Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs M from Hampshire

"Lovely guesthouse, providing a perfect first port of call upon arrival in Windhoek.

All the staff were very friendly and willing to help. Room no.1 the pool suite was perfect for our needs with one double bed and 2 singles in the one room. Our only criticism would be that the only dinner option for guests is a 3 course set menu (sometimes with no main course choice) which we felt was more than we really needed or wanted, a lighter bite option would have been perfect. Be wary of taking the offered water at dinner as this will be charged bottle water as opposed to the freely available filtered water from the tap close to the tables.

We would happily stay here again."

"We loved Hoodia Desert Lodge and would happily have stayed here longer.

A beautiful setting with the best dark skies for Milky way photography that we found in the whole of our trip. We were in rooms 1 and 2 which meant we were furthest from the light from the main lodge.

The lodge has a smart but cosy feel to it, lots of nice sitting areas both inside and out. The food was very good with not too large portions but no choice of main course (beef or game during our stay), I assume vegetarian options were also available."

"A perfectly adequate guesthouse for our one night stop in Swakopmund, enroute from Sossusvlei to Damaraland.

Whilst the accommodation was probably a little old fashioned for our normal taste, it was very clean and did exactly what it needed to do. A beautiful walled garden with plenty of birds visiting the feeders (including Rosy faced lovebirds) would have been a great place to chill with a cold drink or cup of tea if only we had had time.

The staff gave the car windows a clean before we left without any need to be asked which was a lovely touch. An easy walk to the Tug restaurant on the seafront which was a great spot for dinner and to watch the sun go down, a shuttle is offered by the Tug and was advised for the return trip after dark."

"An impressive fort like main building with amazing views from the roof terrace and lovely surrounding deck area from where you can enjoy the delicious afternoon cake and savouries.

The thatched tented rooms were lovely with both and indoor and outdoor showers. We were in a standard room with an additional single bed for our 16 year old son, whilst this provided plenty of room, it wasn't the family chalet that we had been advised of on our booking itinerary and meant we were a bathroom and bedroom down. It wasn't made clear whether this was conscious change of room or not and we didn't complain as it appeared that the only family chalet was already occupied and we were happy to make do and share. We didn't take up the option to sleep under the stars with the roll out beds as it was a little chilly so we don't know if this would have been available for all of us had we wanted it.

The staff were very friendly and happy to help but didn't always seem to understand what we were asking them or what was being offered by the lodge in terms of services. Before our trip we had tried to prebook activities at the lodge but were told by Expert Africa that they couldn't do this. We tried contacting Wilderness safaris ( the company that runs Doro Nawas) only for them to have Expert Africa contact us asking us not to contact them directly. We didn't find this very helpful and not terribly polite and whilst Expert Africa did give us an indication of costs of activities and that there would always be availability so there was no need to pre book we couldn't actually find out what options were going to be available for us. We had hoped for a night-time creepy crawly hunt with UV lights but were only told on arrival that this wasn't available in the winter.

The trips to Twyfelfontein and the Petrified Forest seemed to basically be a glorified taxi service to these sites which if self driving seemed very unnecessary. However as we didn't know what the activity options were before arrival we had to miss out on visiting the rock paintings, which was very annoying as we had practically driven past Twyfelfontein with plenty of time on our way to Doro Nawas. The trips offered were basically a taxi service to the rock paintings at Twyfelfontein (including the Organ pipes and Burnt mountain) or the Petrified forest. A game drive to find the desert adapted Elephants as well as a scenic nature drive (we never found out how this differed to the Elephant drive). These activiities were available either in the morning or the afternoon with the more expensive morning option also including lunch which was taken at the lodge. There was an option for an afternoon short guided nature walk from the lodge.

We chose to do the Desert Elephant game drive which was expertly guided by Fanuel, he was knowledgeable and good company, he found the elephants and gave us plenty of time to enjoy the sightings. In the afternoon we took part in the Nature walk which was led by Innocent, this was an enjoyable hour and a half but could have been slightly more planned. Innocent is currently working as a barman with hopes of guiding so we did feel a bit that we were paying for his work experience but we wish him all the best in his further training.

Meals were a buffet selection which were of adequate if not exceptional quality.

On the whole our stay at Doro Nawas was enjoyable but we do feel that are areas for improvement and we feel there must be more professional lodges in the area."

"Set in a great location with far reaching views over the Etosha Heights reserve, Etosha Mountain Lodge provided us with an incredibly welcoming and comfortable stay where we enjoyed an excellent, slow paced safari experience.

Having been the victim of "Ferrari safari" lodges in the past, here our superb guide Leon, took everything at a more gentle pace, letting us spend as much time as we wanted at the sightings that mattered most to us. Within the first ten minutes of our first game drive we were amazed to be presented with a denning Aardwolf family. Whilst not in themselves rare, opportunities to see them in daylight don't come along often. Leon managed to get us 3 sightings of them. We had some amazing sightings of Elephants and Black Rhino as well of plentiful sightings of good sized herds of plains game. Lions made a couple of appearances too.

During game drives Mountian Lodge has access to the excellent hide at the Safari Lodge which is an impressive facility offering seated viewing options overlooking a pumped waterhole both from above and at water level. This provided some of our best Elephant sightings. The Etosha Heights reserve shares a long boundary fence with Etosha National park, large sections of this have been knocked down by the elephants, allowing animals to move freely between the two areas. Having subsequently visited the national park we feel that the reserve gives very much the feel and look of Etosha but with a more picturesque backdrop and a more personal and enjoyable safari experience, although understandably at a cost.

Whilst the accommodation and main building at Mountain Lodge might look to some a little dated we would suggest this shouldn't put you off staying there. We felt that the slightly less pretentious decor led to a more relaxed and family feel to the whole property. The staff were hugely welcoming and willing to help, lunches were reduced in scale at our request and options for main courses at dinner were a choice of two. Snacks on the afternoon game drive were the best we have come across.

We stayed in the family suite which is two interconnected large bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms. The rooms share a huge deck area with private plunge pool and loungers. Perfect for family to share.

We would definitely stay here again and would highly recommend it to others."

"We stayed one night at Mushara Outpost after having driven ourselves across Etosha. Due to a burst tyre we arrived in the dark and left on one of the optional guided game drives before it was light again. What we saw of the grounds on our brief return after the morning drive looked nicely kept. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting by the firepit on the comfortable camp chairs after dinner.

The staff were very welcoming and were especially helpful in pairing us up with another family from another Mushara property so we could both have a slightly shortened game drive, thereby letting us both get on the road for Windhoek earlier than the scheduled midday return.

The tented rooms were fantastic with air con and outdoor showers.

Our guided drive into the national park, was an interesting experience. We saw what we considered to be the worst aspect of mass tourism meeting wildlife where there was a veritable scrum of at least 15 vehicles, most of which were from the various lodges around the park, jostling for position to get the best sighting of the lion and cubs that were moving from a waterhole across a nearby road. To be fair to our guide he managed to keep out of the fray pretty well but I guess this is a potential downside to game viewing with the lodges into the park but was also perhaps a freak incident due to the location and time of the sighting."

"This was our second stop at Galton House on our way back through Windhoek. Please see our earlier review for more details."