Reviews of Okonjima Plains Camp
(95%) From 345 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Okonjima Main Camp review
Amazing. We were upgraded from the main camp to a bush chalet at the bush camp. We didn't go to the main camp but the bush camp was beautiful and incredibly well run. Nothing was too much trouble and the bush chalets were fantastic, with canvas sides that rolled up in the day and I especially enjoyed having our own bird bath and complimentary bird seed which put around the bath and then sat back and watched the birds come. Hot water bottles were to be found in the bed once we returned from dinner!
The food was exceptional and being on a half board basis we found we didn't need lunch as we were full from brunch after the first activity at 9.30am through to tea and cake time at about 3pm. The activities were very well organised in small groups - we shared a vehicle with one family of four and our guide, Dean, was both knowledgeable and tenacious in his tracking which meant we found a leopard after an hour driving in and out of a specific area of bush where she was lying until he was able to see her. I specifically enjoyed learning about the Africat foundation and thought it was important to inlcude an educative activity on this organisation.
Okonjima Main Camp review
We knew from comments from other travellers we met that Okonjima was going to something special and we weren't disappointed. I think the word that sums them up is 'cosseted'. From the moment we arrived to the last goodbye from the people at the gate, we were made to feel special. Nothing was too much trouble, everything was done to make life easy and comfortable and the experiences offered just made you feel that you were part of soemthing unique.
Our guide, Martin, was delightful - full of information, and with a determination for us to get as close as possible to every animal and bird, to get great pictures and a very special experience. I never knew 4x4 trucks actually went through bushes and trees! Martin found 'roads and tracks' in places that looked totally impossible so we could get to see a very elusive leopard. The cheetahs were delightful, and I really enjoyed looking for the hyenas on foot - even radio collared these animals take some finding if they don't feel like coming out of the very thick bush.
The new View Rooms are beautifully designed, with huge windows looking out over a field to the mountains. Every time we opened the curtains, yet more wildlife was quietly grazing outside the window, oryx, kudu, warthohs - we could have stayed there all day and just watched them wander past.
The food and facilites are beautiful, wonderful dinners in such a beautiful setting and so nice to have the guides to eat with us and find out more about their training and the plans for Okonjima in the future.
Again, we were glad to have put this at the end of our trip - such a special and luxurious place, they really spoil you. It has the space, peace and tranquility that summed up our trip to Namibia, with some very special animals as well. A place to come back to and see what happens next in the Okonjma story.
Okonjima Main Camp review
Wow, we should have stayed here 3 nights at least. I LOVED it. I loved the work they are doing with the cats, and their environmental education programs with kids.
We had very close up views of leopard (eating a baby zebra) and cheetah. The lodge was wonderful, we were upgraded to the bush camp whichi I would highly recommend. They gave us birdseed and told me to feed the birds from our cabin...I saw dozens of new species in just a few hours doing that.
Great lodge, great guides, wonderful food, great company. Highly recommended. Wish we would have stayed longer.
Okonjima Main Camp review
We left Okonjima until last on our trip to Namibia so that if we didn't see leopards or cheetahs anywhere else we could be sure to see them at Africats. We were not disappointed, although it is not the same seeing them wearing tracking collars or in fenced enclosures as finding them truely in the wild.
It was very quiet and seemed only half full, so were lucky enough to get upgraded from the main camp to the bush camp, where the accomodation was large, comfortable, well-fitted and totally secluded. Seed was provided to temp the birds and we spent hours on our open veranda watching and photographing numerous beautiful species.
The main reception area was excellent and the food was very good, if limited to one option only. Dave Houghton, the owner who we knew from the TV series about Africats, was eating there with his guests. All the staff were very friendly and helpful, as we found everywhere in Namibia.
