Travel reviews by Ms B & Mr L from Australia

"Very comfortable guesthouse/small hotel. First night we had large upstairs room with sitting area.

Food is excellent. Staff helpful, providing 5 am breakfast to room on our last night when we had an early flight. A bit far to walk easily to centre, but easy drive."

"Nice place to stay when travelling south. We stayed in dune cabin which are really lovely. Great views. Food very good. Afternoon tea and cakes provided.

Game drive very pleasant and best sundowner overlooking desert scenery, but guide was a lacking a bit in enthusiasm. We did see more animals than expected including giraffe which was quite special. No Meercats as grass too high, but did see a mongoose close to reception. Unfortunately water was not working due to damaged pipe the morning we left so unable to use bath with a wonderful view! Probably a good thing as water a scarce asset in Namibia, but a shower would have been good before a 6 hour drive.

Horse riding looked fun, but we only had an overnight stop."

"Although expensive this is the place to stay if you want to get to sand dunes for early morning photographs as inside the park. Fantastic setting with wonderful views.

Very luxurious accommodation in separate cabins with restaurant int he middle. As other reviewers have mentioned it is a long walk from end to end - nearly a KM on wooden walkway, but could be an issue if you have mobility issues. No real communal area, but you could sit on restaurant terrace, but we found rooms very comfortable to relax in for a few hours in the middle of the day, with nice terrace. Shower is fantastic and very spacious.

Food is good, but heavy on the sauces. Second night we asked for no gravy and that worked well. Service adequate. We drove ourself to dunes, but our friends did morning trip with lodge which they thought was very good. A lot of driving as still 60km to main dune area, although corridor in is also fantastic. We did this twice a day - early morning and mid afternoon. Very comfortable beds and large shower."

"This is a really lovely place to stay in Swakopmund. We were lucky to get a lovely room with extra seating area and outdoor patio - although I think all the rooms have an outside seating area.

It is a short walk to town, and the owner and staff are very helpful. The breakfast was one of the best on the trip. Margo the co-owner is a good artist and we bought one of her paintings. Highly recommended for a stay.

Expert Africa organised a sea-kayaking trip for these travellers whilst they were here. They commented:

This is a must do trip. A short 30 min drive to walvis bay is no hardship and the cornerstone where we stayed arranged an early breakfast. The guides are knowledgeable and the experience of kayaking with seals is wonderful. We saw the flamingoes on the drive to the start point, and Naude our guide was also an expert bird watcher. Very safe and enjoyable trip."

"This is a lovely place to stay. Originally I was not keen on stopping in damaraland, but we really enjoyed it. The scenery is spectacular.

Our accommodation was really unique. Most things in the room are made of polished concrete, including the bed head. It had a lovely terrace with great views, and although wee didn't the option to roll the beds out there to sleep. There is also an outside as well as an inside shower. The staff who are from the local area are lovely and are very helpful.

The food was nice and the setting for dinner both evenings was fantastic, once inside with extensive views and once outside around an open fire, with views of the stars. We did the trip to see the desert adapted elephants which was great, a close up encounter! Information gained from the guide proved very useful later in our trip!! One thing to note if you stay here, there is no kettle in room, so worth asking for a flask delivered if you like an early morning cup of tea, also although no one told us the house wine was included with dinner,a. Nice surprise when we settled our bill.

This was one of the nicest places we stayed on our trip through Namibia."

"We were lucky enough to book a premier water hole cabin which sleeps 4 with our friends who were also travelling in Namibia at the same time as us. They had stayed at Okaukuejo twice before, and so knew that number 34 was the best place to be. They were absolutely right.

From the terrace you can see directly into the water hole, and we stayed up till midnight both nights we were there watching a progression of elephants, zebra, impala, rhinos and one night 2 lions come down to drink, as well as lots of birds. The food was adequate, and apparently had improved a lot in last 6 years, according to our friends. The 2 bedrooms were spacious and upstairs ensuite large. Sitting area small but not much time to sit around! Kettle and fridge provided.

