Travel reviews by Mr & Dr N from Edinburgh
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
3
Countries visited
2
Lodges stayed in
14
Excursions taken
0
Classic safari in the Masai Mara
Kenya between 14 Sep 2022 and 23 Sep 2022
"Overall an excellent trip that met - and sometimes exceeded - all our expectations even though they were quite high in the first place!
Although we had used Expert Africa a few times this was our first trip out of southern Africa. As ever, the organisation was flawless and Jessica's advice when planning was accurate and very helpful.
We particularly appreciate the way Expert Africa encourage (and make it easy) to contact them by phone to discuss what you are looking for in (patient) detail with someone who has personal experience of the are and lodges - yes their website is really excellent and the perfect starting point but nothing beats talking to someone who's been there and who can engage with your own individual preferences and expectations."
Although we had used Expert Africa a few times this was our first trip out of southern Africa. As ever, the organisation was flawless and Jessica's advice when planning was accurate and very helpful.
We particularly appreciate the way Expert Africa encourage (and make it easy) to contact them by phone to discuss what you are looking for in (patient) detail with someone who has personal experience of the are and lodges - yes their website is really excellent and the perfect starting point but nothing beats talking to someone who's been there and who can engage with your own individual preferences and expectations."
Arranged By Jessica Plumb
Four Points Nairobi Airport
"Four Points Nairobi Airport review"
1 night
Arrived
14 Sep 2022
"Nice hotel, friendly staff, good security, very good breakfast"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Little Governors' Camp
"Little Governors' Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
15 Sep 2022
"Lovely camp - particularly enjoyed view over marsh.
Excellent guiding (Collins) and friendly helpful staff. Good vegetarian food. Spectacular arrival across the Mara River.
Excellent sightings - big herds towards Mara river in south of reserve. Be aware there is no off road driving so can't always get so close - we would recommend combining Little Governor's with Mara North conservancy.
Camp appears relatively large on paper but does not seem that way when you're there.
Highly recommended."
Excellent guiding (Collins) and friendly helpful staff. Good vegetarian food. Spectacular arrival across the Mara River.
Excellent sightings - big herds towards Mara river in south of reserve. Be aware there is no off road driving so can't always get so close - we would recommend combining Little Governor's with Mara North conservancy.
Camp appears relatively large on paper but does not seem that way when you're there.
Highly recommended."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Food
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Sightings report
Black Rhino
1 sighting
Buffalo
2 sightings
Cheetah
1 sighting
Elephant
6 sightings
Giraffe
3 sightings
Hippo
4 sightings
Leopard
1 sighting
Lion
5 sightings
Spotted Hyena
1 sighting
Wildebeest
5 sightings
Zebra
5 sightings
Offbeat Ndoto
"Offbeat Ndoto review"
4 nights
Arrived
17 Sep 2022
"Small, simple but upmarket, camp in a lovely setting.
Excellent guiding from Mooli and excellent/delighful . Vegetarian food needs some improving (but to be fair that is common in many but not all safari camps) but lovely settings for meals - lunch in a grassy tree surrounded area and boma for one evening.
Rich in game and off-road driving gives optimum sightings - and not too many other vehicles.
Highly recommended."
Excellent guiding from Mooli and excellent/delighful . Vegetarian food needs some improving (but to be fair that is common in many but not all safari camps) but lovely settings for meals - lunch in a grassy tree surrounded area and boma for one evening.
Rich in game and off-road driving gives optimum sightings - and not too many other vehicles.
Highly recommended."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Food
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
7 sightings
Cheetah
1 sighting
Eland
4 sightings
Elephant
5 sightings
Giraffe
7 sightings
Hippo
1 sighting
Leopard
1 sighting
Lion
5 sightings
Spotted Hyena
5 sightings
Wildebeest
7 sightings
Zebra
9 sightings
Serian
"Serian review"
2 nights
Arrived
21 Sep 2022
"Stunning location on banks of Mara river. We really appreciated the flexibility of having our own guide/vehicle and had amazing sightings including close up to members of the famous Marsh Pride.
