Travel reviews by Mr Sand Martin from UK
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
5
Excursions taken
0
Trip report
Namibia between 5 Oct 2007 and 7 Nov 2007
"Etosha was fantastic and I had some fantastic sightings. After Etosha and Cape Cross I spent the remaining time in the Caprivi (plus a couple of days in Windhoek).
Bum Hill campsite is highly reccommended - located on the banks of the Kwando river it is one of the very few places in that area that is accessible to a 2WD car - many others such as Nambwa need 4WD. It had a flush toilet, hot shower, sinks and a shelter plus raised viewing platform for each of the six camping pitches. Its owned and run by the local conservancy.
Ngepi on the banks of the Okavango river is another excellent campsite (but very different). its busy but has excellent facilities including electirc power at each of the camping pitches.
Shamvura tented camp is another nice place to stay - particularly with the tame Cape Clawless Otter that lives there !
Namibia is a beautiful country and I keep going back (this was my 6th trip) - I'm already planning my next trip !"
Bum Hill campsite is highly reccommended - located on the banks of the Kwando river it is one of the very few places in that area that is accessible to a 2WD car - many others such as Nambwa need 4WD. It had a flush toilet, hot shower, sinks and a shelter plus raised viewing platform for each of the six camping pitches. Its owned and run by the local conservancy.
Ngepi on the banks of the Okavango river is another excellent campsite (but very different). its busy but has excellent facilities including electirc power at each of the camping pitches.
Shamvura tented camp is another nice place to stay - particularly with the tame Cape Clawless Otter that lives there !
Namibia is a beautiful country and I keep going back (this was my 6th trip) - I'm already planning my next trip !"
Arranged By Sabina Hekandjo
Olive Grove
"Olive Grove review"
1 night
Arrived
6 Oct 2007
"A pleasant location to stay in WIndhoek. It's a lovely place and is in easy walking distance of the shops in WIndhoek."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Okaukuejo Camp
"Okaukuejo Restcamp review"
5 nights
Arrived
7 Oct 2007
"Okaukuejo's main benefit is its location and the waterhole. The work being done to upgrade the camp is however ruining it. The rooms look great but are badly thought out - the power sockets are inaccessible and too few with only one being available to use. There is a noisy refridgerator in the room which makes it hard to sleep. The showers dont drain well and often flood the bathroom. On the plus side the air conditioning works.
Service in the restaurant is as bad as ever and the shops are a disgrace with a poor selection and frequently running out of things.
Maintenance has not improved so leaky pipes and lights not working go un-repaired for a long time.
Having to leave a N$500 key deposit is insulting - no private lodge does this and the deposit is only returned once the staff have checked the room and counted the spoons and cups !
The night drives are over-priced and are frankly terrible. The guides are not properly trained and give inaccurate or downright wrong information. The drives are run on the cheap with the driver trying to operate the spotlight as well as drive which doesnt work well"
Service in the restaurant is as bad as ever and the shops are a disgrace with a poor selection and frequently running out of things.
Maintenance has not improved so leaky pipes and lights not working go un-repaired for a long time.
Having to leave a N$500 key deposit is insulting - no private lodge does this and the deposit is only returned once the staff have checked the room and counted the spoons and cups !
The night drives are over-priced and are frankly terrible. The guides are not properly trained and give inaccurate or downright wrong information. The drives are run on the cheap with the driver trying to operate the spotlight as well as drive which doesnt work well"
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average
Location
Excellent
Service
Terrible
Rooms
Average
Food
Poor
Feedback response
Expert Africa discussed the recent addition of a refundable N$500 deposit that is now required when staying at any of the restcamps within Etosha National Park. Although the deposit is here to stay, Expert Africa will now be making all their travellers aware of this before they depart on their holiday so that visitors to the restcamps are prepared for the deposit before they arrive.
The Namibia Wildlife Resorts organisation (NWR) is aware that their service and food standards are in need of quite a serious overhaul. Their priority was to finish their scheduled refurbishments by November. This has been completed and now the staff training has begun. The MD of NWR commented to Expert Africa that the feedback sent to him by our travellers was incredibly useful and aided him in knowing what aspects of the refurbishment and general upgrade of all the NWR properties still needed work.
