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Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by Mr S. from Clontarf

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

5

Countries visited

6

Lodges stayed in

45

Excursions taken

0

My Apr 2022 trip in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe between 16 Apr 2022 and 2 May 2022

Trip rating: Excellent
"We had an excellent trip, more so after all the postponements due to COVID. Tom did a great job organizing it and amending arrangements over the last two years! He also recommended the trip to Save Valley which turned out to be a real highlight.

We wanted to see the parks in the “green season” and it was a very interesting and different time to visit. As expected we saw far less animals than we would in the dry season. But the engagements were deeper as we spent more time with each sighting and learned more. We also saw far more birds and learned more about the flora.

The three locations complimented each other with differing vegetation and wildlife.

All three guides were different and excellent. And great and entertaining characters - all recommended.

Having travelled just as the COVID restrictions ended, we found it very easy to travel, albeit still a little quiet for tourism but picking up. It was so nice to be back to normal out in the camps. It also meant we had camps nearly to ourselves.

Air travel was fine and we just needed to produce vaccine certs to enter countries. Masks had to be worn on flights to South Africa. Certainly Africa is back for business!"

Arranged By Tom Morris


Image alt

Dadiso Tented Camp (Not currently featured by Expert Africa)

"Dadiso Tented Camp review"

5 nights Arrived 17 Apr 2022
"Whilst not the camp we had booked, Dadiso was very comfortable and staff very friendly. The Save Valley area is fabulous - a wide variety of habitats and woodlands. The wildlife is much more skittish than in other areas and there is a real wildness feel. Unusually for the time of year we had a lot of drizzle and occasional rain which kept the animals in the bush.

Ian Batchelor private guided us and he was excellent and made the visit a most memorable experience. We had fabulous walking experiences tracking lion, elephant and buffalo, ably tracked by Confidence. The rhino were evident but elusive! Ian also sparked our interest in the birds - seeing over 85 species in our 5 days. We would very much recommend Ian as a guide and host.

Private guiding in Save
As noted Ian was an excellent guide and host. By the time we left we felt we’d known him for years. Nothing was an issue for him and he was fully focused on giving us the best possible experience. It amazes us how the best guides are as passionate and excited about sightings as we are, and truly dedicated to the preservation and sharing of the wildlife.

He works extremely well with his tracker, Confidence, to provide a great walking experience.

We learned a lot from Ian and the time flew by. We hope we can travel with Ian again before long."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Camp Hwange

Camp Hwange

"Camp Hwange review"

5 nights Arrived 22 Apr 2022
"This was our second visit to Camp Hwange and it was great to have Washington greet us again at the airstrip.

Again the team did a great job of ensuring a fabulous visit, in a very friendly and efficient manner. With “work to do” each day we had great engagement with the animals we watched and schedules became flexible during the day as we reacted to what we found.

We especially enjoyed seeing and worrying about the lone lion cub and finally seeing it reunite with its parents.

Walking with Dave and Washington was excellent and their enthusiasm and excitement really makes the experience.

Private guiding in Hwange
Dave’s energy and enthusiasm is infectious. Being out in the bush with him is hugely informative and fun. He was totally focused on giving us the best experience and searching for tracks to find certain wildlife.

Schedules went out of the window as we happily followed what we found, and learned much more about the animals’ activities, environment and social interaction.

It was also great to see how good a manager, trainer and mentor Dave is to his team.

We also had some great walking at Camp Hwange - always meaningful tracking for certain animals and feeling totally safe. We had some great experiences with some elephants on a couple of walks.

Would very much recommend time with Dave and Washington"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Somalisa Expeditions

Somalisa Expeditions

"Somalisa Expeditions review"

3 nights Arrived 27 Apr 2022
"Somalia’s Expeditions is a high quality camp with lovely tents and lodge facilities. It’s a great size and we’d definitely prefer it to the larger main camp. The location is also great.

This end of Hwange has different habitat to Camp Hwange, as ever with loads of elephant but the lion pride was the main attraction - we saw 10 lion together on our first sighting!

