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Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge
Ongava Lodge

Reviews of Ongava Lodge

Wildlife sightings and reviews

158 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Ongava 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 Aug-2018, 43 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Ongava Lodge.
Lion

90% success

Leopard

9% success

Cheetah

12% success

White Rhino

97% success

Giraffe

95% success

Oryx

90% success

Zebra

90% success

Elephant

88% success

Black Rhino

80% success

Wildebeest

79% success

Eland

38% success

Roan antelope

26% success

Sable antelope

15% success

Brown Hyena

14% success

Spotted Hyena

12% success

Pangolin

3% success

Aardvark

0% success

Showing 1-10 of 158
Duration
Arrival date
John
Western Canada

"Ongava Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 18 Dec 2023
"Loved this place! Had read some reports of it being a little run down but we never saw this at all.

Very comfortable feeling and one of the best rooms of our trip!

Great hide for viewing of the waterhole. Super friendly staff! Good sundowners after seeing lions, rhinos, elephants, mongoose and honey badger. Also the hyraxes playing around the rocks by the pool were cute.

We were told to arrive by two in the afternoon for possible afternoon activities but this was not necessary, just be there by around four-four-thirty." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Black Rhino

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Oryx

Multiple sightings

White Rhino

Multiple sightings

Mr & Mrs A
Kent

"Ongava Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 8 Sep 2023
"We had a fabulous time at Ongava. The accommodation is extremely comfortable and the food is excellent and plentiful.

We enjoyed our jeep trips out with our excellent guide, Teacher. We saw two large male lions, one of them striding along purposefully and the other flaked out on the side of the track, as well as a whole pride of other lions.

The setting of the lodge is beautiful and looks over a waterhole. We were privileged to see rhinos both evenings we were there, including a baby and other young ones. We also enjoyed seeing elephants at the waterhole one lunchtime and viewing them from the hide." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Black Rhino

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Oryx

1 sighting

White Rhino

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

The S Family
Plymouth

"Ongava Lodge review"

3 nights Arrived 4 Aug 2023
"We had a great stay at Ongava. The staff were very friendly and the guides knowledgeable. The lodge has the advantage of Etosha on its doorstep and an impressive range of animals on their land.

Highlights included walking with rhinos and a separate bush walk with our guide the next day. The hide by the watering hole allows a very close up view of animals - including rhinos and elephant. Staying for three nights gave more flexibility in what we did with our guide.

Accommodation was luxurious and the food good." See all these reviews: 16n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Black Rhino

4 sightings

Brown Hyena

1 sighting

Elephant

5 sightings

Giraffe

7 sightings

Oryx

10 sightings

White Rhino

5 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mr and Mrs W
london

"Ongava Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 5 Jul 2023
"Ongava Lodge is in a great setting with views over the water hole and beyond. They are set within their own reserve so you can do game drives locally with the guide or drive a short drive to etosha with either a guide or as a self drive.

Compared to other hotels, the service wasn't quite so good - we weren't given an option to have a guide take us to Etosha, perhaps a lack of staff that day.

The rooms are also quite tired and in need of a refresh and cleanliness could have been better (a little dusty and a stained towel).

Overall a good experience but some updates to the rooms would be a good idea." See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

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

Black Rhino

1 sighting

Eland

1 sighting

Elephant

1 sighting

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Lion

1 sighting

Oryx

Multiple sightings

Roan antelope

1 sighting

White Rhino

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Mr & Mrs R
Glos

"Ongava Lodge review"

4 nights Arrived 14 May 2023
"The only lodge that we had visited before and we wanted to return because of the hide. The only discernible change since our last visit in 2016 is that management no longer come around one by one at dinner each evening.

The rooms and facilities were exactly as we remembered.

The food was fine but not memorable (again no change from 2016). The view of the water hole from the restaurant is terrific. Watching the rhinos each evening during dinner never palls.

Teacher was a great guide, very professional. Although the lodge was pretty full we were lucky to be the only people with him on most of the drives morning and evening. So he could and did tailor to our preferences.

We did a couple of rhino approaches, leaving the car and walking with him up to the white rhinos which are a lot less skittish than the black.