The Namibia Wildlife Resorts organisation (NWR) is aware that their service and food standards are in need of quite a serious overhaul. Their priority was to finish their scheduled refurbishments by November. This has been completed and now the staff training has begun. The MD of NWR commented to Expert Africa that the feedback sent to him by our travellers was incredibly useful and aided him in knowing what aspects of the refurbishment and general upgrade of all the NWR properties still needed work.
Africa Specialist
Halali Camp
"Halali Restcamp review"
4 nights
Arrived
12 Oct 2007
"This is by far the best cap in Etosha as little has been done to it other than adding shade to the waterhole viewing area and refurbishing the rooms
The night drives are over-priced and are frankly terrible. The guides are not properly trained and give inaccurate or downright wrong information. The drives are run on the cheap with the driver trying to operate the spotlight as well as drive which doesnt work well"
The night drives are over-priced and are frankly terrible. The guides are not properly trained and give inaccurate or downright wrong information. The drives are run on the cheap with the driver trying to operate the spotlight as well as drive which doesnt work well"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Activities
Poor
Rooms
Good
Food
Average
Facilities
Poor
Okaukuejo Camp
"Okaukuejo Restcamp review"
5 nights
Arrived
16 Oct 2007
"as per previous okaukuejo review"
Good
Cape Cross Lodge
"Cape Cross Lodge review"
2 nights
Arrived
21 Oct 2007
"The lodge is situated a long way from anywhere - the only thing nearby is the Seal colony, but for people wanting to visit the seal colony then this lodge is an excellent place to stay. There is a water supply outside which attracts jackals and the occasional brown hyena to drink.
My only concern is that if Namibia continues to cull so many seals then the colony which is already a fraction of the size it was 6 years ago when I last visited, will simply cease to be worth visiting and this lodge will then struggle."
My only concern is that if Namibia continues to cull so many seals then the colony which is already a fraction of the size it was 6 years ago when I last visited, will simply cease to be worth visiting and this lodge will then struggle."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Average
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Feedback response
We are aware that seal culling/harvesting is practised in Namibia. Whilst we don't agree with the practice, we are assured that Namibia is doing this in a sustainable way – and we believe this to be the case.
Historically, seal culling was at its height here when Namibia was a colony! Since then, the largest number of seals recorded along Namibia's west coast was in 1993, shortly after independence. The latest scientific information (from Namibia’s Ministry of Fisheries & Marine Resources) suggests that Namibia’s overall seal population is in a very healthy condition, with an increase in the number of pups and also new colonies along the coast in the last decade.
Visitors to Cape Cross (or any of Namibia’s other colonies) should note that the numbers of seals found at the colony vary substantially with the breeding and feeding seasons of the seals. They come ashore to breed, but spend many months feeding and migrating at sea – so it’s quite possible to come once and find the colony packed full, and back six months later to find far fewer animals. This doesn’t necessarily reflect the overall population, and may be a perfectly normal fluctuation.
Although we are not in favour of seal harvesting, Expert Africa will continue to support Namibia and the many positive wildlife, conservation and community projects which are thriving there.
Historically, seal culling was at its height here when Namibia was a colony! Since then, the largest number of seals recorded along Namibia's west coast was in 1993, shortly after independence. The latest scientific information (from Namibia’s Ministry of Fisheries & Marine Resources) suggests that Namibia’s overall seal population is in a very healthy condition, with an increase in the number of pups and also new colonies along the coast in the last decade.
Visitors to Cape Cross (or any of Namibia’s other colonies) should note that the numbers of seals found at the colony vary substantially with the breeding and feeding seasons of the seals. They come ashore to breed, but spend many months feeding and migrating at sea – so it’s quite possible to come once and find the colony packed full, and back six months later to find far fewer animals. This doesn’t necessarily reflect the overall population, and may be a perfectly normal fluctuation.
Although we are not in favour of seal harvesting, Expert Africa will continue to support Namibia and the many positive wildlife, conservation and community projects which are thriving there.
Africa Specialist