The whole team was very friendly and enthusiastic about their guests. Star was a great host and we had fabulous guiding by Mike Tsoka who has an incredible depth of knowledge. “We love it! “

We would recommend a few days at Expeditions."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Batonka Guest Lodge

Batonka Guest Lodge

"Batonka Guest Lodge review"

1 night Arrived 30 Apr 2022
"A very comfortable place to stay for the final night before flying home.

Nice and quiet with good breakfast and dinner. Nice areas to sit around and relax. Does take a taxi to get into the town and to the Falls but very easy.

Had an excellent taxi driver recommended by the hotel who gave us a bit of a guided tour of Vic Falls!"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

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

Zimbabwe is well worth visiting

Zimbabwe between 31 Aug 2018 and 17 Sep 2018

Trip rating: Excellent
"Another very well organised trip with Expert Africa.

Freddie responded well to our request to select camps primarily for the quality of their guides. The camps were all of high quality and each had unique experiences, and great, knowledgable and experienced guides.

It is pleasing to see each camp supporting their local communities and doing their best to protect the wildlife and prevention of poaching. Clearly they are managing despite the current political and economic crises facing the country and are well worth supporting.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We like the fact that we can chat to your reps and you make suggestions to help us choose camps and locations based on our past experiences with you and don’t simply refer us to your website or brochures so the trip is truly tailored to our wishes."

Victoria Falls Hotel

Victoria Falls Hotel

"Comfortable stay at old colonial hotel"

1 night Arrived 1 Sep 2018
"Comfortable hotel and helpful staff. Close to the Falls.

Good atmosphere at the Terrace bar and food was of high quality.

Good place to stay at start and end of trip"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Vundu Camp

Vundu Camp

"Fabulous stay at great camp "

3 nights Arrived 2 Sep 2018
"From the time we were met at the strip by Melanie to the morning we left we felt at home - very friendly, extremely keen to ensure we had great experiences and close encounters with the game (especially lion, painted dogs and elephant) whilst always respecting the animals and their environment.

Daryl is a fabulous guide and committed to protecting the wildlife. Melanie is a great host and included all the staff ensured they got credit for their involvement in our stay. Daryl and Melanie seemed as excited as us to see the animals, especially the dog pups.

We will always remember our canoeing along the Zambezi and the unique views of hippos. The accommodation and food were excellent. It was also fascinating to hear about Nick and Daryl’s efforts with their Conservancy protecting the wildlife in the park.

Thoroughly recommended for any trip to Zimbabwe."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Stretch Ferreira Safaris Camp

Stretch Ferreira Safaris Camp

"Good traditional safari camp"

2 nights Arrived 5 Sep 2018
"The experience at Goliath is totally dependent on Stretch’s availabiliy. We had some great experiences walking up to elephant, lion and wild dogs with Stretch who has an incredible relationship with the animals. He also is a great photographer with creative ideas but our access to him and his knowledge was limited.

The camp is more basic than Vundu but perfectly comfortable. It did seem to undergoing some change in management.

We may have suffered from it being in a state of flux with a full camp and inexperienced staff organising the activities. The quality of our activities varied day to day."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

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

Camp Hwange

"Well run camp with a lot of widlife"

2 nights Arrived 7 Sep 2018
"Professionally well run owner-managed camp. Dave was very much in evidence and ensured everyone got a great experience.

We saw a host of animals here especially cats with an incredible first day - lion, cheetah, caracal, serval, wild cat There was a good team of experienced guides who were talking regularly to each other to track down the game. The camp is run very flexibly with schedules varied to match the animal sightings rather than sticking to fixed times.

The rooms are excellent and very comfortable. We had the same guide Kevin for most of our time and he was very keen to ensure we saw as much as possible

Recommended."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Hwange Bush Camp

Hwange Bush Camp

"Good small camp: experience below expectation"

3 nights Arrived 9 Sep 2018
"Bush camp is a simpler tented camp at the north end of the park where game is more dispersed. Whilst more basic it has a nice feel and guests mix together. We had some great experiences and sightings, with close encounters with many elephant. However due to limitations with the number of guides we couldn’t do the walking safaris we had hoped for and for which we understood the camp is designed.

