Travel reviews by Mrs P, Miss H & P from UK
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
9
Excursions taken
0
Namibia Feb 2011
Namibia between 26 Jan 2011 and 23 Feb 2011
"Namibia is a wonderful country. Friendly people, organised, great places to stay with a few exceptions. We went initially to work for a conservation project P.A.W.S. affiliated to Africat - which was a wonderful experience of trying to turn the land back for the cheetah and leopard, which has been desimated by cattle grazing. A well run and brilliant conservation project with lots of chance to be up close and personal to large game and birds. We then used Expert Africa to organise the rest of our trip to see wildlife and birds.
It was off season as lots of rain and water, so the wildlife were scattered, but we found it to be a good time of year as few people and vehicles and lots of flowers and great green spaces to see. Windhoek was a disappointment, but Sossuavlei and Swakopmund both well worth spending time. We took a private flight over the dunes - the only way to get a real feel of how spectacular they are. Apparently there is little left on the Skeleton Coast as many bones and ship wrecks removed - so miles and miles of nothing.
The roads are good, but met several people who did not have a guide, so not good in the rainy season as they did not know where to look for game and often saw little or nothing.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Our itinerary was changed a few times because of accommodation changes. Expert Africa's team in Namibia gave us an out of date itinerary when we arrived. They supplied us with just the very best guide - Orlando Haraseb who really made our trip. He and his colleagues were most helpful when we decided we did not wish to stay 2 nights in Okaukuejo as we thought it very poor and immediately had us transferred to Halali Lodge for an extra night.
We all thought that there was much waste of time on our itinerary in Windhoek as per my email. Swakopmund has lots more to offer, is cleaner, lovely shops, great restaurants, great views and lots of opportunities for extra activities and we had a wonderful and very informative sea kayak trip with Craig in Walvis Bay, who taught us much about the birdlife, seals and local salt mines etc. He also provided lunch which we had paid for in our itinerary also. It is necessary to point out that Jan/Feb whales will not be seen as it is not the season for them to be there or for dolphins (we saw one). Can recommend The Tug for dinner - great food.
I have covered more points in my detailed email of today which I would like responses too, particularly as we were overcharged/incorrectly charged at River Crossing."
It was off season as lots of rain and water, so the wildlife were scattered, but we found it to be a good time of year as few people and vehicles and lots of flowers and great green spaces to see. Windhoek was a disappointment, but Sossuavlei and Swakopmund both well worth spending time. We took a private flight over the dunes - the only way to get a real feel of how spectacular they are. Apparently there is little left on the Skeleton Coast as many bones and ship wrecks removed - so miles and miles of nothing.
The roads are good, but met several people who did not have a guide, so not good in the rainy season as they did not know where to look for game and often saw little or nothing.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Our itinerary was changed a few times because of accommodation changes. Expert Africa's team in Namibia gave us an out of date itinerary when we arrived. They supplied us with just the very best guide - Orlando Haraseb who really made our trip. He and his colleagues were most helpful when we decided we did not wish to stay 2 nights in Okaukuejo as we thought it very poor and immediately had us transferred to Halali Lodge for an extra night.
We all thought that there was much waste of time on our itinerary in Windhoek as per my email. Swakopmund has lots more to offer, is cleaner, lovely shops, great restaurants, great views and lots of opportunities for extra activities and we had a wonderful and very informative sea kayak trip with Craig in Walvis Bay, who taught us much about the birdlife, seals and local salt mines etc. He also provided lunch which we had paid for in our itinerary also. It is necessary to point out that Jan/Feb whales will not be seen as it is not the season for them to be there or for dolphins (we saw one). Can recommend The Tug for dinner - great food.
I have covered more points in my detailed email of today which I would like responses too, particularly as we were overcharged/incorrectly charged at River Crossing."
River Crossing
"River Crossing review"
2 nights
Arrived
27 Jan 2011
"Friendly staff, excellent food - highly recommend"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Under own arrangements (Not currently featured by Expert Africa)
"P.A.W.S. Cheetah Conservation"
13 nights
Arrived
29 Jan 2011
"P.A.W.S. under our own arrangement - excellent experience"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Not currently featured by Expert Africa
Villa Violet
"The Elegant Bed & Breakfast review"
1 night
Arrived
11 Feb 2011
"Breakfast not great as covered in fruit flies. Shower wash containers in bathroom empty. Telephone messages x 2 were never passed on to us from reception one being from our guide"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Service
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Average
Desert Homestead
"Desert Homestead review"
2 nights
Arrived
12 Feb 2011
"Fabulous location, great good, lovely friendly staff - highly recommended"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
The Stiltz
"The Stiltz review"
2 nights
Arrived
14 Feb 2011
"We stayed in one of the bungalows overlooking the sea. The welcome was very friendly indeed. The location good - lovely and quiet.
