell as a small pool and Boma area. We weren't able to experience outside dining during our stay due to the prevailing high winds in the area. Food and service was of high standard. Unfortunately the internet service was unavailable due to some technical equipment problems, but a relatively minor inconvenience.
All the staff were very welcoming and accommodating, and treated us very well. Our guide and driver, "Rio" was amazing, finding lots of animals and spotting some rare ones on our night drive. Mountain Lodge was a great introduction to the Etosha area."

"Halali Camp in Etosha Park is run by NWR, Namibia Wildlife Resorts, and offers a sharp contrast to some of the private lodges we stayed at in Namibia. The staff here were pleasant but not as welcoming as we experienced elsewhere. The rooms were fairly clean and comfortable and had the basic supplies. The self serve dining area was ok and the food of reasonable standard.
The services in the camp area were minimal.
Despite its shortcomings, the camp is, however, ideally located for an overnight stop in the central part of Etosha when driving between the eastern and western gates"

"Had a short, overnight stay at Mushara. The tented chalets were very comfortable, perhaps abit on the side, but with all the basic facilities, including a good shower. The welcoming staff initially did not seem as friendly as in some other private lodges we stayed, but the overall service was quite good. The open lounge and dining area proved to have a very nice atmosphere at night and the food was of high quality. The pool area was quite large but lacked a surrounding tiled area so wasn't as clean as it could have been.
We didn't do any activities here"

"Africat Foundation's Okonjima Plains Camp is a remarkable place. Our individual "standard" camp chalets were extremely large and very deluxe, with a huge well equipped bathroom. The chalet overlooks the concession area where we saw the occasional animal. A large open lounge and dining area in the main lodge is artistically designed and has an adjoining well stocked gift shop.
The main attractions at Okonjima are the cheetah and leopards, which we hoped to see on our afternoon and morning drives. Our South African guide Jordi was passionate about the work done by Africat and he proved to be an amazing guide, expressing a personal relationship he had with the animals. He did, in fact, lead us to one of the leopards within an hour of starting to track it.
He provided us with clear and concise information about the work done by the foundation and the relationship it has with the country's farming community.
The meals were of very high standard and dining room service was excellent"

"Spitzkoppen is another of Namibia's jewels, offering unique tented chalet accommodation set against a backdrop of the Spitzkoppe
mountain on the edge of the Namib Desert in southern Damaraland. Most of the chalets are on stilts and offer spectacular views over the desert plain and mountains beyond. A unique boardwalk system connects the chalets to the main lodge and dining area, which is set part way up the hillside adjacent to the small pool, from where you can enjoy a sundowner and watch a great African sunset. The chalets are very well equipped and very comfortable, with a small deck overlooking the desert. One of the highlights of Spitzkoppen is simply its location and the setting of the chalets and other buildings among the rocky landscape. The other highlight was the morning excursion we took, with our very capable guide Anna, around the Spitzkoppen rock area, and seeing some examples of ancient rock paintings. The staff in the dining room were very friendly and accommodating and a group of ladies from Damaraland sang some traditional Damaraland songs after breakfast just before our departure."

"The Delight hotel is situated in a convenient central location in the town, opposite the old railway station and close by the Kristall Gallery, both places being recommended to visit.It is also a relatively short walk from the waterfront area and some historic monuments. The hotel has a pleasant landscaped central courtyard with rooms overlooking it that are very comfortable and well equipped. Front desk and service staff were very welcoming and helpful and parking was no problem. One of their font desk staff, Denise, was extremely helpful in recommending an excellent restaurant for dinner in one of the other hotels and was able to book us a table on a busy night. The hotels small lounge area was a pleasant place to relax.
The breakfast quality was good, although some of the made to order breakfast items were slow in being served and some were forgotten."

"Hoodia has beautifully designed individual chalets in a spectacular location in the Namib Desert, close to very colourful mountain ranges. The chalets were very well appointed and had both indoor and outdoor shower areas. We were welcomed by very friendly staff who explained in detail the planned events for the following day. The main part of the lodge has a very relaxing lounge and bar area with an adjoining dining area leading to a outdoor deck with great overview of the surrounding landscape.
Food and service in the restaurant was very good, although as with many of the smaller Namibian lodges we stayed at, the choices for main courses at dinner were somewhat limited.. Not really a complaint, just an observation, and we did enjoy the vast majority of our meals at the lodges."

"Another lodge in the middle of the desert but with memorable views over the dearest landscape. The tented chalets are built on stilts set against the hillside take full advantage of the available views. The units are small and well equipped but due to a limited power supply certain items could not be provided. A minimal inconvenience. The restaurant was also set against the hill up from the chalets to afford diners a superb view of the sunset. Staff very friendly, but not overly so. Food and service was very good. The office was located over the hill from the chalets, as was the small pool, which was abit inconvenient. There was a problem with the internet when paying on check out, but it was slowly resolved. We didn't avail ourselves of any activities, as we only stayed overnight."

