Reviews of Canyon Lodge

"Location perfect for visiting Fish River Canyon.

Excellent facilities in a beautiful setting. Enjoyed the wildlife roaming free in the grounds.

Food options were good, well presented by friendly staff." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"The rooms are little chalets spread around the grounds - lots of large boulders make an impressive back-drop. The chalets are quite small - ours was made worse by having 3 beds in it so we couldn't really move (would have complained but we were only here for 2 nights). Being given a map would have been useful as the 'welcome' staff were not very helpful but we eventually found our way round. Quite walk to the pool - but worth it - is in a really nice setting.

We drove ourselves to the Canyon. The only 'trip' they offered was only to 2 viewpoints which we could get easily to on our own with 2WD. We wondered why 4WD trips to viewpoints we couldn't get to were not on offer.
The view of the canyon were sensational & seemed to be different at each viewpoint - we happily spent the whole day there !
However, that is all there is to do - 2 nights quite sufficient.

Gardens at the front of the main building were nice & yielded many birds." See all these reviews: 23n in Namibia

"The chalets or cabins are all detached and although small are well designed and equipped and are kept extremely clean.

We were given one of the furthest away from the main reception and dining area and the views over the desert were spectacular.,especially at sunset. These cabins are also quiet. The grounds are very well tended and there are paved paths everywhere which are lit at night.

The swimming pool is set well away from the cabins and overlook the rock and boulder strewn desert.the honesty bar set above ,the pool is well stocked and drinks are not expensive when you consider how remote the property is.

The food was adequate and you need not go hungry but it was never fine dining and probably does not attempt to be. The trip to the canyon and the hot springs from here is the best part of an hour (different directions). It is well worth the drive and we were amongst few tourists at both destination.

The journey to the property is along poor roads (with wonderful scenery)and a 4WD vehicle is strongly advised, indeed we would recommend that anyone self driving in this beautiful country hires such a vehicle rather than an ordinary car." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"This property was outstanding in facilities, location and people.

The rock surroundings were awesome and the grounds with cabins into and by the rocks was superb.

It was a great base for viewing the Fish River Canyon and spend time at the pool with a beautiful view of the desert and mountains." See all these reviews: 22n in Namibia

"Very attractive rooms in a beautiful setting with well-kept gardens.

The Gondwana organisation knows its business with attention to detail and well trained staff.

Food perhaps did not match the otherwise high standard." See all these reviews: 27n in Namibia; 4n in South Africa; 3n in Botswana

"Overall a good location, well presented.

Sundowner walk set off time was too early, at the viewpoint we had to wait about 40 minutes before the sun started to set.

We had to ask for drinks as none were offered at the viewpoint." See all these reviews: 9n in Namibia; 6n in South Africa

"Nice place to stay close to the canyon. Quite a large facility with nice individual rooms amongst the boulders. Food was good albeit in quite a large restaurant. Fun to see a number of animals inthe grounds including Rock Hyrax and Oryx and able to watch animals on hte plain early in the day.

Only a fairly short drive (20 mins) to the Canyon. A later start is worthwhile as the sun only lights into the Canyon later in the orning whilst dust in the air affects tha fternoon views. Drove down the 4x4 track along the canyon to get some better views that are worthwhile versus the main viewpoint, though you do need a 4x4 given the quality of the road.

Alo stopped for fuel, beer and a very nice cheesecake at the quirky Roadhouse fairly close by, and would certainly prefer the Lodge versus the Roadhouse as a place to stay.

Drove down to the Orange River then up through Rosh Pinah enroute to Luderitz. Fabulous scenery along the way and very different green scenery close to the river although it adds an hour to the journey." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"The rooms were fine as was the food. The walk up the hill for the sundowner was nice too - excellent sunset views. Worth it. The chalets are stunningly done in the rocks, and the grounds are alive with dassies and wandering oryx.

It is as close to the canyon as any other lodge and the canyon can be visited easily in your own vehicle - worth an early start to beat the rush. A note to self drivers - there is petrol at the Canyon Roadhouse, which you will probably pass on the way, and is a very reliable source.

The staff were friendly and helpful. A young lady on reception lent us her own phone to ring Bidvest about the broken boot lock catch (our phone had a Namibian sim card but failed to work in half the country - we were sold the wrong card! Oh well). Having got the advice, she arranged for one of the maintenance staff to help. His name was 'Lofty', and he welded it up for us to enable us to continue to Aus. Excellent - friendly and helpful." See all these reviews: 21n in Namibia; 2n in Zimbabwe

"We reached Canyon Lodge having driven up from South Africa, across the Orange River and onto the remotest road I have ever been on - so remote and deserted there are no fences lining the roads and in 100kms we saw one car. We fell back in love with Namibia instantly.

Canyon Lodge is excellent for viewing the Fish River Canyon. We drove ourselves at dawn (which meant we missed breakfast) and then came back to relax by the pool for the afternoon - we were the only people there and couldn't get enough of the view from it, We then went back to the Canyon for sunset - the entry fee is for 24 hours so we didn't have to pay again.

The gate to the Fish River Canyon doesn't open until 7am - but if you ask nicely the security guard will let you through as s long as you promise to pay on exit which meant we were at the viewpoint as the sun came up - not a difficult promise to make. We spent 3-4 hours wandering around the Canyon - we didn't have a 4*4 which meant we didn't try getting to Eagles Rock - we did get to Sulphur Springs and the Hikers viewpoint was great for sunset. When it is really hot in Namibia, you wouldn't want to go for sunset, but April was fine.

Two nights was essential - it meant we could also visit Ai-Ais. And as we left we also stopped off for a coffee in the Canon Roadhouse - another quirky place and well worth the break although it wasn't too far on the way of our drive for the day.

You could take part in activities organised by the lodge, but the reality is, not many do as most guests seem either to be driving themselves or arriving as part of a group who have organised their own activities. If we were staying another night we would have done one of the lodge walks - these are guided only and last around 3-4 hours. We just did the sundowner walk when we arrived, which is 10 minutes to a vantage point to see the sun set, and we were priviliedged to see the moon rise simultaneously" See all these reviews: 7n in Namibia; 5n in South Africa

"Lovely chalet. Great guided tour of Fish River Canyon.

Delicious food.

Dodgy wifi!

Just one problem was that we booked a sundowner walk and trip to the Canyon with a member of staff and she didn't organise either of these things. it was resolved pretty quickly by another member of staff." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia; 2n in Zimbabwe