Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs R from Warks
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
11
Excursions taken
0
Namibia - land of contrasts
Namibia between 8 Apr 2010 and 28 Apr 2010
"Namibia was everything that we'd hoped for plus some. The landscape was a lot more varied than I'd expected , the quality especially of accommodation and the food was fantastic and everyone we met was extremely friendly and helpful.
Although there are considerable distances to travel (we did over 3200 km's) the roads were very good, even the gravel and sand roads were well maintained we never found travelling to be daunting or a problem. The one thing to remember was to keep the petrol tank topped up, we adopted the policy of filling the tank whenever we had the opportunity if we were two thirds full or less as recommended by Expert Africa.
I'd recommend Namibia unreservedly to anyone interested in Africa.
Overall a fantastic trip with not even the hint of any problems. Namibia lived up to and exceeded all of our expectations and I am seriously returning in a couple of years in the dry season to get a different view on the country especially Etosha.
One thing that we did was we had the hire car cleaned prior to return. It did not say on the hire documents if this was necessary but we paid Nam $60 in Windhoek for a full hand clean. When we returned the car handover took less than 5 minutes with no problems what so ever and I'm sure this was due to the cleanliness of the car. So it was £5 well spent
We found everything in Namibia to be either reasonably priced or cheaper than expected with one exception which was books and newspapers which were very expensive.
Overall Namibia over excellent value for money especially when the quality of food and service was taken into consideration
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
The only thing that we were uncertain on was , as previously mentioned, whether the hire car should be cleaned prior to return. Adopting the policy of cleaning it anyway certainly served us well."
Although there are considerable distances to travel (we did over 3200 km's) the roads were very good, even the gravel and sand roads were well maintained we never found travelling to be daunting or a problem. The one thing to remember was to keep the petrol tank topped up, we adopted the policy of filling the tank whenever we had the opportunity if we were two thirds full or less as recommended by Expert Africa.
I'd recommend Namibia unreservedly to anyone interested in Africa.
Overall a fantastic trip with not even the hint of any problems. Namibia lived up to and exceeded all of our expectations and I am seriously returning in a couple of years in the dry season to get a different view on the country especially Etosha.
One thing that we did was we had the hire car cleaned prior to return. It did not say on the hire documents if this was necessary but we paid Nam $60 in Windhoek for a full hand clean. When we returned the car handover took less than 5 minutes with no problems what so ever and I'm sure this was due to the cleanliness of the car. So it was £5 well spent
We found everything in Namibia to be either reasonably priced or cheaper than expected with one exception which was books and newspapers which were very expensive.
Overall Namibia over excellent value for money especially when the quality of food and service was taken into consideration
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
The only thing that we were uncertain on was , as previously mentioned, whether the hire car should be cleaned prior to return. Adopting the policy of cleaning it anyway certainly served us well."
Arranged By Tracy Lederer
Elegant Guesthouse
"The Elegant Guesthouse review"
1 night
Arrived
9 Apr 2010
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
BullsPort Lodge and Farm
"Great walks at Bullsport Guest Farm"
1 night
Arrived
10 Apr 2010
"Great spacious, well -equiped chalets in the grounds of this working farm. Meals are taken with the family around the communal dining table. The evening meal we had was pasta with small meatballs (I hate to imagine how big "large meatballs" would be as the small were fist-sized!), which was very tasty. Staff and owners were very friendly and efficient and happy to offer advise and pass on information about farming and running a business in Namibia.
They offer guided or self -guided walks on their farm, we were only staying one night on our way to the Namib but did manage a short walk on the morning we left, lots of amazing birds and the gardens are attractive especially the cactus area."
They offer guided or self -guided walks on their farm, we were only staying one night on our way to the Namib but did manage a short walk on the morning we left, lots of amazing birds and the gardens are attractive especially the cactus area."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Kulala Desert Lodge
"Great trip to Soussevlei from Kulala"
2 nights
Arrived
11 Apr 2010
"A wonderful lodge in an amazing setting in the Namib Desert. When we arrived we were met by very friendly and attractive staff with a cool drink and very refreshing damp towel which had ben cooled in a refrigerator.
The food was excellent with fresh salads and vegetables in the middle of the desert 7 hours travelling from Windhoek or Swakompmund amazing. Great friendly staff who could not do enough for you.
We took advantage of their game drive to Sosssivlei which set off at 5am, well worth doing as they have their own private entrance into the Namib-Nauflunt reserve which saves over 100kms over public roads, we stopped for photo's of the sunrise plus a clamber up Dune 45 before the main attraction which was amazing and surpassed my high expectations!
Also went on a sundowner nature drive which was fun and the guide (Pretorus) was very imformative."
