Reviews of Ghaub Guest Farm

"Somewhat unexpectedly, Ghaub was one of the highlights of our trip to Namibia. The welcome here was so genuine (it was the only place where the initial "hello" was not immediately followed by a request to see our voucher!) and friendly and this continued throughout our short stay.

Mika and Gerry really made us feel we were welcome guests. Meals were good and good value and adapted to give smaller portions for the children. An impromptu concert by the staff and another guest was enjoyed by all. The rooms were easily large enough for four beds and the views were amazing with lots of room for the children to run around. The pool was large and again had lovely views, and the chance to see so many kudu at the small waterhole was another bonus.

The farm tour in the morning was great and very good value for money - relaxed and not hurried, the guide was friendly and kept us entertained with stories of farm life, snakes, etc. Although we didn't see many animals the scenery, rock engravings, cemetery more than made up for this. We loved this place and were sorry that we had only one night here." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"We can see why new owner Gerry fell in love with this place. Yes, furniture may be dated, but we're not talking 60's and 70's plastic here, it's all solid wood, well cared for and will last for years (in contrast to Namutoni!). It's completely in keeping with the atmosphere and age of the place.

Beds were comfy, rooms cool, towels soft and fluffy (best we had all trip.) We had an excellent home-cooked dinner (eland) accompanied by good-value wine.

A lovely afternoon by the (very cold!) pool, then saw over 30 kudu at the waterhole plus duikers and warthogs on the lawn.

Gerry was an excellent host (ably assisted by Bano the dog and Zorro and Hutch the cats), and we spent lots of time discussing his plans for Ghaub. We wish him all the best and really hope he can make it work. We'll be back one day!
We'd have happily stayed another night and taken one of the farm tours or other trips available.

Whilst Ghaub is a bit 'out of the way' it's definitely worth the trip (visit the lovely town of Tsumeb on the way). On leaving we recommend taking the Kombat road – may take longer than other routes but scenery is lovely and we saw lots of wildlife on the way. Also, if time permits, visit the Hoba Meteorite – the largest in the world – well worth a few minutes stop with cold drinks and clean loos available." See all these reviews: 16n in Namibia; 2n in Zambia; 1n in Botswana

"A great stop over spot in the Otavi mountains. Surrounded by hills and trees, very picturesque location with a definite sense of history.

Mikka the manager made us very welcome and we wish the new owner from Dublin all the best.

The main activities were a choice of four walking trails around the property - well worth it." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia

"One of the best native managers (Meeka) we met on the trip!!! Jill got VERY sick as we arrived here and he was SO kind to her! Made special soup etc! She couldn't eat for 5 days, but the lodge called for us and she finally saw a doc in Tsumeb who gave her much better meds than what we brought which got her better.

New owners, again, VERY VERY nice people!!!! Irish guy. He is keen and wants to do well with this lodge which is a bit off the main tourest track. We loved this place. Guide books say there rooms have some of the best views in Nasmibia and they are right. Very idilic. Very Africa. How to improve and draw tourests? We went there because we are active and this area, accordind to the guide books had mtn biking and caving. The lodge does not advertise this but they have 2 bikes to use! Surprise to us but YAHOO!

However there is nowhere to ride! The only plave is on the road you drive in on. Not interested. We bike alot here at home. What is needed is a set biking trail. But this could be an issue given the soil in the area. Deep sand is no good, nor are boulder fields. What he needs to do is make some specific biking/hiking trails with ups and downs with some good views on the way. AND, do not let the cattle/hourses use these tracks as they will wreck them for biking. Then promote this!!!

He has just bought 2 horses for people to ride!
As Jill was sick we did not go caving but the pics make it look cool!! He has at least 1 cave on his property. Commercial caving is huge in Europe and big money! It would be worth his time to check some of these out to see how they set up these caves and promote this as well. Have overalls, helmets, lights etc

Maybe make a little touresty 4x4 track on the land for tourests who rent 4x4s to take a bit of a "tough" drive on. A little guy thing eh?!?! Promote it.

They have a very nice water hole close to the lodge. problem is, you have to cross their open lawn to get to the blind. The anlmals see you and run away, this happened to us a number of times. We saw lots but were willing to sit for a long time to see them. They should set up a "hidden" pathway to the blind. People are people and most want to see animals but being human, "waiting" is not big.

Not in the guides, but they have some very nice pictographs you can hike to see. Better signing at the site is needed though. It is very easy to walk right past them and not notice. There is now a very good set of trails leading all over the place past the site from people (including us) trying to find them. And the bush is real nasty here!

Sorry, I hope I don't sound too harsh here! The only reson I've gone on hear so much is that we did LOVE this place so much and the people there are GREAT. We want them to do well so thought we'd pass on some thoughts.

Oh yeah, and this is a problem with the whole country, local cultural events need to be promoteted better (unless of course the locals don't want this). For example, whilst at Gaub we went to the native village display at Tsumeb. It was ok. But the next day, by dumb luck as we just decided to pull into the village parking lot to have lunch, we find they are having a "county" traditional singing contest! It was FANTASTIC!!! And we were the only tourests there! Maybe they didn't want us there, but this stuff could be promoted as well>" See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia

"We loved this stop off. The manager was just the best, we were the only two guests and made to feel like royalty.

Rooms very good, except we were getting used to having open air!! Food home cooked. The pool huge with great views.

It has recently changed hands we will be very interested in visiting it when it upgrades itself, as it is a little in the dark ages, but added to the experience." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"Loved the location and .....great pool and rooms will be good when they have been refurbished. This property changed hands 3 days before we arrived. Sold by Namid Sun Hotels (who had obviously let it run down.eg. broken and rotten poolside loungers, no visitors book, bar needed refurb.) It has been bought by Andre Compian from Farm Elismor, who some people appear to like, while others appear to worry about his intentions and the future of the Guest House and Farm.

The Staff and girls in the kitchen were all great, and as we were the only guests we appreciated all their efforts.. under the circumstances. We found it very relaxing after our journey and a good place to stay on en route for a couple of days.
PLEASE NOTE THE GRADES BELOW [Ed: to the right here!] REFLECT RECENT SALE. eg. Facilities could be excellent when refurbished and the service was very good under the circumstances." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana

"This is a strange stay to classify. Firstly it took a long time to drive back down from the Okavango for various reasons and when we arrived we discovered we were the only two guests.

The property is set in a super location surrounded by hills and thick bush and a very good hide has been built overlooking a waterhole. This is then further overlooked by a swimming pool in a nicely laid area.

The accommodation is set in four blocks of three terraces and consists of a main bedroom, lounge area and en-suite shower and toilet and is large and airy - maybe because the property was once a mission station as we understand.

However we were told by staff that the farm was in the process of being sold and that the new owner was in fact going to be there the next day and that there was no guarantee that it would continue to be run as a Guest Farm.

This may explain the quality of our evening meal which has to be said was disappointing and the fact that breakfast was poor by previous standards.

However on location and standard of rooms a good stay." See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia

"Only guests that night. Fully booked next night.

Checked on arrival if meal that night was ok with us - not suitable for Mrs B so they changed the meal to suit which appeared to be no trouble. Accom, grounds, everything was excellent.

The next day we drove off in what we thought was the right direction but it turned out to be a longer route and the manager followed us to put us on the right road." See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia; 5n in Botswana