The accommodation was first class, the breakfast was excellent, the decor was excellent, the beds really comfortable, spotlessly clean - absolutely no complaints and could not recommend highly enough"
The accommodation was first class, the breakfast was excellent, the decor was excellent, the beds really comfortable, spotlessly clean - absolutely no complaints and could not recommend highly enough"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Okaukuejo Camp
"Okaukuejo Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
16 Feb 2011
"We checked out of this place as soon as we could. The room was hardly large enough for one with luggage, let alone 2. There were ants in the room. The room was very basic. We went to the waterhole that night and people were noisy. You could here others camping in the car park and cars arriving and leaving - not conducive to seeing wildlife at a waterhole. The benches around the waterhole made it all feel rather zoo like.
One poor white rhino turned up for a drink and was frightened away by noise from tourists. No guard in site to keep control. Then dinner - it was appalling. The salad bowl nearly empty when we arrived, the fish was so overcooked (frozen) and tasteless - inedible. I resorted to fruit salad thinking they couldn't get that wrong - they did it was under-ripe melon. We checked out early the next morning instead of staying another night. It was definitely the worst place we stayed.
Given it was the rainy season and therefore quiet for tourists, it should have been better. Also not much happening at the waterhole because of the rains - we expected this but all we saw was a rhino - anything else could find water elsewhere and probably where it was more peaceful."
One poor white rhino turned up for a drink and was frightened away by noise from tourists. No guard in site to keep control. Then dinner - it was appalling. The salad bowl nearly empty when we arrived, the fish was so overcooked (frozen) and tasteless - inedible. I resorted to fruit salad thinking they couldn't get that wrong - they did it was under-ripe melon. We checked out early the next morning instead of staying another night. It was definitely the worst place we stayed.
Given it was the rainy season and therefore quiet for tourists, it should have been better. Also not much happening at the waterhole because of the rains - we expected this but all we saw was a rhino - anything else could find water elsewhere and probably where it was more peaceful."
Poor
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor
Location
Poor
Service
Poor
Activities
Poor
Rooms
Poor
Food
Poor
Facilities
Poor
Halali Camp
"Halali Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
18 Feb 2011
"We enjoyed staying here despite heavy rain pouring through the roof over where we ate (exceptional for the time of year). The rooms were clean and fairly basic but comfortable beds - we had to ask for more towels.
There was no bottled water in the fridge. No tea or coffee or dried milk but plenty of sugar! ie the rooms were not properly serviced.
Good food but they frequently messed up our orders."
There was no bottled water in the fridge. No tea or coffee or dried milk but plenty of sugar! ie the rooms were not properly serviced.
Good food but they frequently messed up our orders."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Service
Average
Rooms
Average
Food
Good
Mushara Bush Camp
"Mushara Bush Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
20 Feb 2011
"Wonderful place to stay. The height of tasteful decor, friendly staff, great swimming pool, excelllent food and accommodation. We loved staying here and would recommend it highly.
A bit hot in the tent with just a fan which was not really very effective as we had to sleep under mossie nets and would imagine in high season it could be quite hot. It was my birthday and the staff sang to me, baked me a beautiful cake and made it a very special evening for me."
A bit hot in the tent with just a fan which was not really very effective as we had to sleep under mossie nets and would imagine in high season it could be quite hot. It was my birthday and the staff sang to me, baked me a beautiful cake and made it a very special evening for me."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
The Elegant Farmstead (Not currently featured by Expert Africa)
"The Elegant Farmstead"
1 night
Arrived
22 Feb 2011
"We were a little disappointed in the decor and would not have termed it "elegant" and not up to the same standard as other places we had stayed. It was a long drive from the road - about 24k and a bit of a waste of time as we could do nothing once there. We had to sign a disclaimer form when we arrived virtually signing our lives away if we went out for a walk. There was nothing offered to do and as it was off season and the grass so high and there had been a storm that day, there was no wildlife to see apart from 3 ostriches.
The rooms were fine, clean and comfortable beds. The staff laid on an excellent meal for us on the deck and lit a fire for us. It was, we felt a waste of time being here and we would far rather have driven closer to Windhoek or gone somewhere where there was something to do or see. We had spent nearly a month looking at wildlife, so even if there had been any here to see, we would have liked to have had a different experience before leaving Namibia.
We then ended up killing time for a whole morning in Windhoek before leaving the airport. The itinerary had given us time there to start with - so too much time wasted in a town that has little to offer and in fact is not safe to walk around - even during the daytime we were jostled and one felt very wary as a tourist"
The rooms were fine, clean and comfortable beds. The staff laid on an excellent meal for us on the deck and lit a fire for us. It was, we felt a waste of time being here and we would far rather have driven closer to Windhoek or gone somewhere where there was something to do or see. We had spent nearly a month looking at wildlife, so even if there had been any here to see, we would have liked to have had a different experience before leaving Namibia.
We then ended up killing time for a whole morning in Windhoek before leaving the airport. The itinerary had given us time there to start with - so too much time wasted in a town that has little to offer and in fact is not safe to walk around - even during the daytime we were jostled and one felt very wary as a tourist"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Average
Service
Good
Activities
Poor
Rooms
Average
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Poor
Not currently featured by Expert Africa