"Haus Sandrose is a very clean basic self catering hotel conveniently located on a main street in the centre of Luderitz. The unit was comfortable with a small kitchenette area and basic essential small kitchen appliances, plus small dinette table. The beds were little hard, though.
The room was cool in the evening but a small portable heater was provided. The hotel has a small central courtyard. We didn't have much interaction with staff, but spoke with the manager who was very helpful in advising us of places to eat.
The main outside door to the hotel was locked on our arrival mid afternoon, but then we discovered that access could be gained through the adjoining hairdressing salon. ( Perhaps something to note for future guests)

Street parking was always available outside the hotel"

"Hobas Lodge at Fish River Canyon is operated by NWR (like Halaii in Etosha Park) but compared to Halali it proved to be a much more disappointing experience. The individual lodge units were of reasonable size and comfort, but maintenance was poor. The sliding entrance door to our unit did not lock (broken mechanism) and the bathroom supplies were very minimal. No room service was provided during our 2 night stay.In stark contrast to most private lodges, the staff at Hobas seemed very indifferent to the needs of their guests, and didn't seem to be able to raise any level of enthusiasm in their work!. The restaurant was like a cafeteria but with little or no service, and very little meal choice, either at dinner or breakfast. The restaurant was also very dusty, and one one seemed to want to clean the tables and benches, we had to ask for it to be done.
One positive note: we did get instant help with a flat tyre on our truck. A maintenance man, Stephen, did a great job changing a wheel for us and told us where to get the flat tyre repaired close by."

"Quiver Inn is a small B & B near the centre of Keetmanshoop. The owners were very welcoming in letting us check in a couple of hours or so before the stated check in time. The room was nicely equipped with a small kitchenette separate from the bedroom, which was quite comfortable if a little small. The bathroom was narrow but had all the necessary facilities. The room was air conditioned, which was a plus.

There was a scheduled power cut around breakfast time so the owners had difficulty keeping things hot, as the breakfast area was outside and the weather was cold."

"Very nice duplex chalet units set in the open plain on the edge of the Kalahari.The chalets are of an attractive adobe style and are very comfortable and well equipped.The pool area is showing some wear and could use a little maintenance.

The owner and staff were very welcoming and helpful, especially in making sure we were picked up on time early next morning for our transfer to the airport.They provided us with a phone if we needed to contact the operator in case of a delay.

Overall service was excellent and food at dinner was of a high standard"

"This was a real surprise to find such a spectacular setting for this lodge, which consisted of individual 2 level chalet units located along the rim of the Zambezi River gorge. The spacious units are extremely well equipped, with a large bathroom on the lower level and bedroom upstairs, which has a large deck affording great views of the river. There are easy walking paths between the units and the main lodge, which extend over some distance.
The food was excellent and a highlight was the BBQ dinners served each night in the outdoor patio near the main lodge
Another highlight was the day excursion to Victoria Falls, as well as a visit to the Victoria Falls hotel and a boat trip on the Zambezi River. We were in the company of an excellent guide from the lodge, "Richman", who also gave us a very informed tour of some local neighbourhoods in Victoria Falls town
The lodge owners and staff were great and took a special interest in making sure you had a wonderful experience at Gorges."

"Situated in the middle of the bush near the Chobe River, Chobe under Canvas proved to be a unique mobile camp experience, with no electricity or h/c running water in the tents. However they were very comfortable and serviced very well by the excellent camp staff. Hot water for washing and bucket showers was always provided on time each day and any other services were carried out with efficiency and a smile! The food served under the dining tent was excellent and there was always a good variety.
A highlight of the day was having cocktails sitting around the campfire following the afternoon safari before dinner.
Our driver/guide for the safaris, "Tony", was very personable and did a great job in spotting all kinds of wildlife. With only 4 of us in the truck we had lots of space so it made things quite comfortable with plenty of room for cameras etc. Tony did not rush us when taking photos and always tried to manoeuvre the truck to get the best vantage point without disturbing the animals.
A highlight of the safari trips was the boat safari we took on the Chobe. It was an unexpected bonus ."

"Splash camp consists of several large individual chalets situated near a large water hole that attracts many animals. It is located in the private Kwara concession in the Okavango Delta. The units are very spacious, deluxe and extremely well equipped. They have an outside shower as well as a large indoor one. A small deck allows for great game view overlooking the water hole,
The camp has an enthusiastic staff who are very capable at putting on various events, such as the Independence Day celebrations on our second day in camp.
Food and service was first rate, as were the facilities, including a beautiful small pool area
Our guide, "Mr. T", and spotter, "AT", were excellent on our safari drives and allowed us plenty of time for photo opportunities when needed. Highlights of the stay at Splash included an afternoon boat trip in the delta, viewing a pack of wild dogs, which is a rare sight, and an traditional evenings dinner and entertainment to celebrate Bostwana" independence"