Travel reviews by Mrs C from N Ireland

"We spent three nights here, in two separate visits, and have stayed several times in the past.

It is in a quiet area and easily navigated to, from the airport. Maggie welcomed us and as with all the staff, was very willing and helpful. We had rooms 5 and 6, both clean, spacious and well equipped. Room 6, one of two recently added rooms, is better suited to a couple as the bathroom door is only partly obscured .Our rooms looked out onto a small garden and we enjoyed sitting in the shaded garden area at the front of the premises, where the pool is now located.

We had some laundry done at Villa Violet. It was returned very quickly, washed and ironed.

A variety of options were available for breakfast and tea/coffee could be had at any time. There was also an honesty bar. Sophie, who we remembered fondly from our previous visits, booked taxis to Joe’s Beerhouse for us. Located nearby, this is an easy option for an evening meal and online reservations are available."

"We were welcomed by the owner, who at very short notice was able to arrange an activity for one of our party. At least one of the owners was available at all times and they went out of their way to help, when we left an iPad in our room.

The location was excellent, we could walk to the seafront in minutes and the area was very quiet. We spent two nights here, in a room that was a little cramped, but only because we had requested a third bed in a room more suited to two. The room was very clean, lovely bedding and had a kettle plus a fridge. There was little natural light, but we shared an outside sitting area beside the car parking, with another room. There were other rooms on the other side of the premises that seemed to look out onto a pleasant garden, that had lots of visiting birds.

The breakfast was excellent and was taken in a beautifully presented room. We had booked an evening meal at The Jetty 1905, which is only a short walk away from the guesthouse. A table by the window, watching the sunset, was the perfect ending to a day in Swakopmund."

"Our first,and only, experience of Gondwana Camping2go.

Our experience here may have been very different if it had been towards the end of our trip, because temperatures dropped considerably. However, we were fortunate and enjoyed sitting out on the provided camping chairs in the evening around the braai, with only nature and the night sky around us. A cape fox was a regular, but shy, visitor in the evenings and birds looking for crumbs were around during the day.

The accommodation, a very large tented sleeping area with a solidly built huge bathroom/storage area to the rear, was better than expected. The kitchen/dining area to the front, was well equipped with a fridge/freezer, two gas rings and all necessary utensils etc.

Facilities at the lodge were available to us, but we only visited the bar and used the WiFi. Driving to the entrance to Sossusvlei took about 45 minutes, part of the road was paved."

"A very scenic drive via the C27, brought us to Duwisib Guestfarm. Johan, the owner, met us and was available throughout our stay.

Surprisingly, given that there had been no rain for two years, the area looked quite green because of the number of deeply rooted trees around. The farmhouse and immediate surroundings are like a museum, with old farming implements/machinery everywhere, it was fascinating. After talking with Johan, we left with a greater understanding of the tough life some farmers in Namibia lead.

Our room was bright, well equipped and spacious enough to have three beds plus a small table and chairs. There was also a small verandah outside, with views towards a distant hill.The bathroom was also spacious, with a large walk in shower. The shower floor was nicely tiled, but incredibly slippy. I wore Crocs.
The room did not have facilities to make tea/coffee, but it was available on request and a tray with everything necessary was left at our door in the morning. Much appreciated!

There was a surprising selection of options for dinner, a three course meal, all were good. This was served at the main farmhouse as was the equally good breakfast. They also made us some sandwiches, for our picnic lunch while travelling.

We walked to Duwisib Castle, which is now closed to visitors. When Johan heard that we were interested, he contacted the caretaker and arranged a time for us to visit. We were delighted to be able to see inside."

"We had two rooms here, one had two windows with sea views and the other larger room had a wall to wall fantastic sea view, with a verandah bordered by rocks and then the sea. The larger room had two beds plus a day bed/settee and an armchair.

The rooms were exceptionally well equipped for self catering with a fridge/freezer, electric hob, kettle, toaster and microwave.. there was also a dining table and chairs. Within the premises there was also a braai room.

We had less contact with staff here because we were self catering, but they were all very pleasant and helped out when we needed somebody local to check a problem with our car."

"We had a fairly spacious triple/family room, plus a very roomy bathroom. It was a corner room with two windows, giving views of the desert and the front parking area. Tea/coffee facilities were in the room and there was a table and several chairs outside, facing an inner garden area. The interior and exterior design of this place, will be known to anybody who checks their website, a different place to stay! We enjoyed all of our meals here, the game kebab we had one evening was particularly good.

The staff were always pleasant and helpful, some were better informed than others about activities. We did most of the self guided trail up the hill and onto the plateau behind the lodge, later discovered the trail is a 4.5km loop starting behind campsite 6 and finishing at campsite 1. A lovely walk, well marked by a series of white painted feet and with lovely views from the top.

The swimming pool was clean and a reasonable size, a pleasant place to relax on a sunbed if too cold to swim. One of our party discovered a submerged sunbed while swimming and told the staff at reception. It was still there the next day, but between us we managed to get it out of the water. We later saw the sunbed, which had wheels at one end, being blown by the wind towards the pool. There is a sign saying no diving, but we did see one man dive into the pool. An accident waiting to happen?"

