Travel reviews by Ms P & Mr D from UK

"Warm reception from the owner and we were given a second floor room as requested and the bed had been strewn with pettals I'm assuming because it was our honeymoon.

The morning breakfast was accompanied by the introduction of the second owner (husband) and they were very accomodating and helpful."

"Amazing. We were upgraded from the main camp to a bush chalet at the bush camp. We didn't go to the main camp but the bush camp was beautiful and incredibly well run. Nothing was too much trouble and the bush chalets were fantastic, with canvas sides that rolled up in the day and I especially enjoyed having our own bird bath and complimentary bird seed which put around the bath and then sat back and watched the birds come. Hot water bottles were to be found in the bed once we returned from dinner!

The food was exceptional and being on a half board basis we found we didn't need lunch as we were full from brunch after the first activity at 9.30am through to tea and cake time at about 3pm. The activities were very well organised in small groups - we shared a vehicle with one family of four and our guide, Dean, was both knowledgeable and tenacious in his tracking which meant we found a leopard after an hour driving in and out of a specific area of bush where she was lying until he was able to see her. I specifically enjoyed learning about the Africat foundation and thought it was important to inlcude an educative activity on this organisation."

"We didn't know what we were going to with Halali and after the exceptional accomodation of Onkonjima it was at the other end of the scale. The chalet was very clean and quite large with a kitchen area come lounge, however the camp is just that - a campsite with chalets which is of a practical purpose of visiting Etosha. The food was nice with a salad bar and choice of main dinner but the breakfast wasn't cooked particualrly well.

Having made quite a fuss about staying in the park but the accomodation not being available it was probably a good thing that we were only there for one night! The map given to us at reception did not correlate with the campsite as we tried to walk to the wateringhole hole down pathways that didn't exist and ended up in the middle of bushes! We gave up and took the car but there was absolutely nothing at the wateringhole at all and after half an hour we left for bed.

The service was very friendly and helpful and for convenience it is quite a good place to stay as it is in the middle of the park."

"Anderssons camp has only been open a year and is run by a couple who were incredibly accomodating and friendly. The manager spent time telling us about the lions and answering our many questions. We were in a double room that was next to the restaurant and therefore overlooked the watering hole, which enabled us to have the first sighting of a pride of lions coming to feed and hear their roars - which were terrifying!

The rooms were terrific with an outside shower that was divine - and is made up of a metal bath tub under a solar powered shower. You do need to time your showers though as if you tried to have one first thing it could be a bit chilly. Everything is done to make it eco-friendly and it really works. The food was very good but the activities were pricey - however this camp is run by Wilderness Safaris and we found that the prices are similar throughout their camps.

We arranged to have a bush walk with a guide on the first day but this was cancelled only after I had double checked what time it was booked for. However we went out the next day and the lady manager was very apologetic. The bush guide was very good and we learnt a great deal during the walk. We were lucky enough to see the pride of lions (lionness, brother and 3 cubs) on both evenings and took some wonderful footage. I would certainly advise to stay here at the Ongava reserve rather than in the park as there is more probability of seeing animals. During the day there was always something around be it guinea fowl, zebras or giraffes.

The only downside to the rooms is that there is no storage space in the sense of a wardrobe or chest of draws but staying two nights it really wasn't a problem."

"This was my favourite place and was superb. We drove from Anderssons Camp to Palmwag lodge and stopped off at Kamanjab to see some rock paintings. However, up until we got to Kamanjab all of the roads had been tarmac and we were informed, whilst picking up the key to see the rock paintings that the road to Palmwag was gravel and would take 2.5 hours. Not being aware of the gravel road and the extended length of time it would take meant that we had to rush down it and through the Grootberg Pass without being able to spend any time there enjoying the scenery. We made it to the pick-up point by 3.30pm but it had been a rush. I do think Expert Africa should have made us aware of this change in road in our information pack.

The camp itself is in the middle of nowhere and is personally run by Dennis, Claire and Bonny who were extremely friendly and brilliant hosts. The 16 tents are well spaced from each other and the bush showers were superb. Eating with all the guests was a great social event and very enjoyable and the food was excellent. Bonny's explanation of it in Damara was brilliant and very entertaining. We asked if we could go for a walk on the morning of our departure (all the other guests had to leave first thing) and a guide, Patrick, took us out for a fabulous climb up one of the hills and we saw a black eagle.

