Travel reviews by Family R from Brighton

"This was a very nice place to spend our first night in Namibia. It was easy to find from the airport and easy to find our way back to after driving into the centre of Windhoek for dinner.

There was a room safe, an electric gate at the entrance and there was a man sitting near the gate keeping an eye on things at night so we felt very safe and secure. (not that Windhoek felt unsafe!).

Our room was clean and comfortable and we liked the garden with its flowers and tall trees.

There was a nice buffet breakfast on offer as well as eggs and bacon cooked to order."

"We were met by a very pleasant and helpful young man who showed us around the facilities and to our rooms (there were none of the rules and regulations that I had read about in previous reviews)!

We had a twin room and a double room. The rooms were comfortable and clean, my circular double room was particularly pretty and light with a very comfortable bed.

There was a kettle with tea and coffee bags in the rooms and a fridge by the main kitchen area from which we could take a beer if we noted it in a book. One night we fancied a cup of tea before bed and so I asked for some milk. This seemed to cause no end of confusion and we were eventually provided with sachets of coffee creamer. Perhaps they had not come accross our peculiar English tea-drinking habits before!

There was a nice buffet breakfast provided with the offer of a cooked breakfast as well. On our first morning we were getting up extra early to go kayaking in Walvis bay so we were invited to have breakfast a little earlier than it was usually provided. There was an attractive garden and I spent a happy half-hour one morning sitting outside with a cup of tea watching the birds at the bird table.

I would be happy to recommend the Secret Garden to other travellers."

"This was our favourite place of our whole trip to Namibia.

Our rooms were spacious and comfortable with wonderful views from the picture windows. The food was lovely.

The staff were friendly and helpful and seemed to enjoy working there.

We did five activities while we were there. They were all great fun and we learnt loads about the area and the animals that lived there. The guides and trackers were really knowledgeable. Altogether it was a wonderful experience."

"After the peace of Okinjima it felt quite busy here. The woman in reception was quite abrupt. We had to pay 250 Namibian dollars park entrance fee for the three of us and the car on arrival. I thought I had read somewhere that this was included in our overnight booking but I didn't argue about it because I wasn's sure. This fee allowed us to stay until the same time the following day after which we would have to pay the same again.

This worked out OK for us as we did not arrive until about 3.30. If we had arrived, say, at 12.00 we would have had to leave by 12.00 the next day or pay for another day. (Another 250 dollars). We were then passed over to another woman who checked our details, took our deposit and gave us our keys. This all seemed quite impersonal, but I guess we had just been spoilt at the previous places!

Our rooms, which were not far from the waterhole, were small but nice although the fridge was a little noisy and the kettle seemed a bit dangerous as it overheated and the handle became too hot to touch. I mentioned it at reception and they said it would be looked at the next day.

The food in the resteraunt was good - buffet breakfast and dinner - with lots of choices. The chef was very friendly and a bit of a character!

The shop on the site seemed to have a small range of things suitable for cooking on a barbeque or a camping stove but nothing that we could take into the safari park for a lunchtime snack in the car - no bread or cheese, cooked meat or fruit.

The Waterhole at Okaukuejo was amazing. Whenever we went down there, there was some sort of wildlife, early in the morning, loads of birds, then giraffe, then springbok, zebra, wildebeast. In the evening, lots of elephants and 3 rhino. My son Jack said it was almost too easy, just sitting there and watching all the animals come and go!"

"This was a lovely base for visiting Etosha. The room was very comfortable with a nice little balcony and a great view.

The main building was quite elegant with a wonderful balcony for sundowners! The food was tasty and the service was good.

On our second night we decided to have dinner at Etosha Safari Camp because we had been told that there would be live music there. The receptionist phoned to let them know we were coming and we were given a lift there and back by a member of staff from the Lodge. We just had to pay for our drinks at the camp. We had a very pleasant evening and the food and service was very good."

"We had a warm welcome from Erica who greeted us when we arrived and served dinner in the restaurant on our first night.

We were very happy with our rooms. I have an irrational fear of spiders and I was a bit worried about staying in a lodge with a thatched roof - but I didn't see a single one!

The food was good.

We saw kudu and impala wandering around in the grounds outside our lodge, which was lovely. This was a relaxing and comfortable base from which to explore the eastern end of Etosha."

"Lovely accommodation, good food, friendly staff.

One of the highlights of our trip to Namibia was when we went for an early morning walk up to the top of the Waterberg Plateau. Andreas, our guide, told us loads of interesting things about the plants, trees and animals that we passed. When we got to the top he handed out fruit and water and then gave us plenty of time to just sit quietly and take in the amazing view and the sounds and the silence. It was magical.

In the afternoon we went on a game drive. Our guide, Helmut, was very informative and quite amusing. During the drive we picked up a tracker called Nelson who showed us where some white rhino were grazing. We were able to get really close to them!

Waterburg Wilderness Lodge has some walks marked out that you can do unguided and I would have liked to have stayed longer to make the most of these. This would be a good place to go before driving around Etosha because you can learn a lot about different animals from the guides, before going off to find them on your own."

"We arrived here when it was nearly dark so we didn't have time to take full advantage of the opportunities on offer here. However, my sons thoroughly enjoyed looking up at the milky way while relaxing in the jacuzzi and I went for a lovely walk on my own first thing in the morning.

A relaxing ending to our holiday."