Activities were included morning, afternoon and after dinner and our guide Chris was very knowledgable, entertaining and chatty. The activies included tracking leopard by vehicle - we found the male leopard and watched him eating a young zebra he had killed. We tracked and found spotted hyaena on foot, and had close encounters with 5 cheetahs in their large encosure. The porcupine feeding after dark was fun, but the honey badger didn't turn up (not that he was expected, just hoped for). The final morning was spent learning bushman crafts and hunting techniques, and we found fresh leaopard tracks about 200 metres for the camp - maybe made the one that woke me by roaring at 4am.
Okonjima Main Camp review
Perhaps slightly less 'character' than our first two camps, but we enjoyed the view room with outlook over the veld
Read more about the whole safariOkonjima Main Camp review
Wonderful and welcoming even if we arrived quite late due to our second flat tyre of the trip!!!View room was spacious and confortable and you could watch some of the wildlife passing by from the comfort of your bed.
The staff were very nice and even when, after dinner, we found an extra guest in our room ( a bat), one of the guides came to our rescue.........of course we called him batman after that! Armin our guide for the leopard tracking went the extra mile for us and we found one on top of a tree... He then found Pooh the hyena for us too and we were so close we could nearly touch - really special day... followed by the cheetah sanctuary which was also wonderful!! It was so refreshing to find such a enthusiastic person who clearly loves his job.
The quality of the food was of a very high standard.
We were sad to leave this wonderful place.
Okonjima Main Camp review
We had a wonderful stay at Okonjima. While there we participated in the cheetah and leopard drives as well as the bushman walk.
We had a few different guides, and we especially enjoyed Rohan, Arnold, and Martin - they were all very knowledgeable and helped to make our experience a good one. The cheetah and leopard drives were really great, however, we highly recommend the bushmen walk to visitors as well.
While seeing the animals is cool, learning about the people and history of the area was nice.
Super new VIEW ROOMS
The new View Rooms are superb and a big improvement on the room we stayed in last year.
The food is good, staff are excellent. My big complaint would be the game drives, very disappointing and the Wild Dogs were in a very small
enclosure of which I am sure Expert Africa would not approve of.
Expert Africa comments
AfriCat/Okonjima have decided that they are no longer offering the activity to see the wild dogs. They now intend to keep the wild dogs away from public viewing with the hope that they will then become less habituated and ready for their release in 2010 – if all goes to plan.
As a bit of background information, these wild dogs were rescued and hand-raised. Although AfriCat desperately tried to keep them from the public, a BBC programme introduced them to viewers and due to popular demand AfriCat were pressurized to allow our guests the opportunity to see these special and famous orphans. The AfriCat Foundation aims to rehabilitate and return to the wild all of their rescued predators, and time is now right for this to happens for the wild dogs.
Conservation view of big game
Our last stay. By this time we were needing something different and this was to an extent. Nice grounds and buildings. This time a (wild) male warthog was in the 'yard', sleeping off a good meal from the lawn; he later moved to the small lawn round the raised pool where my wife was surprised, unlike the warthog, to confront him at the top of the steps.
The game drives were into controlled areas. We apparently came within some 10 meters of the tagged leopard but he was hidden in the scrub out of view but others saw him in the open later in a different part. The 5 man-reared cheetahs were good to see at nil range, especially Portia jumping for the meat thrown to her. The rescue and release programmes for wild animals were interesting to learn about and the staff clearly highly caring for the animals' welfare.
We were encouraged to take unaccompanied safari walks but I chickened out and later was glad to have done so, learning that a cheetah had escaped that day (seen by some guests on a drive catching a young warthog but driven off it by its mother) and that a leopard was one of the visitors to the after dinner viewing at the water hole where the day's leftovers are put out.
Great for seeing leopards
Excellent experience to see the leopards so close (particularly the ones we tracked for hours). It was good to learn about their work with the cheetahs too.
When our guide was talking about the plans for the camp (expanding and introducing other big animals) we were a little concerned that they might loose focus on what makes Okonjima so special - their work with the Africat Foundation! Don't loose focus on the cats!!