We only learned later that they were having the day off as they didn't have any guests in that night but they went out of their way to enable us to have a walk in the morning, a lovely lunch and transfer back to our car an hour away. The personal way in which it is run as well as the maximum of 16 guests at the camp at any one time ensures a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Entendeka was wonderful."

"The initial wow factor of the castle and large and nicely furnished rooms was soon obliterated by the noisy staff. I have never been to a desert that is so noisy. A large group of italians showed up just after we arrived and as we were resting in our room the staff thought the best way to determine which italians were in which chalets was to walk around the camp shouting their names out. My husband went and told them to be quiet.

We then discovered that there was no hot water in our chalet - having arrive around 4pm there should be hot water at that time as the solar panels have been out in the sun all day. We told one of the managers before dinner and she said she would send some maintenance men to look at it but advised us that we had to run the water for ten minutes before the hot would come out of it! That is ridiculous. We weren't too worried as we thought there would be some the next day it was a slight annoyance.

The next afternoon at about 1.30pm we tried our water again and there was no hot water. I went to see management but spoke to the guide Johann who went into the office and advised the manager that we had no hot water. I was outside of the office and personally heard her reply "They complained yesterday, they do have hot water". Needless to say I was very unhappy with this total lack of customer service. T

he maintenance guys had looked at the solar panel the night before and found nothing wrong with it. Finally a chap called stephen came out and came with me to the chalet. he looked at the solar panel, ran the water both in the taps and the shower and declared that we had no hot water. I told him I had overheard the manager. We were put on to a generator and that night we had hot water. we did receive a basket of fruit and a note to say sorry, by this time I just wanted to get out of the place.

WE had a bottle of wine on our first evening in the chalet and the dirty wine glasses were still there when we left two nights later even though the housekeeping had come in and made our bed!

The second sink leaked and so instead of getting water in the sink it ended up all over the bathroom floor!

Being Wilderness Safaries we thought the food would be as good as at Anderssons Camp but it was quite poor. we had lunch which was a cucumber soup which was truly inedible, (my husband eats anything but wouldn't eat it). The last night's main meal consisted of some kind of bland potato pasta, uncooked red cabbage and a chewy stew. The chef seriously needs more training.

The overall manager Lena and Stephen were very helpful and listened to our complaints and did somethng about them. But the other manager we found to be unfriendly and I think she was the one who made the comment that I overheard.

The camp is pretty large with 19 chalets and it felt very commercialised. This feeling may have been heightened by the fact that we had come from Entendeka which is the opposite.

Although the rooms were nice the service is poor and we would certainly not recommend it to anyone."

"We arrived to find that it had just undergone a revamp and was absolutely stunning. Debbie was very friendly and helpful and booked us in for dinner at an Il Napolitana. It is very security concious and to get into the B&B you have to unlock a gate and lock it once through. The rooms have their own locks and all have individual alarms which are very easy to use. The manager was very accomodating and informed us that we had to rush breakfast in the morning (which came early just for us) in order to get to our kayaking acitivty. She was very much on the ball and a great hostess.

It is very close to the centre of town, in a quiet road opposite the beach. The only negative is that the room inlcudes the bathroom which is fine except that the toilet is only cut off by a small wall, so if you're standing up in the room you can see the other person on the toilet! Being english we didn't really like this. It has been refurbished beautifully and is a very relaxing place to stay in the town. We would definitely return."

"This was a brilliant place to end our honeymoon and Kuchi is a brilliant host with a team of very friendly and accomodating staff behind him. I especially liked the fact that he has trained the staff in every aspect of the business, from housekeeping, to invoicing to waitering, in order that they can now run the lodge. We were given the honeymoon suite which was large and beautiful, it is not luxurious but doesn't need to be as the point is for it to blend into the landscape which it does brilliantly. The rooms have everything you need, from chest of drawers to hanging rail, table and mirror, hairdriers etc.

The food was excellent and if you have breakfast a little later than usual you should see the meerkats that come and play on the rocks next to the restaurant - they are incredible. It was also nice to see Maia, the rescued Zebra who enjoys pottering aroung the lodge eating the hay roof of the swimming pool bar. The service was excellent. We went to sesriem for a morning which is about 1.5 hours away and unless you want to do the ballooning down there (and have to rise very early) then I would advise to stay here and travel to Sesriem for the day. The scenary around the Rostock Ritz is very peacfeul and relaxing and there are a number of walks that can be done from the lodge.

Chilling by the pool is fabulous as the view is wonderful."