Travel reviews by Mr and Mrs J from Ludlow
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
4
Excursions taken
0
My Jul 2022 trip
Namibia between 6 Jul 2022 and 29 Jul 2022
"This is one of those trips that will stay with me forever.
Expert Africa supplied everything we asked for. The weather at this time of year is perfect for ‘oldies’ like us, who want more than sunbathing. The skies were clear, the sun shone. The nights were very special. The stars and moon are too beautiful to describe. One of our guides told us that his father told him when he was a child that if he looked closely at the Southern Cross he might see the head of a giraffe looking down protectively on Namibia! Keeping guard. What a lovely story.
The lodges we stayed in were clean and well designed, set in lovely places and full of delightful staff.
I just need to say a big, big thank you to you all. You deserve to flourish. I will certainly be telling everyone to go to Namibia for their holidays!,
Just as a post script. After our holiday with you, we met our daughter and family in Windhoek, rented 4x4 s and stayed a further two weeks camping. We went up to Etosha National Park and had a wonderful time. We returned to Europe, encountering a strike by ground staff in Germany! We got rerouted to Manchester instead of Birmingham, where we managed to catch the train back to Ludlow. We didn’t manage to contact our taxi driver so we had to pay for a fare we didn’t use. Our baggage didn’t make it on to the plane and as of today (18th August) we still can’t find it! Lufthansa have not been at all helpful. I won’t be recommending them to anyone! So, my guidebooks my diary my little gifts are lost. That is one reason I have been slow to fill in you questionnaire. I don’t have any written records.
Still all of that will not spoil my memories of an amazing country. I have been humming the Paul Simon song ever since I stood under that African sky! “Joseph’s face was as black as the night and the pale yellow moon shone in his eyes”"
Expert Africa supplied everything we asked for. The weather at this time of year is perfect for ‘oldies’ like us, who want more than sunbathing. The skies were clear, the sun shone. The nights were very special. The stars and moon are too beautiful to describe. One of our guides told us that his father told him when he was a child that if he looked closely at the Southern Cross he might see the head of a giraffe looking down protectively on Namibia! Keeping guard. What a lovely story.
The lodges we stayed in were clean and well designed, set in lovely places and full of delightful staff.
I just need to say a big, big thank you to you all. You deserve to flourish. I will certainly be telling everyone to go to Namibia for their holidays!,
Just as a post script. After our holiday with you, we met our daughter and family in Windhoek, rented 4x4 s and stayed a further two weeks camping. We went up to Etosha National Park and had a wonderful time. We returned to Europe, encountering a strike by ground staff in Germany! We got rerouted to Manchester instead of Birmingham, where we managed to catch the train back to Ludlow. We didn’t manage to contact our taxi driver so we had to pay for a fare we didn’t use. Our baggage didn’t make it on to the plane and as of today (18th August) we still can’t find it! Lufthansa have not been at all helpful. I won’t be recommending them to anyone! So, my guidebooks my diary my little gifts are lost. That is one reason I have been slow to fill in you questionnaire. I don’t have any written records.
Still all of that will not spoil my memories of an amazing country. I have been humming the Paul Simon song ever since I stood under that African sky! “Joseph’s face was as black as the night and the pale yellow moon shone in his eyes”"
Arranged By Sabina Hekandjo
Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch
"Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch review"
1 night
Arrived
7 Jul 2022
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Desert Homestead
"Desert Homestead review"
2 nights
Arrived
8 Jul 2022
"We stayed two nights here as our children had booked a balloon flight for us. Sadly it was cancelled due to the wind. ( I find it hard to believe as we live in a windy country and what we experienced in Namibia was not wind) However, we didn’t miss it at all as we did two expeditions from the Homestead.
One was the sundowner and the other was during the day. We did them on our own, which I loved and the guides were delightful and very knowledgeable. This is where we saw our first wildlife. On the grand scheme of things there was nothing big but it was real! We loved it.
We saw squirrels, my first jackal, an ostrich and the wonderful weaver birds left their enormous communal nest to join us for our Sundownwer!"
One was the sundowner and the other was during the day. We did them on our own, which I loved and the guides were delightful and very knowledgeable. This is where we saw our first wildlife. On the grand scheme of things there was nothing big but it was real! We loved it.
We saw squirrels, my first jackal, an ostrich and the wonderful weaver birds left their enormous communal nest to join us for our Sundownwer!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Cornerstone Guesthouse
"Cornerstone Guesthouse review"
1 night
Arrived
10 Jul 2022
"The owners of the guest house were very charming and it was good for a one night stay.
We were directed to a restaurant on the beach ( was it called The Tug? ) It was brilliant! They were fully booked, squeezed us in and before we had our main course they moved us to a table in the window, over the sea! So memorable!
The journey from Desert Homestead to Swakopmund was so good. I can’t think of an appropriate word to describe our feelings. We just loved the changing scenery!"
We were directed to a restaurant on the beach ( was it called The Tug? ) It was brilliant! They were fully booked, squeezed us in and before we had our main course they moved us to a table in the window, over the sea! So memorable!
The journey from Desert Homestead to Swakopmund was so good. I can’t think of an appropriate word to describe our feelings. We just loved the changing scenery!"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Average
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Okonjima Bush Camp
"Okonjima Bush Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
11 Jul 2022
"What an experience! Although it’s more of a fenced reserve than our previous stops we did see more big wild animals. On our arrival we saw warthogs( my favourite) zebra, red hartebeest, brown hyena and black backed jackal. Also a little genet. We did two guided tours. We saw the rescued cheetahs they have and a wonderful lilac breasted roller.
We were privileged to meet a pangolin that bustled past my feet! Here again we were on our own so the experience was so much more moving !
The accommodation was fabulous. I would recommend without hesitation."
We were privileged to meet a pangolin that bustled past my feet! Here again we were on our own so the experience was so much more moving !
The accommodation was fabulous. I would recommend without hesitation."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Sightings report
Brown Hyena
2 sightings
Giraffe
1 sighting
Pangolin
1 sighting
Zebra
4 sightings
The standard was good. Everybody was charming. The room was lovely.
We only stayed one night and didn’t see any wildlife, but we saw our first African sunset. So colourful!"