Excellent and varied vegetarian food (which is not always the case in camps). Friendly efficient staff.
We felt Serian would benefit from a bit of maintenance/refreshing in places and found having to tip 2 guides (our driver was also a qualified guide) unexpected and awkward, particularly as we were unable to use a $50 note that they said was too old to bank. (But we were able to use an online system despite the info saying they don't accept credit cards)"
Excellent and varied vegetarian food (which is not always the case in camps). Friendly efficient staff.
We felt Serian would benefit from a bit of maintenance/refreshing in places and found having to tip 2 guides (our driver was also a qualified guide) unexpected and awkward, particularly as we were unable to use a $50 note that they said was too old to bank. (But we were able to use an online system despite the info saying they don't accept credit cards)"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Activities
Excellent
Sightings report
Buffalo
3 sightings
Cheetah
3 sightings
Elephant
5 sightings
Giraffe
2 sightings
Hippo
3 sightings
Lion
3 sightings
Spotted Hyena
1 sighting
Wildebeest
1 sighting
Zebra
2 sightings
My May 2019 trip
Namibia between 16 May 2019 and 28 May 2019
"Another excellent, flawlessly organised, Expert Africa trip - special thanks to Sabina for her excellent advice and spending time to help us tailor exactly what suited us best."
Feedback response
This traveller has published a very lovely article on the photography of his trip - find it here: Desert Travels in Namibia with the Nikon Z7.
Arranged By Sabina Hekandjo
Strand Hotel
"Strand Hotel review"
3 nights
Arrived
16 May 2019
"Particularly impressed by the genuinely friendly but professional service and by the quality of food in the seafood restaurant.
We stayed 3 nights which on reflection was too long. Swakopmund itself does not quite feel like Africa but we knew that before we went. Recommend the fat bike tour into the desert.
One small point was that my wife didn’t like the wild birds flying around inside the restaurant ....."
We stayed 3 nights which on reflection was too long. Swakopmund itself does not quite feel like Africa but we knew that before we went. Recommend the fat bike tour into the desert.
One small point was that my wife didn’t like the wild birds flying around inside the restaurant ....."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Erongo Wilderness Lodge
"Erongo Wilderness Lodge review"
2 nights
Arrived
19 May 2019
"Our second visit to Erongo.
Beautiful tented lodges in a spectacular setting, and excellent guided walks. vegetarian food was not as good as last time (different manager then who personally looked up ideas on the internet for us!). Parts of the meals were for a vegetarian quite repetitive variations on tomato sauce.
However as a destination we would still highly recommend Erongo"
Beautiful tented lodges in a spectacular setting, and excellent guided walks. vegetarian food was not as good as last time (different manager then who personally looked up ideas on the internet for us!). Parts of the meals were for a vegetarian quite repetitive variations on tomato sauce.
However as a destination we would still highly recommend Erongo"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Olive Grove
"Olive Grove review"
1 night
Arrived
21 May 2019
"This is a good quality guest house in a quite residential area. Attractive outside areas.
We ate in the next door Olive Exclusive which has lovely terrace. Didn’t respond to our email about an item of lost property ...."
We ate in the next door Olive Exclusive which has lovely terrace. Didn’t respond to our email about an item of lost property ...."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Wolwedans Dune Camp
"Wolwedans Dune Camp review"
1 night
Arrived
22 May 2019
"We slightly preferred the Dunes Camp to the Dunes Lodge (they have a particularly good all woman team), but both are excellent.
The setting is amazing, and the food is excellent (including vegetarian)."
The setting is amazing, and the food is excellent (including vegetarian)."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Tok Tokkie Trails
"Tok Tokkie Trails review"
2 nights
Arrived
23 May 2019
"This was an amazing experience. So well organised and well thought out. Do be aware that the afternoon walking, particularly on the second day, is very hot even in May. Ideally would have left from the midday rest shade later.