Really must stay inside the park for a few days if you visit etosha as so good going out for early drive and coming back for breakfast at the camp."

"This is a really lovely place to stay. We were a bit anxious having read some reviews in travel books, but the cabin we had was lovely. Think there are 2 styles of accommodation and we stayed in a cabin on the outskirts of camp on river. Spacious and comfortable accommodation, good shower, comfortable bed.

The main communal area was probably the nicest of the whole trip. Lovely spaces to relax and watch the water hole. The night we arrived there were 3 giraffes drinking. Food and wine very good and staff friendly and helpful, especially Sandra on reception. although we did the night drive, as usual we did not see much - but that was our experience everywhere on the trip.

I had my birthday there and the staff made a special desert for our table and sung happy birthday to me. Highly recommend for visiting the eastern side of the park."

"As before - already reviewed [Ed: see below.]"

"Overall this was probably our favourite place to stay fort he whole trip.

Although the accommodation was as not as grand as elsewhere, the cabins were very comfortable, with a small sitting area, good shower and outside area, with wonderful views. The main area where we ate was excellent with lots of comfortable places to sit with wi fi and outside viewing areas of the river and water hole. The staff were really fantastic. Everyone made you feel so welcome.

The food and wine were excellent. You eat at a communal table which worked fine, and the guided activities were taken with the same guide and other guests so by the end of 3 days you really felt as if you knew everyone very well. The managers would greet each trip as we returned with genuine interest in what we had seen and experienced. The wildlife experience was fantastic with lions each day, great river trip with elephants and lions, lots of zebra and giraffe, Kudu, impala etc.

We even met 3 elephants on the path to our cabin one night - decided they had right of way and beat a hasty retreat back to the main reception. As usual the night drives were disappointing, but one day we will see something interesting at night - it does not matter where we are int he world have never had any luck with night drives.

When we go again which I am sure we will, will plan for 4 nights so we can have a day of relaxation at the lodge as has one oft he top 10 for me views in the world over the chobe river."

"This is a very relaxing way to spend a few days on the river. If we had not had 3 nights just before at Muchenje I suspect we would have enjoyed the experience even more than we did, but the wildlife experience was very similar to that at Muchenje on the river trip.

The staff (all male) are very friendly and helpful, and the chef was great, trying out interesting recipes and doing a very good job. The rooms are comfortable and shower etc works well. Plenty of opportunity to go out on the small boats, but after the first day we found it more relaxing to animal and bird watch from the comfort of the boat. Lovely to watch sunrise and sunset."

"The lodges as separate large 2 bedroom cabins in the grounds of the very upmarket Victoria falls lodge. Although they are about a 10 minute walk from the main lodge this is quite pleasant as mostly shaded and you meet the warthogs and guinea fowl and deer as you walk. The main lodge that you can use is really lovely, great views of a water hole and a lovely spot to have an evening drink, whichever e did both nights. Complimentary hot snacks arrive which was lovely. Elephants too one night at he water hole that then walked up to under the deck to eat. The restaurant here at the lodge was excellent - good value and lovely food, and beautiful setting. We did not eat at the Boma which is very close to the Lokuthula lodges, but we could hear the drumming and dancing, and sounded good fun. The free hourly shuttle into town for falls etc is great, lovely cheerful drivers.

The lodges are set up for self catering and have 2 bedrooms so would be great value for 4. We just had snacks, but facilities looked fine. Nice outdoor seating patio. They warn you to keep kitchen door shut and on last morning we found out why as baboons had got in, opened fridge and "stolen" our dried fruit!

Highly recommend as a budget option, away from town which is not at all attractive, with great restaurant in main lodge and activity desk where we booked helicopter ride which we highly recommend to see the falls especially at this time of year. Sitting on terrace watching sunset with a beer will be a lasting memory."