We spent a lot of time on game drives which enabled us to see many different game but had only one close encounter out of the vehicle.

The tents are comfortable with great food and the night skies are amazing.

If you want to walk check out the availability of guides in advance"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Amalinda Lodge

Amalinda Lodge

"Luxury camp in stunning national park "

3 nights Arrived 12 Sep 2018
"We had a very comfortable stay at Amalinda for the end of our trip. The room (10) was amazing and the design of the whole camp is incredible

They organised fascinating trip out to Great Zimbabwe ruins for us, albeit a long day with helpful explanation from our guide Howard.

The cave paintings are well worth seeing and the rock formations create an incredible landscape.

Amalinda organised our travel from Hwange and back to Vic Falls. The journey was comfortable and smooth. Packed lunches on our travels were great.

Well worth visiting for a relaxing time after safari."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Victoria Falls Hotel

Victoria Falls Hotel

"Relaxing final night "

1 night Arrived 15 Sep 2018
"As noted earlier

[Ed: see below]"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent

Another great holiday in wonderful Namibia

Namibia between 19 Sep 2016 and 7 Oct 2016

Trip rating: Excellent
"Thanks to Maruska who organised a great trip for us at very short notice. We had previously visitied Namibia 9 years earlier so chose to visits areas we hadn't been to before, going down to the Fish River Canyon and up to Bushmanland.

The whole range and variety of scenery across the country continues to be massively impressive, with many places to relax in remote areas looking across vast expanses of land.

Self driving is very easy (provided you don't forget your driving licence as I did, needing to courier it out!). We took a 4x4 this time which realistically we only needed (but then certainly did) in 3 or 4 locations.

Tourism has clearly grown a lot in the last few years - we saw many more tourists driving on the roads compared to 9 years ago. The country still feels very safe (albeit there are now warnings in some major towns with regard to petty theft).

The Namibian people continue to be warm and friendly but we did notice a significant reduction in the interest of guides to ensure we had a great experience - many seemed to have lost some interest in the job. This may have been because we were in less visited areas or a dfference between the South and North of the country.

Still a fabulous country to visit.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

No improvements - Maruska was fabulous (again)"

Arranged By Maruska AdyeRowe


River Crossing

River Crossing

"Ok basic place to stay close to the airport"

1 night Arrived 19 Sep 2016
"Clean and comfortable basic accomodation close to the airport that was fine for the first stay of the trip before staring travel.

Restaurant isn't great but saves going out into Windhoek."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Good
Service
Average
Rooms
Average
Food
Average
Kalahari Anib Lodge

Kalahari Anib Lodge

"Good stop on way down South"

1 night Arrived 20 Sep 2016
"Exceeded expectations as a place to stop heading down to the Rish River canyon area. ooms were very clean and comfortable and staff were attentive. Meals were also good. There is a nice pool area to sit around. It is a large resort so not much character. It is a bit further off the main B1 south than some other accomodation in the Mariental area.

The game drive into the Kalahari had a lot of people on the vehicle and the guide wasn't very attentive to photographers. And then the vehicles all went to the same location for the sundowner drinks so there were too many people present and we drove pretty much in convoy to the location."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Canyon Lodge

Canyon Lodge

"Good base for visiting the Canbyon area"

2 nights Arrived 21 Sep 2016
"Nice place to stay close to the canyon. Quite a large facility with nice individual rooms amongst the boulders. Food was good albeit in quite a large restaurant. Fun to see a number of animals inthe grounds including Rock Hyrax and Oryx and able to watch animals on hte plain early in the day.

Only a fairly short drive (20 mins) to the Canyon. A later start is worthwhile as the sun only lights into the Canyon later in the orning whilst dust in the air affects tha fternoon views. Drove down the 4x4 track along the canyon to get some better views that are worthwhile versus the main viewpoint, though you do need a 4x4 given the quality of the road.

Alo stopped for fuel, beer and a very nice cheesecake at the quirky Roadhouse fairly close by, and would certainly prefer the Lodge versus the Roadhouse as a place to stay.

