Reviews of Ai Aiba Lodge

"Beautiful scenery and staff very professional.

Would highly recommend a visit to the San living museum next door" See all these reviews: 7n in Namibia

"Quite a large lodge with about 20 rooms, but with really welcoming, genuine and friendly staff throughout and a great setting making it feel quite special. The rooms are semi-detached bungalows set fairly close together. Strangely due to the screening and staggered layout, the adjacent bungalow tends to be a little more intrusive than the semi-detached room. Rooms themselves are of high quality.

There is quite a large pool, pool-side area and bar. The lodge definitely attracts families; this area was never noisy but children of all ages were more than welcome to enjoy themselves.

Food was excellent. Service at dinner was a bit more UK than Namibia - a bit of a pause between ordering and courses, and finished plates stayed on the table until others had finished - all fine by us.

The self-guided walk above the accommodation is short but interesting and can easily last 45 minutes. It has some well preserved rock art and good views through the rocks and across the plains. We did the morning guided walk and evening sundowner walk which were similarly interesting with great views. Both guides were excellent.

There is no other access for self-guided walking, apparently due to tourists collecting plants for medicines. The advertised other morning walk option has been replaced by a game drive.

Overall, a very nice relaxing place with plenty to do for a couple of nights. All the staff across management, reception, bar, restaurant, guides and room preparation deserve recognition for their attitude and welcome." See all these reviews: 16n in Namibia

"Wow! Do not stay less than 2 nights. Great room food, staff, location. Took the complimentary sundowner climb/hike. Very knowledgeable guide. Took the paid visit to the Sani Bush people living museum and a sundowner to additional rock paintings. We saw plus or minus 100 paintings. On our own we might have seen 10. The last morning we engaged a guide to lead us on the lodge "hiking trail". Could not have navigated or accomplished it without his assistance. Rewarded with more rock paintings.

Ai Aiba Lodge is a magical place!" See all these reviews: 22n in Namibia; 3n in South Africa

"Ai Aiba looks like the Garden of Eden. It's the most beautiful setting.

It's amazing to be able to walk straight out into it from the accommodation, whether with a guide or on your own. The trails are discreetly marked but easy to find and follow.

We enjoyed an early morning walk (nearly three hours) before breakfast with Deon, one of the professional guides. Deon was was very knowledgable and observant and helped us understand what we were seeing around us, whether right at our feet or in the distance - animals small and large, birds, plants, geology, the rock art. And often there were things to hear, smell and taste too.

It was clear that he loved the land himself and enjoyed sharing it with us. We could happily have spent another few hours in his company.

The next morning we took a shorter walk alone into the rocks above the lodge, just after sunrise. After our walk with Deon we felt we had been tuned in to our surroundings, and you just have to be still for a few minutes to see all kinds of things, for example to realise that you are being watched by a little group of rock dassies.

Of all the memorable experiences of our trip, the one that lingers most strongly is of walking in the wilderness at Ai Aiba.

The staff at the lodge were all cheerful and friendly and happy to help. The food was very good. Our room was unfussy, comfortable and clean and looked directly out over the beautiful landscape.

Even the road to and from the lodge - inside the Conservancy - had a lot to offer. We stopped to watch tortoise and herds of giraffe crossing the road in front of us, more than once.

We stayed two nights at Ai Aiba and would have been glad to stay at least another in order to explore at more leisure." See all these reviews: 5n in Namibia

"Beautiful views and interesting to see the rock art.

Buildings are rather dark and not our favourite.

Food was good." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"Nice sundowner walk!" See all these reviews: 20n in Namibia

"A bit of a drive to get to this - on poor roads, but worth it. Lovely setting, on hill overlooking mile after mile of veldt.

Towering rocks above. V good room, though not so stunning as others. Public areas beautiful.

Food outstanding (cannot understand how they manage to present such amazing food in such remote areas - throughout trip).

Much busier than other camps, but that wasn't a problem as staff dealt with everyone's needs v competently.

Sundowner climb to point well above camp was excellent.

Game drive v good and visit to rock paintings v interesting (we found more on a private walk not far from camp)." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"Ai Aiba lodge the staff were very welcoming, food was great.

The game viewing trip was perfect we asked to see more of the bushman/san paintings than game, the guide was excellent and took us to multiple locations to view the paintings.

It was a lovely place to stay at for the end of our holiday." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia

"Ai Aiba Lodge is situated 1,200 meters above sea level on the Northwestern side of the mountain range. The name comes from Damara/Nama language and means “someone who leads the way”. Perhaps how to integrate tourism and nature conservation? The natural game in the area includes kudu, springbok, oryx, dik dik, duiker, klipspringer, mountain zebra, giraffe, jackal, leopard, brown hyena, warthog, aardwolf, aardvark, bat eared fox, small spotted genet, African wild cat, porcupine and many more. Nevertheless, it seems like a safe place to walk around, you only see few animals. Look where you place your feet and hands, it´s also an area with occasionally a snake or a scorpion. Should you meet a cat – don´t run

At arrival, the lodge seems a bit unorganized. No welcome committee ready as we have become used to. Finally, a receptionist welcomes us and introduces everything. We are in room 9. This appears to be a rather large lodge and it´s quite busy with clients right now. Perhaps also because of German autumn school holiday which means many German couples and their children are on the premises.

We are not used to the lager lodges but have been spoiled by intimate luxury lodges with a personal appeal or visiting very remote locations. At dinner first night, children are playing everywhere including inside the restaurant, not exactly candlelight romantics.

At arrival, we are offered a sunset walk to a nearby mountain peak. It turns out to be a party of seventeen (!) newly arrived guests alone with one guide only (!) It would have been reasonable to split into at least two groups, families with their children and couples. After this peculiar “experience”, we decide only to book additional excursions given the group is not too large. Fortunately, there is a nice pool with stunning views.

Next morning we do our own walk along the well-marked trail next to the lodge. It´s only 1 km but takes 45 mins because of the many rock boulders to navigate and interesting bushman paintings. It´s easy to follow the guiding signs. The 2nd evening, we enjoy the sunset in sun chairs by the swimming pool. Afterwards a peaceful dinner in the restaurant – this time only nice children playing on the lawn outside. We are impressed by the high quality of the food in this lodge compared to other good lodges. Third day, we got our own guide for a 2,5 hour morning walk on the plains below the mountains. It was very beautiful and relaxing. If we were to visit again, we would ask for a full day walk.

Pros:
- Spectacular (!) setting in Erongo Mountains
- Nice comfortable clean spacious chalet with air con
- Large pool area
- Perfect with small children
- Good wine list (try the Snow Mountain pinot noir & Groote Post riesling)
- High quality food

Cons:
- Rather big lodge = many guests
- Many families with young children “all over the place” in school holidays
- A bit disorganized / busy, no personal feel
- Many guests per guide, however we got private guide on request" See all these reviews: 35n in Namibia

"Nothing special. Room very basic. Food basic. Scenery fab.

Didn’t have enough staff. Too big.

Not sure why we went here in hindsight" See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia