Travel reviews by Mr F & family from Belgium

"Kigali Marriot is a large brand new international hotel. It is excellent for a night after or before flying. The rooms are high standard but have the typical impersonal feel of an international chain hotel.

The outside buffet breakfast bar is a nice start of the day.

We dined at the Cucina restaurant, which was excellent service and good food.

The Go Kigali Boutique in the hotel is a must go and one of the best places for souvenirs in Rwanda, they also support local artists and cooperatives."

"Beautiful lodge in a stunning environment. The view of the misty forest on the edge of the property is exciting and mysterious, the surrounding tea plantage lovely and relaxing. They upgraded us to a villa, which was very luxurious. In the afternoon, a troop of Colobus and Grey Mangabey monkeys past by our balcony! Excellent facilities and very well managed by Jacques and his team.

The food is more than excellent, we especially loved the light lunches. Service is excellent and still with the typical natural and very friendly Rwandan feel, keep it that way!

Highly recommended!"

"Cormoran Lodge is one of the only options halfway Kivu, but one should temper the expectations. The location is excellent and idyllic but the rooms are rather dated and worn out. Someone should invest in this property before the downturn really starts.

The food in the restaurant was good and the service ok."

"Beautifully designed lodge, individual villas are stylish, big and with great views. Located rather close to the headquarter of the park, which is a bonus. Top service, very detail oriented and always with a smile. Restaurant with great and healthy food, we loved the evening with Rwandan food.

The focus on community and conservation project is admirable, one should definitely take the community walk to the nearby village with Aline, a highlight of our trip!"

"Wonderful camp in an amazing setting. There was a lot of resident game in February, and being the quiet season it felt you had the entire area to yourself.
Ebenezer was an excellent guide with great knowledge and great feeling what your interests are.

The camp is very well run and the staff was very helpful and welcoming.

Great food with a lot of salads and vegetables.

Maybe the (beautiful) tents are in need of some refreshments..."

"Mwagusi is a fantastic safari camp. It is very authentic, relaxed and has a great athmosphere. Very comfortable tents which blend perfectly in the environment. Very good beds with all types of cushions.

The food is excellent, a lot of vegetables and salads. The buffet way of presenting is a great surplus value. The communal dining at different outdoor locations (the riverbed f.e.) is one of our best memories. Breakfast with the legendary cinnamon rolls is also excellent.

But the best in Mwagusi are the activities. Ruaha is a hidden gem, with it's dramatic scenery and a lot of game which isn't shy at all. We even saw leopard twice. The guiding was very informative, Isaac pointed out animals we would have easily missed.

We did the walking safari along the Ruaha river, which I would highly recommend."

"There has already been written in a lot of superlatives about Beho Beho. We can only agree on that, our stay even exceeded our expectations. Very high quality banda's, excellent food, stunning location.

Excellent guiding, not only very informative and attentive, but also great and amusing company!

There is a lot of wildlife around the camp, keep an eye on the drinking pool. Don't hesitate to go on the walking safari, it's a whole different and exciting approach of the bush. Beho Beho is perfectly managed by Phil and Trisha, very professional and friendly.

It is the merit of the management and the staff that this luxurious camp never becomes pretentious. We felt part of the Beho Beho family for those days.

As soon as you leave Beho beho you start thinking of going back!"

"Great place to relax after a safari. Lovely and spacious lagoon cottage, with very wide beds. Excellent food, especially the breakfasts and lunches.

There are not that much activities going on at Ras Kutani, great for long and deserted beach walks and taking pictures of the monkeys. Learn to play the bao game as soon you get there (the staff is very willing to teach you), it is fun and adds to the laid-back atmosphere.

It was a good advice of EA to drive to Ras, it gives you a glimpse of the daily struggle that life is for most of the Tanzanians. Ok, it's a bit bumpy and there are some traffic jams, but you are heading for the beach and a cocktail, most of the people you'll see aren't..."

"A good place to start your trip. Spacious and clean rooms (family room). Easy to find, the gated parking is a plus.

Gisela is very welcoming and gave us some good tips where to buy supplies.

The kids loved racing with the dogs."

"Easy to reach from Windhoek. Good to get to know your car on the tarred roads, before the challenge of the gravel roads. Green oasis at the edge of the Kalahari Desert.

Clean and comfortable rooms (two connecting rooms make a family room) Staff is very friendly and welcoming.

Nice walks in the surroundings, we saw a lot of antelopes, including a large herd of eland!

Four course dinner is excellent, although the atmosphere is a bit that of a school excursion (group dinner with rather fast service) Singing and dancing by the staff after dinner is lovely!

A good stop over on your trip to the south or the Namib desert"

"This a clearly a top accommodation. Beautiful tented bungalows in a stunning setting, with both indoor and outdoor bathrooms. The surroundings are jaw-dropping, try to find the lion shaped mountain!

Food is excellent, with home made bread and undoubtly the best desserts in Namibia! Thomas and Herenza are perfect hosts, with special attention for the kids. Thanks for the culinary advice on Swakopmund, these guys have good taste!