Drove down to the Orange River then up through Rosh Pinah enroute to Luderitz. Fabulous scenery along the way and very different green scenery close to the river although it adds an hour to the journey."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Nest Hotel

Nest Hotel

"Better than expected hotel"

1 night Arrived 23 Sep 2016
"Probably the only choice in Luderitz.

Clean and confortable room, and nice seafood restaurant. The bar is small and pokey though and suffered froma few people eating in the area.

Was full of coach tour people and staff not very friendly.

We only stayed one night and in hindsight we probably could have travelled in from Aus. The town itself doesn't have a lot to offer. Kolmanskop, one of the main draws is only open from 8am to 1pm. We got to the site early to look around alone before the coach loads arrived for the 9.30 and 11.00 tours.

The sea trips (now on a catamaran not the old Schooner) only run in the morning so if you do the trip to Halifax island you can just rush to make the last tour at Kolmanskop on the same day. High winds and rough seas meant the boat trip wasn't running anyway. If we we had only intended to go to Kolmanskop and some driving around we could have stayed in Aus.

Luderitz is clearly struggling economically with not much to see after a few historical buildings but worth a trip out from the Fish River Canyon to see the surrounding area."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Average
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Desert Horse Inn

Desert Horse Inn

"Friendly, homely place to stay"

1 night Arrived 24 Sep 2016
"A very comfortable place to stay with individual chalet rooms well spread out, with a number of local walks with good views.

Staff were very friendly and helpful, and the meals were excellent. One of the owner brothers came around each table at dinner and gave us some great insights into the lodge, the hstory of the area and the Namibian climate.

A walk in the evening gave great views at sundown even if we did lose the route on the return so walked further than planned!

We only saw a few of the desert horses in the area and not close enough for photos. The drive to Luderitz is amazing with the barren Karoo desert, including sandstorms closer to Luderitz, albeit not sufficient to impact driving on the tarred road.

We had two lunches at the Bahnhof Hotel in Aus coming and going. It is a friendly and efficient spot with a surprising good and broad menu and worth a stop in the town."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Average
Wolwedans Boulders Camp

Wolwedans Boulders Camp

"Fabulous location and upmarket small camp"

1 night Arrived 25 Sep 2016
"A fabulous location in the south of the Namib Rand reserve. There were only two couples there when we stayed. The quality of the tented accomodationw as very good and the food excellent.

The staff (particularly the 'manager') were not attentive and didn't seem keen to please or ensure a good experience. We were only there for one night before moving to the Dune Camp. No activities were offered the first evening and they were happy enough for us to go off on our own walk across the plain for sunset, otherwise they were just offering drinks at the back of the camp.

It took some persuasion to get them to agree to do a sunrise drive the following morning and they seemed keen to have us on our way early that morning.

They did arrange a sunrise drive where the scenery was fabulous in the morning light. The two guides who took us were friendly and keen to help though obviously rather junior and simply drove us a few kilometres to a great spot for sunrise and then back.

Overall, could have been a fabulous experience but was let down by the lackadaisical attitude of the guides/manager.

When transferring to the Wolwedeans Dune Camp with your own vehicle you need to drive out to the main road and around up to the main camp which is quite a long journey whilst their own vehicles travel up the valley between camps."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Activities
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Average
Wolwedans Dune Camp

Wolwedans Dune Camp

"A further great location let down by staff"

2 nights Arrived 26 Sep 2016
"Wolwedans holds itself out as an upmarket camp and doesn't really deliver - a view shared by other guests and noted by a local Namibian we met on our trip.

The location is fabulous and the accomodation is good. The 'ladies' running the camp were very friendly and helpful, and served some very good 5 course dinners and a good breakfast and salad at lunch.

But the effort to have all guests sit at one table really didn't work especially with guests of differing languages. Some asked to be seated elsewhere on their second night. I agree with another review that it would be nice to have some of the guides aorund at meal times whereas they return to the base camp.

Oryx regularly came to the waterhole and walked around the camp. We saw little other game close to the camp though saw a lot of wildlife on the drive into the Wolwedans base camp.