Our guide Rodrigo . Roberto was excellent as were all the staff involved.
The visit to the Nadeet conservation project was much more interesting than anticipated"
Our guide Rodrigo . Roberto was excellent as were all the staff involved.
The visit to the Nadeet conservation project was much more interesting than anticipated"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Wolwedans Desert Lodge
"Wolwedans Dunes Lodge review"
2 nights
Arrived
25 May 2019
"Although we (slightly) preferred the Dunes Camp this was an excellent lodge too.
Amazing elevated setting with lovely public areas."
Amazing elevated setting with lovely public areas."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Eningu Clayhouse
"Eningu Clayhouse review"
1 night
Arrived
27 May 2019
"We only stayed one night but were very glad we did. Delightful hostess Bettina. Attractive quirky design. Nice pool.
Lots of marked hiking trails - if you want you can also cross over into the neighbouring farm. Interesting hide for night time animal viewing.
Vegetarian food was a bit disappointing but think for some reason there had been a mix up and they were not expecting a vegetarian so probably not typical."
Lots of marked hiking trails - if you want you can also cross over into the neighbouring farm. Interesting hide for night time animal viewing.
Vegetarian food was a bit disappointing but think for some reason there had been a mix up and they were not expecting a vegetarian so probably not typical."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Excellent
amazing Namibia
Namibia between 23 Oct 2014 and 30 Oct 2014
"we loved Namibia and every single aspect of the trip went like clockwork. Its a very special country with amazing organisation coupled with a true sense of isolation"
Arranged By Sabina Hekandjo
Olive Grove
"Lovely overnight stay"
1 night
Arrived
23 Oct 2014
"Good overnight stop in attractive part of Windhoek - easy access to centre but quiet location. Friendly & helpful staff.
Excellent dinner at adjacent "boutique" sister lodge.
Really good massage"
Excellent dinner at adjacent "boutique" sister lodge.
Really good massage"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Sossusvlei Desert Lodge
"Stunning location and lovely staff!"
3 nights
Arrived
24 Oct 2014
"Beautiful rooms with stunning views, lovely staff, excellent service and very good food (and flexible for vegetarian). The managers Emerita and Paola were fantastic
The excursion to Sossusvlei was well worth the drive and the dawn ballon trip was amazing. As an extra we hiked up a nearby hill with the resident astronomer to a group of quiver trees.
We stayed 3 nights - could have done with another just to carry on soaking up the views and atmosphere. We had high expectations both of the lodge and the desert - if anything our expectations were exceeded.
We flew in from Windhoek - efficient, quick and very scenic..."
The excursion to Sossusvlei was well worth the drive and the dawn ballon trip was amazing. As an extra we hiked up a nearby hill with the resident astronomer to a group of quiver trees.
We stayed 3 nights - could have done with another just to carry on soaking up the views and atmosphere. We had high expectations both of the lodge and the desert - if anything our expectations were exceeded.
We flew in from Windhoek - efficient, quick and very scenic..."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Erongo Wilderness Lodge
"Great walking base, lovely staff"
3 nights
Arrived
27 Oct 2014
"We chose Erongo for the hiking opportunities. These were very good - excellent guides and scenery. After early morning hikes we enjoyed lazing around the large comfortable lounge area. Food was very good and they were very accommodating for vegetarians (looking up recipes on the internet to discuss with us!).
Management were fantastic and lovely people . Their staff were truly delightful and the atmosphere was very special because of that .
Easy access for self drive - fast quiet tarmac from Windhoek then 10 k gravel road (leave your car at entrance if you have a 2 wheel drive and let them drive you up to the lodge). Onoruru pleasant town a short trip away."
Management were fantastic and lovely people . Their staff were truly delightful and the atmosphere was very special because of that .
Easy access for self drive - fast quiet tarmac from Windhoek then 10 k gravel road (leave your car at entrance if you have a 2 wheel drive and let them drive you up to the lodge). Onoruru pleasant town a short trip away."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good