Reviews of Kulala Desert Lodge
(88%) From 142 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Kulala Desert Lodge review
Another very atmospheric camp in a stunning location. We didn't take any of the paid trips as we thought they were over-priced; £100 a head for a trip to the dunes was too much, especially when with a little more trouble you can drive yourself (and experience the dunes in more solitude!).
A general point is that Expert Africa could perhaps give a little more guidance on self guided trips from some of the lodges, as an alternative to those provided (at quite a high cost) by the camps themselves. The Namibia guidebook provided is good, but some personal hints and tips from Expert Africa would be very helpful.
I did raise one safety point in my feedback to the camp - the ladders to the roofs on the lodges (on which you can sleep otdoors) were not secured at the top and an accident is likely to happen eventually.
Kulala Desert Lodge review
Magnificent location and dune drive was fantastic.
Very interesting river bed walk.
Excellent food first night but average second night.
Kulala Desert Lodge review
The place is nicely located and nothing wrong with the accomodation.
But we felt the activities are very expensive though, and what made it worse was the management couldn't explain why (we didn't think most of it was for the guide and it couldn't have been the transport cost or entrance fees, we checked the cost of the latter one...).
We asked two members of the management, once when confirming to go on the trip and in the end when paying. In general the quality of information by the management was not as good as in many other lodges.
Fortunately we did have an excellent guide on our trip to the dunes (Petrus), which is why I wouldn't rate service as "poor"
Kulala Desert Lodge review
Wonderfully remote, again a very nice welcome after a long and dusty drive. Tremendous view from the room , and very nice touch for the staff to come and put some extra blankets on the beds and hot water bottles. Food was good.
We had a wonderful trip to Dune 45 and a sundowner to Sesriem canyon with Christoph, the best guide we had during our holiday to Namibia.
All the other staff were very attentive , courteous and professional, so much so we were sad to leave this wonderful place.
Kulala Desert Lodge review
A perfect place to stay if you want to access the dunes. We were the first people there in the morning and it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. We could take some fantastic photos without any footprints in the sand.
The staff were very helpful and friendly
The food was good but I did feel that the puddings (quality rather than choice) could be improved upon.
Expert Africa comments
These travelers asked us to organise several side-trips for them here. They commented -
1) About their Morning excursion to dunes:
Christoph, our guide, was great. He was friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.
It was really great - just right. Plenty of time to explore or just to watch the sun rise.
2) About their Early morning balooning trip:
Unfortunately this was cancelled on both occasions (apparently no one was able to go ballooning all week) due to the wind.
Kulala Desert Lodge review
The rooms were a bit tricky to access due to the uneven stony paths that were quite narrow and the steep steps upto the verandah. However, the tent and amazing views in such a peaceful location meant you did not want to go out. Again we were made to feel most welcome and able to relax.
The evening nature drive with N'gway (sorry for the spelling) was very infomative and he assisted John in and out of the vehicle in a very helpful and friendly manner.
The tour was expensive (compared to Anib Lodge which was a third of the price) although perhaps that is fairly standard in the Sesreim area.
Kulala Desert Lodge review
Getting to Kulala in a clas D car was stressful, especially as C19 was very rutted and the final 14km from road to camp over sand tracks caused some problems, and worries about the return journey. Strongly advise a 4x4 for this.
It also take a very long time (6-7hrs) even without punctures or other probs. Lodge was very good but couldn't seem to arrange a bedroll for the roof area.
Very friendly and enthusiastic staff, but seperate tables kept guests very seperate from each other so little interaction. Not sure why we were on half board as this caused some confusion as to what was included.
Kulala Desert Lodge review
The chalets at KDL were lovely and well equiped, it had everything we needed. The meals were all very nice, including the afternoon tea. The serving staff were very quiet, it was often hard to hear what they were saying, but they were very efficient and polite. They also did some singing and dancing for us one night during dinner, which was wonderful.
I feel guest should be aware how expensive the trips are with camps under the Wilderness Safaris group, and it's a bit of a shock when you find out. Given how cheap things are locally, it's surprising to find out the main activities are around €100 per person for a 1/2 day trip.
We did the dune trip as that was the main reason for being there and it was an excellent experience. Our guide (Naguiri) was very knowledgable and really looked after us. We also did the self-guided walk along the river bed near the lodge and came across quite a few antilope.
The location can't be beaten as you can see the dunes from the lodge and watch the sunset over them from the deck, and their private entrance into the National Park is a real bonus for getting there for the sunrise.
Kulala Desert Lodge review
Excursions are expensive. We booked this hotel to take advantage of its location inside the Nat Park but to actually make use of this we had to take an excursion and couldn't self drive. Might be worth mentioning this.
Read more about the whole safari
Kulala Desert Lodge review
OK but not a luxury lodge which it claims to be. Food nothing special.
Trip to dunes a bit of a rip off - nearly twice as much as our similar trip to Fish River Canyon but without the same quality of guiding and picnic.
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
