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Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by Mr C B & family from UK

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

2

Countries visited

1

Lodges stayed in

18

Excursions taken

0

Best holiday we have ever had

Namibia between 12 Aug 2014 and 28 Aug 2014

Trip rating: Excellent
"Better than the last trip to Namibia ( and that was spectacular). Much better that we didn't have to cover such vast distances, and that we had 2 nights in many places. Highlight was kayaking with the seals in Pelican Point, the Skeleton Coast at Terrace Bay and Etendeka. Really well organised and literature excellent."

Arranged By Sabina Hekandjo


Galton House

Galton House

"Lovely guesthouse, friendly staff"

1 night Arrived 12 Aug 2014
"Lovely place. Beautifully designed rooms and building. Very friendly staff.
Excellent breakfast."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Image alt

Atlantic Villa Guesthouse, Namibia (this camp has since closed)

"Very poor experience at Atlantic"

1 night Arrived 13 Aug 2014
"Newly built rooms at the back of the property, next to wasteland. View from balcony straight into private residence on site. Freezing cold rooms with no air con or heating. Very poor finish to decor. Not convinced bedding was fresh. They did provide fan heater when requested.
General sitting room like a cavern with poor lighting and no heating. When we arrived at 1700 no fire in fireplace, though this was lit later with a couple of logs which we had to coax into life. Very uncomfortable. We left as soon as we could.
Breakfast adequate."
Terrible
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Terrible

Location
Average
Food
Average
Rooms
Terrible
Facilities
Terrible
Beach Lodge

Beach Lodge

"Beach Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 14 Aug 2014
"Beautiful location. Lovely house. The evening meal and breakfast in the Wreck restaurant were excellent.
We were rather disappointed about our room. We thought that we had booked a superior room but only got a basic one. We were on the ground floor and couldn't have the window open because it had no lock on it and opened fully. The huge bathroom window had no covering and looked out onto the car park so after dark I ( modestly) had to use it without the light on. The heater was inadequate and the room was very cold the first night we arrived.
There was no general area to sit together, only a small sofa in the reception area."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Terrace Bay

Terrace Bay

"Beauty and desolation at Terrace Bay"

1 night Arrived 16 Aug 2014
"Amazing, gorgeous. Stunning location, very wild.
Really lovely rooms, quite basic and scruffy ( as you would expect) but very nice indeed. Fab views.
The bar and restaurant were fantastic with very friendly staff. Great meal, the largest T bone steak I have ever seen. excellent breakfast. We saw seals and dolphins in the sea while breakfasting.
Didn't want to leave."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Etendeka Mountain Camp

Etendeka Mountain Camp

"Beautiful experience at Etendeka"

2 nights Arrived 17 Aug 2014
"This was the highlight of the trip.
On the way to the camp we saw loads of animals which gave us a taste of what was to come.
The staff were so helpful and friendly, the atmosphere relaxed. Dennis the host gave a stargazing session at evening meal. Brilliant.
Bonnie the guide was superb: knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He took us on the most fascinating morning hill walk, stopping all the way to explain flora and fauna a geology. Then a truck safari in the afternoon.
We loved our tents with the outdoor bucket shower. We got woken up in the morning by a herd of zebra outside the flap. Magic!
Meals delicious................ Overall an unbelievable experience"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Doro Nawas

Doro Nawas

"Beautiful lodge,stunning location Doro Nawas"

2 nights Arrived 19 Aug 2014
"Stunning location with lodge at top of hill. Beautifully furnished, it looked its best in the evening with the fires and candles lit.
Really enjoyed the meals, the service was so friendly and the food delicious.
Views from the dining room were gorgeous.
Amazing, huge rooms.
Younger son got bitten by a scorpion ( in his bed!) on day2. Response very good: immediately they called a 24 hour helpline and I talked to a doctor in South Africa. Guides and manager descended on us to identify the culprit. Luckily it was not venomous, just a sore arm for a few days.
Doro Nawas was very close to Palmweg where we were taken to from Etendeka. We got there at 10.30 in the morning, and spent the afternoon doing the local sites. That meant we didn't have anything left to do on the second day so we had a day sitting around. Very restful. If anyone is pushed for time, you could just do 1 night at Doro Nawas if coming from Etendeka. But you would miss out on a treat:"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Okaukuejo Camp

