Travel reviews by Dr M. from Loughborough

"I had not been in Kenya since 1983 so this trip allowed me to revisit old places and to experience new ones.

Standard of all our lodges was very high indeed."

"We thoroughly enjoyed our journey through northern Namibia and the Caprivi and our two sorties into Botswana.

Our entry to Namibia at Windhoek was very disappointing and time consuming. Immigration there had recently introduced new systems to photograph and fingerprint all arrivals. Perhaps teething problems with the new technology and certainly the small number of officers on duty meant it took us two and a half hours from exiting the plane to enter the country, all while standing in a small hot room.

This delay meant we could not arrive at our next destination in time for it's afternoon game drive. Those that had prepaid would have lost our financially as well as in terms of enjoyment."

"On returning to the UK many people when they asked me about my trip to Zimbabwe wanted to know if it was safe. Yes it is, and the local people are very keen to encourage more tourists to visit. Most of your money goes to ordinary Zimbabweans, and only a small amount to the government.

You will be welcomed wherever you go, especially should you visit any junior schools. More and more lodges are forming partnerships with local people to develop conservancies and concession areas that help to protect wild animals and to provide benefits for local communities."

"It was great to visit new places and to see old favourites once again. We loved the driving on the dirt roads - the freedom of it all and the distances that took us to some fantastic geological points of interest.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Make sure whover replaces Gwynneth is at least as good as her!"

"Our best ever trip to Namibia and we were very impressed with what we saw and did in Botswana, especially the school trip from Muchenje.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

The Red Zone is what the people at Muchenje Lodge call the very deep sandy part of their approach road where, almost certainly, a 2-wheel drive car will get stuck! JJ tells us that he is having this bit 'fixed' even as I write, but it might be worth checking. The local workmen who dragged us out in their Landrover said it was always happening with 2-wheel drive cars. Great fun all the same!!"

"I was here 12 months ago, and despite that the whole trip never once became boring even though I had visited some of the places recently. If anything, the standards of service and of cooking have improved.

Every time I visit Namibia something or someone unexpected turns up such as the sign by the side of the dirt road in the 'middle of nowhere' that said 'Take a break - Teas available round the corner'. Thus it was that we met Philip who had converted an old farmhouse into a B&B and whose place was the only building around for many a mile.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just one: please get some of the lodges to buy an astronomical telescope - they only cost about £200 for a decent one and it would allow guests to benefit from another of Namibia's assets - its night sky.

Gwynneth was absolutely wonderful in arranging this holiday. Many thanks."

"After 12 years since my last visit, there is a danger that perhaps I was seeing Namibia through rose-tinted lenses, but no. It came up to all my expectations and did not disappoint me at all.

One point, I gave a few hitchhikers a lift, but I was unsure if this invalidated my car insurance policy. Perhaps, you mention this in the materials you send but it might be made clearer, even if this may mean that some people will choose not to give lifts in the future, which would be a pity.

Suggestions for improvements:

Yes just one and it is not said in anger. At Okahandja at the largest of the two sets of stalls at either end of the town that sell carvings, trinkets, etc, the level from which one had to bargain was ridiculous. I wanted 4 items of moderate size and value, and the opening price from the young stall holder was $1,200. I eventually left with the goods having paid 450 Namibian dollars, and I'm sure the stall holder wasn't losing money even at that price.

I met two touring couples at a cafe right opposite the site shortly afterwards who asked me about the place. After I told them, they refused to go there! Setting such very high initial prices for items that are frankly not worth the equivalent of £100 not only is far too greedy but not even in the interests of the stall holders since I think their attitudes may deter some tourists. In any event, your customers should be warned about what they can expect if they 'go shopping' there."