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Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch
Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch
Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch
Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch
Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch
Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch


24°18’1.9"S 18°1’58.2"E

Reviews of Bagatelle Game Ranch

Wildlife sightings and reviews

195 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Bagatelle Game Ranch and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in May-2018, 22 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Bagatelle Game Ranch.
Leopard

0% success

Cheetah

39% success

Oryx

79% success

Eland

72% success

Wildebeest

63% success

Giraffe

50% success

White Rhino

50% success

Zebra

50% success

Meerkat

35% success

Aardvark

16% success

Brown Hyena

0% success

Pangolin

0% success

Spotted Hyena

0% success

Showing 81-90 of 195
Duration
Arrival date
Ms H
Texas

"Bagatelle Game Ranch"

1 night Arrived 25 Feb 2014
"Pros:
1. Very comfortable chalet with a beautiful bath, well-equipped mini-bar, lovely setting.
2. Ceiling fans in the chalet, windows and doors that opened wide.
2. Food was excellent, both dinner and breakfast. Also had tea/snacks in the afternoon.
3. Kitchen and dining room staff were very good - attentive, friendly, helpful. My waitress was there for afternoon tea, dinner and breakfast. She obviously works hard. The cook was there for dinner and for breakfast. Did a great job making toast fried in bacon fat over the fire when the electricity failed at breakfast.

Cons:
1. My chalet was quite far from the main office and there was no internal telephone. So if you wanted something, you had to walk down to the main office (about 10 mins) to get service.
2. The chalet I was staying in is, I think, supposed to be the most luxurious of their accommodations. However, to get there you have to drive part-way up a hill of heavy sand, park and then walk the rest of the way to the top and then wade 100 metres or so through more very heavy sand to get to the chalet. I found it heavy going and inconvenient, plus my shoes got full of sand.
3. There were no lights on near the chalets at night and it was impossible to find your way without a torch ( not supplied that I could find).
4. There was no hot water in the chalet for all the time I was there.

Personal comments:
I thought the place tried too hard to provide luxury trimmings, such as fancy toiletries and stylish decor, without making sure that the basics worked, e.g. no hot water, a lamp in my chalet did not work, no torch, they provide a beautiful bath and then put up a notice in the bathroom that basically says, please take short showers and don't use the bath. Sporadic electrical failures, a fan in the dining room that made a dreadful noise.

When I arrived, hot and tired, I was accosted by a receptionist who seemed to want only to sell me tickets for the upcoming "Activities". The next one was a game drive at 4.30pm and the time was already about 4.10pm. So I wasn't going to make it, particularly with her keeping me there talking.

Their roads are heavy sand and definitely require 4-wheel drive vehicles. It would be nice if their literature mentioned it.

Two things that detracted from my pleasure, which I realize were only temporary,but still, I think it is part of not paying attention to basic comforts.

1. They were doing construction work around the pool and public out-door areas. The noise of the back-hoe and power tools could be heard even in my chalet; they were deafening anywhere near the pool. It was hot and I would have liked to have had a swim.
2. The area had had a lot of rain just before I arrived, and the result was a plague of insects which showed up after dark. The problem was that they got into the chalet despite its being shut up and also under the mosquito netting, even though the net was tightly secured as possible. Not that I mind insects particularly, but the sheer numbers were overwhelming. There were so many of them that they were in my face, hair, mouth, underfoot. And I heard the next morning that others had been similarly afflicted. It would be nice if the mosquito nets had kept them out." See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Good
Service:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Average
Kathryn
UK

"All too brief visit to Bagatelle"

1 night Arrived 21 Feb 2014
"Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch was very pleasant, with good food, but again I question the need to drive so far off the road for just a one night stay. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived so we were a bit late to join in any of the activities and we had to leave quite early the next day to get back on the main road to drive to the airport.

Our Dune Chalet was very pleasant with a lovely view over the dunes: however,we had to trudge through quite a lot of dune to get to it, even from the car parking area. I think walkways should be provided - and umbrellas! The bed was also the least comfortable bed we had in Namibia - too soft.

None of the windows are netted so we could not open any windows at night to allow the breeze through, due to the number of kamikaze moths trying to get in. In fact, there were quite a lot of bugs altogether!

The ranch was in the middle of renovations, so the pool area should be more inviting soon - when we were there it was rather bleak." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Service:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs F
Ealing

"A surprising place among red dunes"

1 night Arrived 25 Jan 2014
"We used Bagatelle as a transit stop for one night en-route back to Windhoek and it proved so attractive we wished we had been able to stay longer. The camp is located in its own large private game reserve which used to be a ranch. The accommodation is in well appointed, spacious, framed tented chalets safari camp style, and ours was high on a red sandy dune with a pleasing view. As usual we enjoyed good hospitality and good food (buffet self-service) - good as buffets go but not "gourmet".