It was a great contrast to Desert Rhino camp." See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Black Rhino

5 sightings

Elephant

5 sightings

Giraffe

4 sightings

Lion

3 sightings

Oryx

2 sightings

White Rhino

10 sightings

Wildebeest

5 sightings

Zebra

5 sightings

Mr & Mrs L
Birmingham

"Ongava Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 11 Oct 2022
"The lodge has an amazing view from their restaurant over a water hole which meant we ate our lunch on arrival watching a bull elephant before going down to the hide for a closer look. The chalet was very roomy with a nice decking area. On our afternoon drive on the Ongava reserve we were really lucky and saw 2 lionesses with 4 cubs between them which I would have been happy to watch for the rest of the afternoon & when we got back there were 2 black rhinos at the water hole. Watching what was going on there was far better than a TV!

We had been to Ongava before and loved it in the tented camp. The biggest advantage of the Lodge is the view of the watering hole, whilst the tented camp feels more exciting but would be happy to stay in either again." 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

Black Rhino

2 sightings

Eland

3 sightings

Elephant

2 sightings

Giraffe

5 sightings

Lion

1 sighting

Oryx

3 sightings

Roan antelope

3 sightings

Sable antelope

3 sightings

Spotted Hyena

5 sightings

White Rhino

2 sightings

Wildebeest

3 sightings

Zebra

4 sightings

Kartik
Patel

"Ongava Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 27 Sep 2022
"The view of the reserve from Ongava Lodge is epic. I could hear Disney’s Lion King music start playing in my head when I first arrived!

Meals were great, in particular they cooked the brown rice we brought with us to cater for a diabetic in our group. In all honestly though, you almost forget about the food, because you’re glued to the activity at the waterhole out front whether at breakfast or dinner: rhinos, elephants, giraffe, even a leopard sighting at night.

You can get even better views from the hide, something I have never experienced - why go out and look for animals when they come right to you. Note that you can go to the hide in the evenings as well which we would have done had we known beforehand (this is something the staff might want to highlight when guests check in).

As for the game drives, the rhino tracking was thrilling as you are able to exit the vehicle, and we got to see a pride of lions including cubs which has to be one of my most memorable moments of the trip." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Black Rhino

Multiple sightings

Elephant

1 sighting

Giraffe

1 sighting

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

1 sighting

White Rhino

1 sighting

Mrs B
North Yorkshire

"Ongava Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 19 Sep 2022
"Lovely location and great to watch the rhino's at the watering hole in the evening." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Poor
Mrs H.
Whitchurch

"Ongava Lodge review"

5 nights Arrived 14 Sep 2022
"Excellent lodge, food, staff and guide.

Loved the water hole visible from the main lodge and (at an angle) from our veranda. We saw 11 rhino there one evening, the average being about 3.

We spent two mornings at the hide by the water hole and saw a great variety of wildlife; an elephant herd spent 55 minutes there one morning as well as giraffe, oryx, kudu, black backed jackel, warthog, impala and hundreds of comical Guinea fowl.

We found three rhino whilst on foot as well as others from the vehicle." See all these reviews: 22n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Black Rhino

10 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

3 sightings

Lion

10 sightings

Oryx

2 sightings

White Rhino

10 sightings

Dr and Mrs P
Greece

"Its jewel is the hideout by the water hole."

3 nights Arrived 6 Sep 2022
"Comfortable lodge with very friendly staff in a beaytiful and very scenic setting. Its hideout by the water hole is a great experience.

It will be a very memorable place for us as after 6 safaris in Africa we saw so many rhinos ( mostly white ) in the Ongava reserve. Also the western part of Etosha seemed to have more animals than the eastern part.

It is difficult to settle from the Fort to the Ongava Lodge and thus we may be biased in our review of it. Yet, undoubtedly we would recommend it. Don’t bother visiting the nearby ‘research centre’ unless you are totally bored with everything else and keep in mind that the air-strip is very near the lodge should you decide to fly in or out from there." See all these reviews: 8n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Average
Sightings Report

Black Rhino

Multiple sightings

Cheetah

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Oryx

Multiple sightings

White Rhino

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Showing 1-10 of 158
92%
158 reviews of Ongava Lodge by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
111
36
8
3
0
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