"We had the family, four bedded tent,number 8, spacious and with two windows overlooking the distant waterhole. The bathroom had a shower on one side, with a see through door and a toilet with a solid door the other side. The washbasin, in the middle, was open to the sleeping area.

The kitchen was well equipped, with two gas rings and a fridge/freezer. It also had all the dishes and utensils required, although we did take chopping boards, a sharp knife and a metal toaster for using on a gas ring. After our first night, we discovered that the fridge/freezer (gas) had stopped working. The camp supervisor, Jan, who was very helpful throughout our stay, arranged for it to be fixed. We were only in KTP for four nights, so luckily did not have much frozen food.

The braai on the outside kitchen area, was bigger than I expected so took a lot of charcoal. It became so cold when we were there (-1c at 8am one morning) that we were glad of the braai at night, plus our hot water bottles!

We did not see a huge amount of wildlife during our stay- springbok, black backed jackals, giraffe, oryx, wildebeest and one red hartebeest, but others staying at Nossob had excellent sightings during the same time. For us, who are more used to a mixture of walking/drives on safari, four nights was enough for a first experience of being confined to the car."

"This was our ‘wind down’ place after three weeks travelling. Even though it was closer to the town of Stampriet than we anticipated, this did not impact on our stay. That our drive back to Windhoek from here was on tarred road and therefore dust free, was a bonus!

Our room was spacious and had all that we needed, including extra blankets for the cold nights. The rooms and the frontage of the main building, are set in a U shape around a very shaded garden. In the summer, this would be wonderful, but with dropping temperatures it was difficult to find a sunny spot. The swimming pool was the largest we saw on our trip and very clean. It was in an area that had walls on three sides and there were a number of sun loungers.

Meals were taken inside, where several wood burning stoves were lit, morning and evening. Breakfasts were good and one of our evening meals was a la carte. Two of us had a pizza, that was very average. The other evening meal was a buffet, as a group of thirteen people had arrived. This was somewhat better, although the milk tart dessert failed in comparison to the one we had at Duwisib.

The staff at Kalahari Farmhouse were, without exception, wonderful. They went out of their way to be helpful and always with a smile."

"See earlier comments."

"A little oasis, with nine well equipped rooms fronting onto the pleasant garden and swimming pool. Tea and coffee are freely available in the covered breakfast/bar area beside the pool, bottles of water are in the room.

Breakfast lunch and dinner are available and all the meals were of a very acceptable standard. Staff were consistently helpful and friendly.

Transfers to/from the airport, twenty minutes away, were on time and efficient."

"Spacious open fronted chalets, facing onto a fairly fast flowing river. I would like to return at a different time of year, when water levels are lower and more wildlife would be seen from the chalet.

The accommodation was good. I had been a little concerned that not being fully enclosed by canvas or a solid wall, might have resulted in too many unwanted creatures in the room, but this was not the case.

Perry was our guide. He read the bush well, was an excellent communicator, and drove safely and confidently. Access to some areas was limited because of the wet conditions, so some of the drives were a little repetitive. We were very fortunate however, to have some wonderful sightings. In our first three drives we saw lions, a leopard with a fresh kill and wild dogs. Later in our stay we had a very close encounter on the road, with a breeding herd of elephants. Perry’s handling of this situation inspired confidence.

During our stay there was a short burst of extremely windy and wet weather. The staff, all of whom were excellent, dealt with this admirably. During our stay, a slight delay to one game drive was the only disruption we experienced.

Monkeys and baboons visited the camp, particularly in the after lunch period when no staff were around. We were warned not to leave out anything they might consider food."

"There are few reviews of this property so I was a little anxious about staying here. With a late arrival into JKIA and an early morning flight from Wilson airport, this was the perfect solution.

I had one of the Captains rooms, which was clean and spacious, with a large ensuite. Not luxury, but perfectly adequate for a good nights sleep.

Because the transfer to Wilson is quick and traffic free, breakfast could be a lesuirely affair. It was pleasant to be able to enjoy breakfast with a view of the garden."

"The wildlife in this area far exceeded my expectations. An extraordinary number of lion cubs, and with mating lions and mating leopards seen, more cubs on the way. Other game was plentiful, some people saw an aardwolf, and I was delighted to see two dens with bat eared foxes.

The accommodation is superb. Large well furnished and equipped tents, with plenty of 'windows ' well lit at night and with a view from the front deck, of passing wildlife.This is a camp for those who prefer to have the home comforts of constant piped hot water and wifi, while they are in the bush.

The camp is very well organised and friendly, managed with love and efficiency by a couple, Alison and Tom. All of the staff were excellent, but Alison and Tom in particular, add much to the experience, for guests staying at this camp. There is a significant degree of flexibility with regard to activities. Some guests chose an early dinner followed by a night game drive, while others wanted a late dinner after their night drive."