We did the Sossusvlei tour, which I would highly recommend and is worth every penny. Angula is an excellent guide and driver. He points out the little desert creatures one would never find and drives you up to the vleis, which avoids taking the touristic 4x4 cars at the end.

Don't think driving yourself up there, even with a 4x4 you get stuck if you don't know the roads. Climbing and descending the dunes is an experience!

The picnic lunch is amazing, a restaurant in the desert. It felt like 'Out of Africa'!
Wonderful stay!"

"Although this hotel was not our first choice (we had to change accommodation in the week before leaving because of a misunderstanding with Wilderness Safaris) it turned out to be a good alternative of EA. A historic hotel with a very helpful staff and a friendly manager. Excellent location in Swakopmund.

Rooms are clean with good beds (two connected rooms make a family room), style is a bit dated. Good parking and laundry service, they even cleaned our car. Breakfast buffet with a lot of choice, we didn't had dinner over there.

We did the Mola Mola boat trip, which was good value. We had a speedboat catamaran (the Flipper) so you are close to the water and really have the feeling to be out on the sea. Good and attentive guide, we saw fur seals, dolphins, pelicans and other seabirds. Nice lunch, but only for those who weren't seasick...
A trip to remember!"

"Attractive and imaginative lodge in the fascinating Damaraland. Nice and comfortable rooms, with lovely outside bathrooms. The boulders provide all the privacy you want. Childeren stayed in a comfortable tent nearby the room.

Superb sundowner high up the rocks! Food was very good, we also had an excellent lunch before we left (chicken and game wraps).

We took the desert elephant safari, with Taffy, an excellent and entertaining guide. It can take a while before you see the elephants but then it is an overwhelming experience to come so close to these beautiful animals. A highlight of our trip to Namibia!"

"Etendeka is the real wilderness, not to compare with other luxury safari camps. Accomodation is simple but very comfortable, the bucket showers are a real experience. At night you hear the hyena cry in the distance...

Dinner is together with the other guests, which can be very interactive. Food is excellent, certainly if you realise that the closest shop is more than 100 km away!

The morning walk gets you as close as can be to the stunning scenery, Bonnie must be one of the most experienced guides in the country. It is not only about the wildlife, but also about geology, plants and the people of Namibia. Very informative with special attention for the kids.

In the evening, Dennis gets you gazing at the stars through his telescope. We never got closer to the real Namibian wilderness than in Etendeka."

"Camp with a amazing location. Watching the wildlife moving around from our balcony was superb. Rooms are clean and lovely.

The children stayed in a separate chalet next to us, the fact they could reach us with an internal phone made it comfortable for them.

The infinity pool and its area is beautiful. Indeed the climbs are steep, but this is part of the picture. Don't go there if you have mobility problems!. The golf cart service works quite fast, but we preferred walking ourself in daytime.

Restaurant is good, the staff is very friendly, the service is varying but nothing to complain about.

The game around Dolomite is excellent and absolute not shy (anymore). The best waterholes are the closest to the camp, so you don't have to drive long distances. A good place to take a day off!"

"A lot is already written about 'the government run' Okuakuejo We had some reservations but it turned out a lot better than expected.

The family chalet was very spacious and clean, and distant enough from the other chalets to guarantee privacy.

The restaurant is buffet style, not to compare with what you get at private camps or at Dolomite, but if you don't expect this the food is alright. Service was good and friendly!

Maybe we had too much expectations on the waterhole on the other hand, because this was a slight disappointment! We saw black rhino hanging around the whole evening but except for some impala and zebra not that much more! It's all about the expectations!"

"Nice and relaxed tented camp just outside of Etosha. Beautiful main area. Tents are comfortable and clean, children stay in the same tent in additional sleeper couches.

Only minus was that our tent was pretty noisy because of the wind that got under part of the roof.

Friendly and helpful atmosphere. Food was excellent, the singing and dancing of the staff (they do it every other night) was marvellous!"

"Okonjima is a place that gave us mixed feelings.

It gives the opportunity to get close to cheetah and leopards, big cats you won't see at Etosha except when you're lucky. The Africat Project is very informative and does a good job it seems. On the other hand it sometimes gives the impression of a commercial fenced in safari park.

The accomodation is good but not so impressive as the glossy brochures and website show. The bungalows are concrete buildings with less attention to style than other lodges in Namibia. The food is good but nothing more than that, we got much better food in most other places. Maybe travelling in Namibia got us spoiled an bit?

The tracking of cheetah and leopard is obvious less exciting than finding animals in the wild. They only track a few leopards they know they can find rather easy, although this still is not a guarantee. Tracking cheetah seems to be easier.

It was clear that at least our guide only wanted to track the animal you payed the activity for. Finding the other cat was for the next activity to pay, although he sometimes mentioned 'to stay in the car because there was a leopard close by'.

The visiting of the evening hide is a joke. In fact the guides only empty a bucket and then the waiting porcupine chases every other animal away (I saw a flash of a genet cat). There is no chance to stay there waiting for other animals, because the (noisy) guides want to return as soon as possible to the lodge! This gave us a very uncomfortable feeling..."