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Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs MS from N London

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

1

Countries visited

2

Lodges stayed in

15

Excursions taken

0

A wonderful 5-week adventure

Namibia and 1 other country between 1 May 2015 and 5 Jun 2015

Trip rating: Excellent
"This was a fantastic trip. We spent 25 days doing a full circuit of Namibia - everything we expected and far more.

I expected it to be all desert, but I never knew how many different kinds of desert there are and what amazing landscapes and geology Namibia has. Nor did I realise what a fantastic variety of wildlife and birds there are.

We chose to have a driver/guide and it was well worth every penny - he not only took all the strain of the long drives, he was also an astonishing fund of knowledge and expertise. WIthout him, we would not have seen half the things we did, nor appreciated what we did see half as much.

Then we had 9 days in the Okavango Delta, a truly amazing place where the concentration and variety of wildlife is quite extraordinary. Very good guides provided by the lodges to find all the animals. The days were filled with great experiences.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We had a fanatastic time and no complaints at all. However, we did find that quite a few of the lodges etc were really rather over the top in their attempts to emulate 4- or 5-star hotels. It's a matter of personal preference, but we actually felt more comfortable in the places that didn't try quite so hard and were perhaps a little more authentic in their atmosphere - like Etendeka and Kwara.

If I had known better what the range of options was, I could probably have explained this to Tracy at the beginning. So my suggestion would be that your agents could maybe spend a little more time getting to know what the client's expectations are and what kind of experiences they are looking for, and discuss the options, to enable them to make better-informed choices.

My impression is that, because I didn't have a limited budget, the assumption was that we would automatically prefer the most up-market places; that doesn't apply to us and maybe others are the same."

Feedback response

We have very much taken on board these travellers’ comments regarding the style and cost of accommodation, and have noted to try and probe even deeper when chatting about accommodation options with future travellers. We pride ourselves on taking time getting to know exactly what our travellers what from a trip and then suggesting the best places to suit their individual desires. We are sorry that we may not have got it completely correct on this occasion.

We too love rustic and authentic styles of camp such as Etendeka and Kwara, however unfortunately there are very few of these types of camp any more. Most have opted to ‘upgrade’ to more modern structures and facilities due to popular demand. We feel this is a bit of a same as there are a number of our travellers who clearly prefer this style of accommodation.

For clarity sake we feel we should mention that the accommodations used in Namibia were by no means the most expensive, in fact many are some of the more economical places to stay. However travelling with a private guide, although offering a fantastic experience, does add a fair amount to the cost of any trip. However Nxabega and Sandibe in Botswana are pretty costly, though no more than many other camps in Botswana - it’s just an expensive country to visit!

Arranged By Tracy Lederer


Galton House

Galton House

"Lovely room, good service, good food"

1 night Arrived 2 May 2015
"Location a bit far from the centre but close enough to the bush to get interesting birds and wildlife.

All other things being equal, somewhere within walking distance of the centre, museums etc would be preferable."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Average
Service
Good
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

"Great location, service could be better"

1 night Arrived 3 May 2015
"The location of this ranch is fantastic, the view from the bath exceptional. However the bath water was only a trickle so it promised more than it delivered.

Lunch service when we arrived was very slow, but the barbecue in the evening was excellent"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Canyon Lodge

Canyon Lodge

"Wonderful location, great atmosphere"

3 nights Arrived 4 May 2015
"A wonderful location in the rocks with the desert all round. A great experience to have the hyrax playing within a few meters of our room, and so many birds all around. The swimming pool on the edge of the desert was stunning.

However, the service was not up to the standard one expects from a place of this standard: room not very clean, damp towels not changed, and a dreadfully long wait for lunch - after which the wrong order was delivered."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Poor
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Eagle's Nest

Eagle's Nest

"Klein Aus Vista Chalets very good"

3 nights Arrived 7 May 2015
"We stayed in the |desert Horse Inn, not at Eagle'sNest. The room was very generous in size and very comfortable.

It was good to have the extra time to do a couple of the recommended walks as well as the scheduled activities."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Hoodia Desert Lodge

Hoodia Desert Lodge

"Beautiful location"

3 nights Arrived 10 May 2015
"The way the lodge blends into the landscape is very impressive.

Exceptionally friendly staff and excellent service"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Cornerstone Guesthouse

Cornerstone Guesthouse

"Comfortable guesthouse, convenient location"

3 nights Arrived 13 May 2015
"All very comfotable and pleasant, friendly and helpful staff. Location near the centre of town and the seaside restaurants very convenient."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Camp Kipwe

Camp Kipwe

"Exquisite room, stunning location"

2 nights Arrived 16 May 2015
"We were priviledged to be given The Suite, a superb set of rooms way beyond anything we expected. Rather OTT, for a lodge in a developing country!

The view was amazing, even from the bathroom."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Etendeka Mountain Camp

Etendeka Mountain Camp

"Wonderfully remote and close to nature"

2 nights Arrived 18 May 2015
"We loved the location, far from the nearest road and set deep in the real countryside.

A very pleasing lack of pretension in the accommodation, food and service. It felt very comfortable and in many ways a more authentic experience than the more luxurious lodges."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Okaukuejo Camp

Okaukuejo Camp

"Wonderful floodlit waterhole"

2 nights Arrived 20 May 2015
"The higlight is obviously the floodlit waterhole, it was wonderful to be able to see this just a few meters from the door of our room.

A great place from which to visit many other waterholes and see a wide variety of wildlife."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Average
Mushara Bush Camp

Mushara Bush Camp

"A lovely quiet camp well situated"

2 nights Arrived 22 May 2015
"Very comfortable and pleasant, good service.

Not a lot happening at the camp but ideally located for getting into Etosha to see the waterholes at the eastern end."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Okonjima Plains Camp

Okonjima Plains Camp

"Busy camp, unique big cat experiences"

2 nights Arrived 24 May 2015
"This is a relatively large establishment, busy and with a full programme of activities.

The great attraction is the unique opportunity to follow cheetah, wild dogs and leopards with radio tracking. We had some great sightings of all 3."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Galton House

Galton House

"We've done this one already!"

1 night Arrived 26 May 2015
"See previous comments"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Nxabega Okavango Tented Camp

Nxabega Okavango Tented Camp

"Great location and great star-lit dinner"

2 nights Arrived 27 May 2015
"A great location overlooking a small lagoon, with vervet monkeys all round. Good guiding and a lot of very interesting wildlife sightings.

A great surprise and a great pleasure to have our dinner round a camp-fire under the stars, away from the lodge, on our first night"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Sandibe Safari Lodge

Sandibe Safari Lodge

"Friendly place with luxurious rooms"

3 nights Arrived 29 May 2015
"The architecture of this lodge is original and interesting, and the standard of the rooms quite exceptional.

Very comfortable and spacious, though a private plunge pool with outside seating for at least 15 people seems a little excessive. Excellent and very friendly service. The guiding was outstanding, Jonas not only found everything we were hoping to see but also allowed us all the time we wanted to stay with the animals and really share what they were doing, rather than just taking a few photos and moving on.

We spent an entire, unbroken day with one leopard, our best ever wildlife experience."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Kwara Camp

Kwara Camp

"Wonderful place, deep in the wilds"

3 nights Arrived 1 Jun 2015
"Very friendly, relaxed and comfortable place, less up-market and pretentious than some other lodges and none the worse for that.

It was great to have an elephant munching away at a tree no more than 5 meters away from us having our breakfast."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Average

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