Okaukuejo Camp

"Amazing animals at Okaukuejo"

1 night Arrived 21 Aug 2014
"Room was lovely, very comfortable.
Camp was very well run with a good shop. Waterhole was great, we saw loads of animals there day and night.
The dinner ( a buffet) was adequate.The food was actually OK but nothing on the buffet was cleaned up or replenished unless you went to find someone and asked them to do it. We had to ask for every dish one by one to be replaced. We wished we had planned ahead to cook ourselves on the braai outside the room."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Average
Facilities
Good
Halali Camp

Halali Camp

"Great experience at Halali"

1 night Arrived 22 Aug 2014
"Very similar experience as Okaukuejo. Fab rooms, really well run camp with nice swimming pool.
Really lovely situation round the waterhole with loads of animals.
Dinner similar as Okaukuejo , though this time the buffet was full and tidy but the food not quite as good.
Loved having loads of time in Etosha, really special"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Average
Facilities
Excellent
River Crossing

River Crossing

"Lovely location River Crossing"

1 night Arrived 23 Aug 2014
"Great location, 15mins from town, and 20 from airport. Beautiful views.
We like River Crossing but it had a feel of needing a bit more management. Various things didn't work in the room, and nobody could manage the lock on our door even though they all knew it was dodgy.
The pool wasn't cleaned even though it is central to bar and patio and so everybody sits round it .
Confusion about whether we were on full board. They thought we were but because our voucher said B & B we had already booked to go out.
The dining room was nice, breakfast good. The second dining room which contains the reception sofa needs more thought. Very cold and dismal. A couple had to dine in there on their own and they were really miserable."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Rooms
Average
Food
Good
Image alt

under own arrangement (Not currently featured by Expert Africa)

"4 days of heaven in The Peech Jo'burg"

4 nights Arrived 24 Aug 2014
"Our favourite hotel in world. Town house hotel with garden rooms. Beautiful."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent

Best holiday - trip of a lifetime

Namibia between 12 Jul 2011 and 27 Jul 2011

Trip rating: Excellent
"We had high expectations of Namibia and were never disappointed. The landscapes were vast and varied, the people helpful and friendly and there was so much so see.

The country was so beautiful in so many different ways. Going in winter we saw arid desert, red dunes and flowers everywhere. It was truly breathtaking.

The people are quite reserved but really helpful. All the accomodation and facilities wherever you went were very stylist and spotless.
The driving was a challenge; hard work in some areas, and the distances vast.
We will never forget it.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We were incredibly impressed by your service, and mentioned your name in many places. We had no problems with any of the arrangements ; all worked well.
Your advice was spot on and literature well laid out and informative. I found it very useful to have a discussion about an option and then be able to look at it on your website and read the comments.
Thank you very much."

Haus Sonneneck

Haus Sonneneck

"comfortable guesthouse Haus Sonnerneck"

1 night Arrived 13 Jul 2011
"Friendly greeting,attractive house in pretty gardens.
Room large and fine, though somewhat soul-less. Quite functional.
Breakfast fine.
A good brief stopover place, but nothing special."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Rooms
Average
Food
Average
Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

"Beautiful Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch"

1 night Arrived 14 Jul 2011
"Wow; what a place.
Stunning setting, right in the middle of the dunes in the Kalahari, red sand as far as the eye could see. Completely magical.
Rooms in chalets were absolutely beautiful and comfortable. The main farmhouse was also lovely; welcoming fire, squishy sofas. Very friendly owner and staff, felt like we were staying in someones house. Food was very good.

They offered excursions, one to feed the cheetas, quite expensive. We saw the cheetas close up from the gardens of the house and so didnt feel that you necessarily need to pay to go into the enclosure. We had lovely walk on the dunes in the setting sun. Completely unforgettable."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Canyon Lodge

Canyon Lodge

"Stunning Canyon Lodge"

2 nights Arrived 15 Jul 2011
"Quite a challenging drive there but completely worth it. Knock out views, 360 degree vistas.

Chalets spread out amongst rock formations. I have never stayed in such an amazing room. It was built into the rocks, our shower was a cave in the rock hillside. I will never forget standing out on our balcony in the evening with the rocks behind us , and the view in front.
We were invited to a sundowner up on a rock; not keen to share the sunset with 10 other people but found it really worth doing. Lovely views, very peaceful.

