Reviews of Okaukuejo Camp

Much better than expected

Although we were told that this restcamp had been recently upgraded from a very basic standard and clearly had to pay considerably more for the privilege, the camp was much better than expected. In particular our waterhole chalet (W18) was perfectly located for the waterhole (only 50m away) and was immaculate.

We self-catered in the evening so as not to miss the activity at the waterhole but did take breakfast in the restaurant- plenty of choice (even for my wife (fresh not tinned fruit!) which was excellent. Checking in was a little tedious but checking out very quick with no need for an inventory check to collect my refund of the 500 Rand deposit.

Game viewing was excellent throughout with plenty of activity at many of the other waterholes we visited. Highlights at the Okakuejo waterhole were Black Rhino every night - 6 on one night - huge herds of elephant with tiny babies, massive numbers of zebra in the morning and a jackal kill right in front of us.

Okaukuejo Restcamp review

The upgrade has made a vast difference. It is now a pleasant place to stay within the park.

Service has improved and ther shop is much better stocked.

It is a good base to travel to view wildlife from, We stayed 3 nights.

Okaukuejo Restcamp Review

The camp is used as a base for self drive trips around Etosha and as such is fine. It is quite large and inevitably less personal but frankly Etosha is such a wonderful place that I would stay anywhere to see it.

The attraction for us at the camp was the waterhole which many animals visit each night. It seemed surreal to see seven rhino at one time, not to mention giraffe, many elephants, jackals, wart hogs, antelope and so on. Animal soup or what!

The fact the camp is actually in the park seems an advantage over what may be rather better camps, in terms of accommodation perhaps, that are outside the gates.

Okaukuejo Restcamp review

We stayed in a Bush Chalet and were very pleasantly surprised. Reception staff were warm and helpful, our chalet was very clean, well-equipped and spacious. The camp was all far better equipped, cleaner, friendlier and bettter organised than we had expected. Food (dinner and breakfast) was more ordinary (had the feel of mass catering, with food prepared some time in advance of it being put out), but perfectly acceptable, expecially for somewhere in that location.

Wonderful to be staying so close to the waterhole, and to the rest of Etosha.

Unlike some earlier guests, we found no problem with noise and numbers of other people - in fact the presence of other visitors who were as interested as were were in the game tended to add to game watching at the waterhole occasion rather than to spoil it.

We would firmly recommend Okaukuejo.

Okaukuejo Restcamp review

Waterhole viewing of wildlife was excellent. Rooms were very small and cramped (compared with all others we stayed in). Apparently the rooms are now half the size they used to be, 1 room split into 2. The only place to sit down in the rooms was on the bed, not enough room for a chair.

I throughly recommend staying in the Park if possible, to see the waterholes after dark is fantastic.

Staff at check in very abrupt and arrogant. Did not answer any questions, did not tell us we had to book for dinner, hence issues about getting a table for dinner later. School Dinners does sum up the food here.

Okaukuejo Restcamp review

Okaukuejo Restcamp review

Nice to be so close to the waterhole - loads of elephants.

Okaukuejo Restcamp review

The room was nice and clean. Fresh and looked new. The bonus was the room's close proxmity to the waterhole.

The waterhole was the highlight, especially with the animals coming in to drink water there in throughout day and night. It was so relaxing by having a glass of gin and tonic, chilling out by looking at all the animals. It was interesting to see their behavioural patterns and movements.

Was disappointed that we could only stay there one night instead of two nights.

Okaukuejo Restcamp review

We were pleasantly surprised by the excellent standard of uor accomodation at Okaukuejo. It was more than adequate. The only fustration was that it didn't have an outside area to sit to have a drink. The camp is also clean and well set out.The waterhole here is amazing, so much going on. It didn't seem to matter what time of day or night you visited, there was always something to see. We could not quite believe it when we strolled down after our evening meal to see four black rhino. A mother and her calf plus two males.

It is not as intimate hear as the lodges and the food is a hot buffet which was plentiful but quite expensive. Also it gets quite repetative if you stop for a while. Paying a deposit of 500 Namibian Dollars for return of the key seemed strange and unnecessary.

All in all I would rather stop here for the amazing water hole that outside of Etosha.

Animals galore

There are two sorts of waterhole room at the Camp - those close to the front, which are two storey arrangements with a verandah and a second row further back which are on a single level. We had the latter which were comfortable, but rather small. We would advise you that great care is needed in recommending which room to book, even some of the front row rooms have no view of the animals because of the trees between them and the waterhole! The whole camp (like the other 2 in Etosha) was overhauled in 2007 so is in great condition.

The waterhole was fantastic with large numbers of visitors by dawn, day, dusk and night - so it was great value being close by just to pop down to see what was happening and who needed a drink.

Some very noisy jackels seemed to live in the camp, despite warning signs about them - they obviously don't read well!

The camp is quite large but even though it was full when we were there, it didn't seem too crowded, although meal times could be somewhat frustrating with the numbers of people being serviced. All meals are buffets and this can lead to long queues throughout the meal periods as some seem to go back 2 or 3 times! The dining room and its outside extension are very large and can get incredibly noisy, but there is a small "a la carte" room alongside which provides a quieter area but with the same buffet arrangements and no extra charge! A good alternative if one knows about it, we were lucky to be told on our second day and used it for 2 nights.

Although it's at the western end of Etosha, Okaukuejo is a good base for the park and seems better than Namutoni which feels very small in comparison. A very helpful petrol station that quickly fixed a tyre punctured by a large nail obviously picked up nearby.

One comment - on Page 365, Chris' book suggests that camp accommodation fees include the park entrance charge. This is NOT the case - a car and 4 adults costs N$330 per day in addition - so needs to be added the budget.