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Ai Aiba Lodge
Ai Aiba Lodge
Ai Aiba Lodge
Ai Aiba Lodge
Ai Aiba Lodge
Ai Aiba Lodge
Ai Aiba Lodge
Ai Aiba Lodge
Ai Aiba Lodge
Ai Aiba Lodge

Reviews of Ai Aiba Lodge

Wildlife sightings and reviews

32 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Ai Aiba Lodge and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Jul-2018, 20 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Ai Aiba Lodge.
Leopard

0% success

Cheetah

0% success

Giraffe

79% success

Oryx

75% success

Zebra

60% success

Wildebeest

9% success

Eland

8% success

Aardvark

0% success

Black Rhino

0% success

Brown Hyena

0% success

Pangolin

0% success

Spotted Hyena

0% success

Showing 1-10 of 32
Duration
Arrival date
C & D
NL

"Ai Aiba Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 24 Feb 2023
"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
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Sightings Report

Giraffe

2 sightings

Zebra

1 sighting

HarlowJones
Oxted

"Ai Aiba Lodge review"

1 night Arrived 17 Feb 2023
"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
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Good
Food:
Good
Rooms:
Average
Facilities:
Average
Sightings Report

Giraffe

3 sightings

Mrs S
Bedfordshire

"Ai Aiba Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 15 Feb 2023
"Nice sundowner walk!" See all these reviews: 20n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Activities:
Good
VicJ
Perth

"Ai Aiba Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 6 Feb 2023
"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
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Giraffe

2 sightings

Oryx

2 sightings

Zebra

2 sightings

Mr & Mrs B
Fortrose

"Ai Aiba Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 2 Nov 2022
"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
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Giraffe

1 sighting

Oryx

1 sighting

Zebra

1 sighting

Dr. L & wife
Denmark

"Ai Aiba Lodge review"

3 nights Arrived 23 Oct 2022
"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
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Activities:
Average
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr D.
East Lulworth

"Ai Aiba Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 13 Oct 2022
"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
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location:
Good
Service:
Average
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Poor
Food:
Average
Facilities:
Average
PC Green
Schrassig

"Ai Aiba Lodge review"

1 night Arrived 28 Sep 2022
"Beautiful setting in a lodge in need of some renovation." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Average
Activities:
Average
Rooms:
Average
Food:
Average
Facilities:
Average
Mr & Mrs N
Portsmouth

"Ai Aiba Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 22 Sep 2022
"Very nice welcome from a friendly staff team who looked after us well. The rooms are good and the food first rate. The highlight was a half day tour guided by Immanuel who more than held his own against a fellow passenger who was an emeritus professor of Zoology. Their gentle sparring revealed just how experienced and knowledgeable is Immanuel and we lay passengers learned a lot as a result.

The local signposted rock art walk from the lodge is for the nimble and not for the faint hearted." See all these reviews: 21n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Sightings Report

Zebra

6 sightings

Mrs N.
Rickmansworth

"Ai Aiba Lodge Post Covid Sept 2022"

1 night Arrived 18 Sep 2022
"Ai Aiba is beautifully set amongst the mountains and an ideal stopover on the way back to Windhoek.

The staff were welcoming, the rooms luxurious and the food good. It was an ideal place to wind down for an evening before making the return journey home.

It was also nice to have the self guided walks available - a change from sitting in a vehicle all day!!" See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Oryx

1 sighting

Showing 1-10 of 32
89%
32 reviews of Ai Aiba Lodge by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
18
11
3
0
0
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