The food was excellent with fresh salads and vegetables in the middle of the desert 7 hours travelling from Windhoek or Swakompmund amazing. Great friendly staff who could not do enough for you.
We took advantage of their game drive to Sosssivlei which set off at 5am, well worth doing as they have their own private entrance into the Namib-Nauflunt reserve which saves over 100kms over public roads, we stopped for photo's of the sunrise plus a clamber up Dune 45 before the main attraction which was amazing and surpassed my high expectations!
Also went on a sundowner nature drive which was fun and the guide (Pretorus) was very imformative."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Villa Margherita
"Villa Margherita review"
2 nights
Arrived
13 Apr 2010
"Great guest house only 5 minutes walk from the centre of town. Do very tasty Italian evening meals which we took advantage of on our first night. They booked a Seal and Dolphin watching cruise from Walvis Bay for us which was very good although the dolphins were not too co-operative and only gave brief views.
Ate at the Tug on our second evening which gave excellent value for money and good quality food.
We both loved Swakopmund which had a great atmosphere and every one was very friendly even those selling trinkets on the streets."
Ate at the Tug on our second evening which gave excellent value for money and good quality food.
We both loved Swakopmund which had a great atmosphere and every one was very friendly even those selling trinkets on the streets."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Doro Nawas
"Doro Nawas review"
2 nights
Arrived
15 Apr 2010
"A great place to stay in Damaraland. Wonderful location though the building itself had a dark and foreboding look from the distance it could have been used in Lord of the Rings. Staff were excellent as was the food and accommodation.
Took advantage of the early morning start Elephant game drive to see Desert Elephants despite the drivers sales pitch being "a very slim chance of seeing elephants". After about 90 minutes searching during which we'd seen a variety of other game our driver spotted a lone bull elephant about 1km away in the bush as he was driving- it was difficult to see through binoculars when stationary! The 2 4x4's then went off road to get to within a couple 100 yards away and stopped.
The elephant then cam very close and walked between the vehicles about 20 yards away. On the way back we were flagged down by a local farmer who told the driver of a family herd that had been behind his farm earlier that morning, after about 20 minutes we were lucky enough to locate a herd of about 25 animals including young calves - a wonderful experience which we wouldn't have found on our own. Well worth the extra cost."
Took advantage of the early morning start Elephant game drive to see Desert Elephants despite the drivers sales pitch being "a very slim chance of seeing elephants". After about 90 minutes searching during which we'd seen a variety of other game our driver spotted a lone bull elephant about 1km away in the bush as he was driving- it was difficult to see through binoculars when stationary! The 2 4x4's then went off road to get to within a couple 100 yards away and stopped.
The elephant then cam very close and walked between the vehicles about 20 yards away. On the way back we were flagged down by a local farmer who told the driver of a family herd that had been behind his farm earlier that morning, after about 20 minutes we were lucky enough to locate a herd of about 25 animals including young calves - a wonderful experience which we wouldn't have found on our own. Well worth the extra cost."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Okaukuejo Camp
"Okaukuejo Camp review"
1 night
Arrived
17 Apr 2010
"Had heard bad reviews of this lodge and had been advised by our travel consultant not to expect too much but had to stay here because of the floodlit waterhole. They must have taken notice of the adverse reports as we were very pleasantly surprised, the chalets had obviously been recently refurbished, the waiting staff had been on courses - ours was charming and could not do enough for us.
The food was fine, not as good as some of the smaller lodges but considering the numbers of people staying there more than acceptable and better than many large hotels that I've stayed at in the UK!
A great centre for touring the easter Etosha Park and the waterhole adjacent to the lodge was wonderful , we had a bull elephant for approx. 2 hours from about 9pm and hunting Eagle Owl for several hours. We were back before first light the next morning to photograph the numerous zebras and antelope coming to drink."
The food was fine, not as good as some of the smaller lodges but considering the numbers of people staying there more than acceptable and better than many large hotels that I've stayed at in the UK!
A great centre for touring the easter Etosha Park and the waterhole adjacent to the lodge was wonderful , we had a bull elephant for approx. 2 hours from about 9pm and hunting Eagle Owl for several hours. We were back before first light the next morning to photograph the numerous zebras and antelope coming to drink."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Taleni Etosha Village
"Taleni Etosha Village review"
2 nights
Arrived
18 Apr 2010
"Located just outside Etosha a couple of miles from Anderson Gate. Great location in Mopane woodland with each chalet appearing to be on its own.
The food was wonderful as was the service and facilities. Shower and toilet located outside under the stars but a great experience, air conditioning and fans in each tented chalet. We had no problems with mossies or other insects. Fabulous swimming pool and lovely garden area.
Did not take advantage of any activities as we had our own vehicle."
