Reviews of Namutoni Camp
(84%) From 67 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Namutoni Camp review
Another very good lodge. With similar facilities to the previous. (electrical and fridge)
They did not provide mosquito nets but they did provide insecticide spray and repellant. We had great sightings of birds and elephant on the way through the park (and other animals).
We had a sighting of warthog with babies in the lodge area on the second evening. There were also mongoose.
Namutoni Camp review
Having stayed here several times I have seen several changes over the years. Although this is a NWR lodge the rooms are of a good standard matching many private lodges outside Etosha.
The pool is attractive though not very clean, The food as in all the Etosha NWR Camps is not very exciting but the service has improved since my last visit. However the wildlife and not the food is my main concern
The real advantage of this camp is that it is in Etosha so you can view and photograph the wildlife at dawn.
Namutoni Camp review
Camping at Namutoni didn't seem as well organised as Okaukuejo, we didn't have a pitch assigned to us per say. We just had to park in a specific area and others were already there (as we were in close to sunset) and they'd spaced themselves rather generously so we were rather squeezed in and didn't have the braai facilities to ourselves like at Okaukuejo.
The waterhole itself is disappointing but Namutoni looks great (more grass in the campsite and the lodges must be amazing). The advantage is how close you are to waterholes outside the park for early morning starts or late finishes.
Namutoni Camp review
Breakfast service good. Cold drinking water should always be available in restaurant. Fruit juices were "laced"with sugar. In this part of the world there are numerous sugar free fruit juices which are excellent - they should consider using them.
One evening I had to wait some 40 minutes without a waiter coming to serve me supper. I actually had to go and ask to be served. Although they were busy, waiters should be more aware of the presence of clients who are awaiting service.
The chef did not know how to cook an eland steak. I asked for a medium steak (pink colour) The first one came oozing blood. The second one was not much better. When a waiteress informed him of the problem he took offence and finally producèd a third steak which met the requirements. It is suggested that the chef be exposed to further training. A "banana salad"was a good idea but was spoilt by the use of over ripe bananas. Over ripe bananas would have been better used in a cake.
The restaurant manager met me and sought my comments which I gave him freely. He accepted them with dignity and took action to solve the issues that I raised.
It was iinteresting to note that both Halali and Okaukeujo had buffet dinners whilst Namutoni had a sert menu. Surely buffets are much easier than serving a set menu.
Excellent game viewing in this area.
Namutoni Camp review
Our first stay here for many years so it was interesting to see the changes.We liked the inner fort area where the restaurant is situated but still only one choice (not two as in their brochure).Very strange arrangement with park&ride to your chalet.Our chalet no42 was right beside the camping area which was very noisy at times.The chalet itself was very bright and had all the modern fittings ,large area for the bath/shower ,dimming lights(nice touch).Did not like outside area which consisted of high fencing and gravel!
Pool area OK but then no towels available.
The waterholes outside of the camp were great for viewing particularly Chudop,large numbers of giraffe seen here.
Although booking was described as Full Board and their own flyer states LDB&B, the reception staff says lunch is not included in the price
Snakes at Namutoni Waterhole
We stayed in a chalet room in this lovely camp within Etosha. It was ultra modern,surprisingly luxurious with dimmer lighting, twin showers over the bath and two futher showers including one outside.
The restaurant providing a delightful outdoor candlelit setting for dinner and the waterhole although not having the number or variety of animal visitors as Okaukuejo was still full of life including several 3 metre pythons swimming across from the reed beds. With this quality of accommodation and beautiful setting within the old fort we remian convinced that there is no reason to want to stay in ultra luxury outside the park with the restricted hours of entry and additional travel.
It is lovely to have an early evening meal and then join fellow travellers at the waterhole to exchange experiences and watch the animals before retiring to bed.
What a disappointment!
Oh dear, oh dear! What a let down. Tracy had tried to discourage us from staying here and now we know why. We wanted to stay in the 3 original restcamps and thought we'd want to spend the morning in the park after our night here so over-ruled her; in the event we'd done everything we wanted the day before.
On arrival you are told to drive round the back of the fort to a car park where (if you're lucky) you will be picked up in a golf cart and driven 100m round the corner where you have to get off and walk to your room. This is a pointless gimmick.
At first glance our Bush Chalet looked lovely but within a few minutes we realised that, while, as we understand, trying to compete with the high quality accommodation outside the park, and charging comparable prices, the refurbishment appeared to have been done on the cheap. Window blinds were broken, the sink chipped, fascias missing from furniture, drawers stuck, glasses etc listed on the inventory were missing. However, indoor and outdoor showers were excellent and beds comfortable. The rooms should deserve 5 paws but the tackiness and poor quality leads to our downgrading.
Two restaurants were advertised, Steakhouse and African Fusion. Only the location of the 'Steakhouse' was open but that was only serving a very poorly cooked buffet, not a restaurant meal. Food had obviously been cooked hours before and left to stand in warmers – and we ate at 6.30pm – pity any poor folks coming along later! Staff were friendly and tried to be helpful. As we stated in our feedback at the time we think this is tantamount to misrepresentation.
Next morning the cold breakfast was fine – no hot breakfast was offered though a cook lurked in the background of the kitchen by a burner so it might have been possible.
Rooms at Namutoni are only available on a full board basis; in our opinion this is a rip-off as the vast majority of guests arrive in the late afternoon and leave in the morning, having no chance of lunch. No alternative was offered, in fact we asked about the possibility of a packed lunch but it was quite clear this would only be available at extra charge. We would definitely not stay here again.
However, there are some very good waterholes in the area – and we had good sightings at the one in the camp after breakfast – so if you're willing to pay the price and tolerate the service for the sake of the location you might consider it.
Namutoni Camp review
We had two nights in a bush chalet which was very luxurious. The huge sunken bath was a real bonus. The waterhole here seemed quite quiet, but that was probably just luck of the draw.
We thought that we were staying on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis but it turned out that lunch was included too. Unfortunately nobody told us this! Also, nobody told us to book a table for dinner - it turns out this is a must if you want to sit inside (which you probably do in July/August as it gets pretty cold once the sun has set). The food itself was very good - the first night was a buffet, the second night was a set menu (with a choice of three main courses). Breakfast here was very good but it can get a bit busy and there isn't much space inside.
The waterholes in the Namutoni area are very busy, for us Klein Namutoni and Chudop were particularly fruitful. Dik-dik Drive (unlike Rhino & Eland drives) was very aptly named!
We did an organised night drive and an early morning drive here - the night drive was excellent with lots of wildlife and an informative guide, the morning drive was disappointingly quiet but it was very, very cold. Unfortunately, though, we were the only guests and our guide didn't seem very interested.
Namutoni Camp review
Namutoni feels less crowded than Okaukuejo and is very original for a "public" rest camp. We also found the rooms were very large and luxurious for what you would expect from this kind of camp.
The drinking pool seems to attract less animals all of the time (certainly compared to Okaukuejo's) but there are great other pools in the area. The night drive was excellent.
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