Activities here are particularly varied and interesting ranging from trips by 4x4 through the game park which extends many km (where a large variety of wild life can be seen in attractive surroundings), to a "bushmen walk" focussing on bushmen culture, to seeing some orphaned cheetahs that are kept in their own very large enclosure being fed.

There is also an observatory with an interesting lecture available on astronomy in the context of the southern hemisphere night sky." See all these reviews: 25n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs J
Dorking

"Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch review"

1 night Arrived 23 Jan 2014
"Power cut during dinner meant back up generator, but not up to scratch and intermittent.

Buffet style dinner average.

Staff not particularly friendly." See all these reviews: 9n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Good
Service:
Average
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Average
Moorfoot
Glasgow

"Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch review"

1 night Arrived 10 Jan 2014
"Fantastic location. Charming chalet and very helpful staff.

Enjoyed dinner but recommend using insect repellent when eating outside in the evening." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Good
Mr F & Mrs B
Preston

"Kalahari Delight"

1 night Arrived 19 Dec 2013
"We loved Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch and the accommodation was idyllic. Nice sundowners and views. In the evening we had a very spectacular storm with lightning. Not too much rain but some. We did the Bushmans Walk and this is highly recommended. A very interesting activity but the morning was cool and so were the bushmen !!!! Their story of the Love Bow and the dual purpose tree for constipation and diarrhoea.... is well worth seeing as the miming is great !!

Visit was one night only but unfortunately marred by the fact my wife lost her mobile smartphone. This only discovered at the next lodge and we immediately contacted Bagatelle as the only place it could have been lost was in the jeep transfer from dune house to our car. Unfortunately they could not find it so this was a bit of a black mark. Someone has it I am afraid." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia; 3n in South Africa
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Mr & Mrs T
Hampshire

"Lovely location Bagatelle Game Ranch"

1 night Arrived 4 Nov 2013
"Our chalet No 2 overlooking the waterhole among beautiful dune was brilliant. Everyone friendly. Would not go Cheetah feeding again since they are only 50 meters from the ranch." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Activities:
Average
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Ms E & Mr J
Spain

"Amazing place!"

1 night Arrived 23 Oct 2013
"A very interesting place. The location is excellent. We had a quite good dinner there, in a beautiful area.

We highly recommend the morning activity with the local San people." See all these reviews: 21n in Namibia; 10n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Good
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Mr & Mrs G
Haslemere

"Disappointed at Bagatelle Game Ranch"

2 nights Arrived 14 Oct 2013
"We had 1 night in a Dune chalet and 1 in a Straw Bale chalet. Dune chalets have a bath, are more expensive and give views over their not very impressive waterhole. But BEWARE - you need a 4 wheel drive car to get up to them. With a 2 wheel drive Nissan we got stuck in the sand, and had to be towed out! In the day the lack of wall insulation, and inefficiency of the air con unit in the Dune chalet made it feel as if we were literally in an oven - definitely NOT to be recommended, whereas we were quite comfortable in the straw bale chalet, all of which are closer to the Lodge reception.

Excellent early morning game tour - we saw a lot, though no Meercats! Also good sundowner tour. They have 3 orphaned cheetahs there, and we went on a short evening feeding tour into their enclosure, but it lacked the feel of the wild.

Good food, specialising in springbok, oryx and kudu. They even have a "tame" springbok, oryx and pheasant wandering around. Nice pool and pool bar.

Bad management - the owner/manager took no interest in his guests at all, never once greeting us or other guests, or asking if we were enjoying our stay. Would not return." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia; 6n in Mozambique; 1n in South Africa
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Good
Service:
Average
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Average
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Average
Mr J
Hants

"Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch review"

1 night Arrived 21 Sep 2013
"Perfectly placed as your first stop in Namibia (on your way to Fish River Canyon), or as your last stop on the way back to Windhoek airport.

The chalets are good and the owners and staff very friendly and helpful (we asked about the meerkats and we were treated to our own private viewing). The tame springbok that wanders around the lobby/bar/restaurant area is cute (feed it the ginger biscuits).

We elected for just the cheetah feeding activity - this was very well organised and good value.
Perfect for a over-night stay" See all these reviews: 8n in Namibia; 3n in South Africa
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Good
Showing 81-90 of 195
90%
195 reviews of Bagatelle Game Ranch by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
118
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0
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