The food was wonderful as was the service and facilities. Shower and toilet located outside under the stars but a great experience, air conditioning and fans in each tented chalet. We had no problems with mossies or other insects. Fabulous swimming pool and lovely garden area.
Did not take advantage of any activities as we had our own vehicle."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Onguma Bush Camp
"Onguma Bush Camp review"
3 nights
Arrived
20 Apr 2010
"Another great lodge in a great location just outside the eastern entrance gate to Etosha. Wonderful food and staff.
Went on a night bush drive through their own game reserve with a great guide called Charles who had a great sense of humour and was a brilliant spotter seeing a small 3" owlet from 50 yards in the beam of his torch as we were driving. He was really disappointed that we saw no cats or rhino but he was entertaining, informative and found a number of smaller mammals for us including a bushbaby which was delightful.
He also gave us good advise on where the best places in Etosha were to see elephants and Lions and also what time of the day to visit these locations. We saw both elephant and lion at the places and times he suggested."
Went on a night bush drive through their own game reserve with a great guide called Charles who had a great sense of humour and was a brilliant spotter seeing a small 3" owlet from 50 yards in the beam of his torch as we were driving. He was really disappointed that we saw no cats or rhino but he was entertaining, informative and found a number of smaller mammals for us including a bushbaby which was delightful.
He also gave us good advise on where the best places in Etosha were to see elephants and Lions and also what time of the day to visit these locations. We saw both elephant and lion at the places and times he suggested."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Frans Indongo Lodge
"Frans Indongo Lodge review"
1 night
Arrived
23 Apr 2010
"Stayed here for one night as convenient for a trip to the Cheetah Conservation Fund HQ. Probably the most luxurious place we stayed, very well laid out and organised, with great food.
Went on a game drive into their private reserve where they have 7 rhino included a female with 3 week old calf but unfortunately we couldn't find them. But game drive was very worthwhile and saw lots of antelope and birds.
Staff booked our trip and activities at CCF which was helpful."
Went on a game drive into their private reserve where they have 7 rhino included a female with 3 week old calf but unfortunately we couldn't find them. But game drive was very worthwhile and saw lots of antelope and birds.
Staff booked our trip and activities at CCF which was helpful."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Ondudu Safari Lodge
"Erongo Wilderness Lodge review"
2 nights
Arrived
24 Apr 2010
"Wonderful location in the Erongo mountains, when you arrive you have to leave you vehicle approx. half a mile from the main lodge in the car park as the track up is very steep and can only be reached by 4x4 with an experienced driver. Collected by a driver within a few minutes of arrival.
Chalets set halfway up the mountain on stilts with wonderful views over the valley. Restaurant set on opposite hill with area outside main windows where food is put to attract Genet and Porcupine in the evenings and a wonderful array of birds during the day. Food was excellent and included in the price are guided walks.
We did two- evening sundowner and 3 hour morning walk with a 6am start, both were excellent and the guides - Johnnie and Heidi were knowledgeable about the fauna and flora. Also went on optional game drive to Paula's Cave which has a number of ancient bushman paintings which was most enjoyable.
This lodge would not be suitable for any that find walking over rough and steep terrain difficult."
Chalets set halfway up the mountain on stilts with wonderful views over the valley. Restaurant set on opposite hill with area outside main windows where food is put to attract Genet and Porcupine in the evenings and a wonderful array of birds during the day. Food was excellent and included in the price are guided walks.
We did two- evening sundowner and 3 hour morning walk with a 6am start, both were excellent and the guides - Johnnie and Heidi were knowledgeable about the fauna and flora. Also went on optional game drive to Paula's Cave which has a number of ancient bushman paintings which was most enjoyable.
This lodge would not be suitable for any that find walking over rough and steep terrain difficult."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
own arrangements (Not currently featured by Expert Africa)
"review"
1 night
Arrived
26 Apr 2010
"Overall a fantastic trip with not even the hint of any problems. Namibia lived up to and exceeded all of our expectations and I am seriously returning in a couple of years in the dry season to get a different view on the country especially Etosha.
One thing that we did was we had the hire car cleaned prior to return. It did not say on the hire documents if this was necessary but we paid Nam $60 in Windhoek for a full hand clean. When we returned the car handover took less than 5 minutes with no problems what so ever and I'm sure this was due to the cleanliness of the car. So it was £5 well spent"
One thing that we did was we had the hire car cleaned prior to return. It did not say on the hire documents if this was necessary but we paid Nam $60 in Windhoek for a full hand clean. When we returned the car handover took less than 5 minutes with no problems what so ever and I'm sure this was due to the cleanliness of the car. So it was £5 well spent"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Not currently featured by Expert Africa
Friendly and helpful staff, a good breakfast, drinks (hot & cold) available 24 hours, and well appointed and comfortable rooms."