Very friendly staff, all quite lively. Food absolutely excellent, though like all these lodges we found that you ate in the near darkness.
We didnt take a tour, we walked 6 km to their home farm where they grow all their own veg. Though we hadnt said we were going, one of the farm workers very proudly showed us all their growing areas, and explained how they farmed in such an arid area. Fascinating.
Swimming pool setting was superb, all by itself perched on the edge of the rocks. Completely WOW."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Nest Hotel

Nest Hotel

"The Nest- Completely different!"

2 nights Arrived 17 Jul 2011
"We werent particularly looking forward to the Nest having read all the other reviews. Strangely enough we loved it.

European "Holiday Inn" style hotel, completely naff. Immaculately clean, no atmosphere. Our room on the ground floor; the balcony was level with the rocks on the sea shore, the sea lapped up just underneath it, fabulous view across the bay. Loved it!

Arriving on Sunday night to find Luderitz closed, we had to eat in hotel. Excellent food, good service. Enjoyed it a lot.
Did morning trip to Ghost town, one of our highlligts of trip. Absolutely fascinating and made Luderitz whacky, worth a detour."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Rooms
Average
Food
Excellent
Sossusvlei Lodge

Sossusvlei Lodge

"Sossusvlei Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 19 Jul 2011
"Good position just outside the park. Lovely tented chalets with great views.Fantastic food, evening buffet with 12 choices of game steaks to bbq. Most of the dinner tables were set outside, it was a gorgeous setting, though absolutely freezing, so need to dress up warmly. Again, very dark so extremely difficult to see your food.

Great drive through into the park, sand dunes wonderful though it was the busiest and most touristy place we went to."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Cornerstone Guesthouse

Cornerstone Guesthouse

"Gorgeous Cornerstone Guesthouse"

2 nights Arrived 21 Jul 2011
"In middle of residential area in Swak, everywhere walkable. Stunningly converted house, beautiful room with high quality bed linen and towels. Very luxurious. We had family room, which was really a one bed apartment with kitchen which had 2 extra beds put in. This worked fine.

Really delicious breakfast in stylish dining room. Very friendly and helpful people, got lots of good useful info. We felt comfortable and at home. We had driven through Walvis Bay and were sorry that we hadnt booked one of the guesthouses on the Esplanade with great views across the bay, but Cornerstone was so special that we didnt regret our decision. Swak was great, nice beach walks, our boys loved the crystal museum and the snake museum."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Average
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Etosha Safari Lodge

Etosha Safari Lodge

"Etosha Safari Lodge"

2 nights Arrived 23 Jul 2011
"This was the only place on our whole trip that we were disappointed with. It was really expensive, and just not good value. Scores of little chalets in lines along the hillside gave great views, but it was too big , not personal enough, and not particularly well run. Rooms just OK, with little or no storage and a very poor shower arrangement which was a poorly done wet room style . This flooded the floor whenever we had any sort of wash, and you had to stand in a pool of water to brush your teeth. A case of more form over function.

Food also disappointing compared to all the other places we had been. Buffet style, not much choice, and well dried out if you didnt start straighaway at 18.30. Quite good access to Etosha park through Anderson Gate , but i think that we would have preferred to stay in the park. We had originally rejected this on the basis of it not being comfortable enough, but we had a look around and it all looked very nice.

Saw lots of ani's just driving around by ourselves, you definitely don't need to take a tour."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Good
Service
Average
Rooms
Poor
Food
Poor
Olive Grove

Olive Grove

"Boutiquey Olive Grove"

1 night Arrived 25 Jul 2011
"Beautiful guesthouse, very stylish and relaxing. Really lovely open lounge arrangement with the kitchen so you could watch dinner being cooked and chat to the staff.

Fantastic room, fab bathroom. Biggest bath I have ever seen, unfortunately there just wasnt enough hot water to get it filled above a puddle.

Dinner was superb, expensive but worth it.
We had to ask for a packed breakfast because we were leaving so early. We had high hopes for it because the dinner had been so good , and because we had watched them baking bread the night before. Very disappointing, stale packet sandwich and packets of sweets. It was like a Macdonalds happy meal.Had to buy something at airport instead.

A very nice way to relax at the end of a long trip, good access to the city ( not really walkable though). Had a SPA room with treatments so you could really wind down before travelling."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good

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