Travel reviews by Meerkats from Thame

"This was easily the best beach holiday we have had.

The lodge is beautiful: very low impact, extremely well cared-for and maintained, in a simply gorgeous position. There is a lovely swimming pool, immediate access to the beach, excellent food, efficient and friendly staff. Gloria and Thomas are perfect hosts.

It is quiet, peaceful and just the perfect place for a tropical stay. I hope we can go again."

"Good location in Stone Town, just right for access to the sights, restaurants and shops.

Quiet, small hotel, friendly and efficient staff. Great swimming pool. The restaurant was not available while we were there so we had to go out for dinner each evening."

"The NWR lodge at Sossusvlei - Sossus Dune - was very well managed, with a friendly and homely approach. The food was among the best of all the places we stayed and we had a knowledgeable and capable guide - Rambo - to the dunes themselves. It was a good showcase for the NWR and a great start to the holiday.

The management there clearly had a strong interest in making the place a success and it showed in the quality of the service thoroughout our stay.

The manager joined us at table on our first night - it was interesting to talk to a Namibian about Namibian issues."

"The Stiltz at Swakopmund was delightful and made the town very bearable, despite the cold and fog. The cabins were equipped with heaters and electric blankets - very necessary! We ate both nights at The Tug, which I believe is owned by the same people - great atmosphere, good food and lovely location.

For bird-watchers, the wetlands are a paradise - however, some of the cabins (on stilts) have better views than others. This is reflected in their price, but travellers wanting to look out for birds would be advised to ask for a cabin with a good outlook.

I have raised an issue about the booking in a separate email to Sabina.

At Swakopmund we took an excellent desert tour with Charly's desert tours."

"The drive up to Terrace Bay was great fun and the road was much better than I had expected. We enjoyed Terrace Bay enormously - the restcamp feels as though it's at the end of the world and the restaurant/bar staff were very friendly. It was simple and unpretentious.

The food was very good, considering the location, far from producers and shops. Like Swakopmund, the place is cold (and windy) in July, but there was no fog and seascapes were beautiful. Quite a tough place for the staff, who must feel very isolated there.

I hope that NWR don't send Terrace Bay upmarket with fancy refurbishment - it is perfect, just as it is. Nothing to see, but that's part of the charm."

"Doro Nawas was a wonderful place - the staff here were the best we met. Friendly, efficient, helpful, and excellent management. Some of us took a trip to find the desert elephants - successfully.

The place looks rather like a desert fort and the views from the lodge are world-beaters. Sunset is a magic show.

One of our party had a birthday here - the breakfast staff (who saw the cards being opened) sang Happy Birthday in the local click language, with descants and other extras that I have never heard in the song before. Extremely well managed place. At Doro Nawas, as at most of the places where we stayed, it was good to see so many Namibian women in management posts.

Our visit to Twyfelfontein was excellent - we drove ourselves and there is no need to take the offered trip there."

"After Doro Nawas, Palmwag was more lively - it was good to be able to follow walking trails there, instead of having to drive or be driven. I liked the mix of people at Palmwag. The management, however, was a bit lacking and the place does not seem to know whether it's going to cater for campers or up-market lodge travellers.

Wonderful sunsets and an excellent bar. The food was pretty good, too, and the staff helpful. There's a lovely garden with a bar and lots of butterflies.

The cabins are relatively simple, but very comfortable, with nice little porches where you can sit and have a beer."

"The NWR places at Okokuejo and Halali had very nicely-refurbished rooms and chalets and were a big improvement on what they were ten years ago. The waterhole at Okakuejo was full of game and a constant source of interest - elephants throughout the day, hundreds of springbok, plenty of giraffe and oryx and two resident jackals. Rhino visited every night - six on one occasion.

We were delighted with the whole park - we made two drives each day and saw almost all that we would wish to see, including quite a number of lions on three occasions, two leopards eating a kill, right next to the road, and a distant cheetah.

I suspect that the lion population is pretty high in Etosha now, but we still counted ourselves very fortunate in our sightings. I would rate Etosha as at least as good as parks like Tsavo and Amboseli.

The food at Okokuejo was excellent, too, with friendly restaurant staff."

"The chalets at Halali were very well furnished - the recent refurbishment has paid off. I suspect, however, that they will not last in good condition too long, because there was an obvious lack of good maintenance. Signs of "bits dropping off" the fittings and a smell of drains did not engender confidence in the management of the place. Staff were generally indifferent and even surly and there were signs of inefficiencies everywhere.

The food at Halali was dire - so much so that we avoided eating in it after the first dinner. The meat was tough, there were no vegetables with the main course, there was little choice or variety, the service was perfunctory. The coffee was cold or ran out altogether. To charge the equivalent of ten or eleven pounds for a three-course meal that was virtually inedible was quite indefensible.

In hindsight, we should have booked Namatoni instead of Halali - partly because the eastern end of the park has some quite distinct ecosystems and partly because, when we stopped briefly at the restcamp at Namatoni, it looked as though it had better facilities than Halali. Also, we saw virtually no game at Halali waterhole - probably just unlucky there, however.

At both Halali and Okokuejo, the shops were quite poorly-stocked, despite the large number of campers and self-caterers."

"Frans Indongo was pure luxury and a real treat."

"At Waterberg the staff were friendly and the food was acceptable. The chalets were comfortable, if rather sparse and dimly-lit.

We had an interesting evening drive up to the plateau with an NWR driver/guide. On the whole, though, Waterberg was my least favourite place. It's quite cold at this time of year and the trees make the restcamp gloomy - the bird life was disappointing, too."

"A great place to end our holiday - and wonderful food! Good location in Windhoek and very friendly and efficient."