Travel reviews by Mr M & Ms L from UK

"Londiningi Guest House, Windhoek

Very welcoming and positive place to stay. Room was OK but fairly basic. Owners were very helpful, happy to talk and give advice.
It was a little bit further out of the centre of town than we'd realised but the taxi service they arranged was quick, cheap and prompt.
We chose to eat at the Guest House for dinner, which was kind of an unusual menu (!), but well prepared, and the setting/dining area is extremely pleasant.

Breakfast in the morning was excellent."

"Safari.
This was booked through Naturetrek in the UK and organised by Wilderness Safaris in Namibia.
As with everything organised by Wilderness, it was very well managed and organised.
The 2 local guides we had were excellent - very helpful and willing and able. In particular the knowledge, attitude and experience of Douw Steyn was greatly appreciated.

The Safari used adapted 9 seat Land Rovers - although very capable and effective despite the rigours imposed by rough roads and sand dunes, they were not all that comfortable and were quite hot and noisy, especially for the longer road sections. Given the amount of camera gear and bags, they were surprisingly roomy though, and the inclusion of a fridge much appreciated.

Accommodation was much better than expected. To be specific:
Namibgrens Rest Camp was fine with good food and facilities.
Kulala Wilderness Camp was excellent. Great cabins and facilities, fabulous views. It's only the German manager who is a bit OTT in his effusive hospitality!
Langholm Hotel in Walvis Bay was fine. Food was OK, room was huge though a little out dated.
Damaraland Wilderness Camp was again excellent. Great location, fabulous hospitality, great food including a barbecue dinner out of camp. Difficult to fault.

Hobatere Lodge - another very individual lodge with great facilities and the waterhole in addition. Our only complaint was the night game drive provided by the Lodge, which although it was fascinating and we saw lots of animals, we found very intrusive on the behaviour of cheetahs and jackals. They were all scared off from their activities by us driving at them to within a few metres - it left a bad taste when in fact there was so much of interest to see.

Okaukuejo NWR Lodge, Etosha - very big place after all the other camps, and a little less friendly as a result. But facilities and rooms still good. Superb waterhole viewing there - lion, rhino, elephant etc.

Namatoni NWR Lodge, Etosha - fabulous cabins and a nice setting with the old fort. Food not that great.

Waterberg NWR Lodge - another good location. Rooms fine. Food and hospitality good. Walked some of the trails around the area but found they were not very clearly signposted.

With digital cameras requiring downloading and charging - it was not always clear that electricity is not available overnight in some places."

"Londiningi Guest House
As before, very welcoming.
It was not clear beforehand whether dinner was available or not, but they booked reservations and a taxi for somewhere, so it worked out fine."

"We had huge expectations of the Skeleton Coast after the reviews we read, and it was difficult to imagine that it would live up to the hype. In the end, it didn't quite but that's not to say that it was not a great experience.

We were lucky in that we had a plane and all the camps to ourselves, which made the experience all the more remote and quiet, if less social - but that suited us fine. Andrew Schoeman was our guide and clearly knew as much as one could hope for about the area. He did seem a little detached which made us feel we were not getting as much out of it as possible, and a little unwilling to adapt the schedule or itinerary to suit our particular interests, but this was not a major issue.

The landscapes are undoubtedly spectacular - sometimes it was a shame not to go round and see them again. Unfortunately it was dificult to communicate in the plane since the radio did not seem to react to my voice - so we remained largely silent. But then again we were too busy taking photos in any case!

The lodges are all in fabulous locations. Although basic, we applaud their genuinely ecological approach. They made the Wilderness Camps seem out of place with their luxurient furnishings. The staff were all great and if it wasn't for arriving by plane, the camps almost made you feel part of the local community.

It was a busy 4 day safari (as you would want given the price) and seemed like longer. It would be great to stay longer in the camps and see a bit more of the country and wildlife, but that would obviously require more days. Overall it was a truly fantastic experience.
Incidentally, where we would normally have gone to experience the roaring dunes proved impossible due to rain! Fortunately, we had already tried it out on the Naturetrek trip on the coast near Sandwich Bay.

Again it was not clear beforehand whether there was electricity available on the Skeleton Coast Camps. In fact it's not, but we were able to charge batteries from the Land Rover - although it wouldn't start the next morning...!"

"We curtailed the Skeleton Coast trip slightly in order to get to Amani Lodge in time for big cat feeding time, following discussion with Andrew Schoeman. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way, since you have to be available at 3.30 to go and see them and we only arrived at 5ish. This partly defeated the object of going out of WIndhoek for our last night. Since we had to leave for the airport at 3.15 the following day, it would have been useful to have known this beforehand, in which case we would not have booked Amani Lodge. Having said that, it was a nice place to stay, we did see the tamer cheetahs, and some other wildlife and countryside, but there is no chance of seeing the wild cats and there are no other activities arranged at the lodge so it proved to be a slightly empty day.

The lodge is nice but it was not clear where to go on arrival, and a map of where to walk would have been useful."