The big let down was the activities. We really weren't given much detail on options and were not told about the option to do a full day game drive (the activity all other guests told us was the best option). For the first night the only option was a short drive to a sundown point where other vehicles also attended so there was a large group of 3 vehicles. The following morning we did an early morning drive (unfortunately in a closed vehicle) to take some photographs of the area. In the afternoon after some negotiation we had a short walk with busman guides which was interesting but short, as the only other option was the same sundown trip. We couldn't do a long morning drive on our final day so asked about a further walk, but they couldn't provide a guide so we couldn't do anything before we left.

It all seemed a hassle to them to organise activities. We didn't feel we benefitted as much as we could have done in the fabulous location. We would comment that Matthew, a fairly new guide, was very friendly and tried to be helpful."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Activities
Poor
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Average
Barkhan Dune Retreat

Barkhan Dune Retreat

"Retreat is just the right name for this place"

2 nights Arrived 28 Sep 2016
"We had a very good two night stay at Barchan Dunes enroute from Wolwedans. Wileem and Hannjete were perfect hosts.

They have done a clever and nice job building the individual chalets into the dunes, at the end of a lovely and very quiet valley. Hannjete quietly ensured tea/coffee/beer was provided at multiple points through the day whenever we were back at the home.

Dinner around the table with the hosts were excellent and it felt like being house guests rather than paying guests. We had two enjoyable discussions with the hosts and other guests whilst drinks flowed (especially reducing Willem's whiskey stocks).

The walk up the hill behind the farm is well worth it for fabulous views.

Other guests went on agame drive with Willem and saw a great range of game including a very large herd of Oryx plus Zebra.

The Spreetshoogte Pass is also worth a visit - a very steep and twisting road up that gives incredible views across the plain and only 20 minutes from Barchan Dunes.

Overall a very nice place to relax in the middle of nowhere!"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Hohenstein Lodge

Hohenstein Lodge

"OK place to stay as a stopover"

1 night Arrived 30 Sep 2016
"OK place to stay in a beautiful location beind the Hohenstein mountain which looked fabulous in the eveiung sun. Rooms are clean and fairly basic. Meals were good.

It is quite a long drive out of Usakos and off the main route.

We took an evening game drive where the guide was excellent and knowledgeable. However we only saw a few animals in the distance. The sundown stop wasn't great (next to a fence where we couldn't see the dun go down) and we weren't taken to the rock art."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Average
Activities
Average
Rooms
Average
Food
Good
Ghaub Guest Farm

Ghaub Guest Farm

"Comfortable and enjoyable stopover"

1 night Arrived 1 Oct 2016
"Ghaub Guest farm is an interesting and comfortable place to stay. There was a very relaxed atmosphere and meals were nice. The local staff were all very friendly, helpful and clearly proud of the place.

The old building and rooms give a nice feel to the farm and the bedroom was well fitted out. Many birds were flying around the grounds which were amazingly green after seeing the rest of the country.

As we only had one night enroute to Bushmanland we didn't partake of the activities,the cave or seeing the rhino. Not much game was seen around the farm.

Overall a delightful and recommended place for a stopover in the region."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Nhoma Camp

Nhoma Camp

"Great experience to visit the bushmen"

2 nights Arrived 2 Oct 2016
"Arno has done a great job creating the camp and cultivating the relationship with the local village. Seeing the bushmen in the village and out on their 'hunt' was really interesting especially as we expect their lifestyle will not last very much longer. It is clear they rely now on tourism rather than having to hunt and live nomadically. The main bushmen we saw, the chief and other relatives of guide Freddie, made a real effort to be informative and friendly.

It does seem a little too much like a 'human zoo' in the village when you start with the 'shop' selling their handmade articrafts followed by arranged dances and demonstrations of arrow making etc. On the walk the bushmen clearly weren't needing to hunt and it felt the walk was a bit of a tourist occasion.

Arno was informative and attentive, clearly is core to the camp and is looking to sell the camp if possible. The camp is comfortable but basic with simpler meals than at other camps.

We also suffered because of the drought and a recent bush fire in the area which meant there was little game and no elephant locally.

It is a long drive out to Nhoma which ensures you realise how remote you are (and the effort Arno has to go to get supplies from 4 hours drive away). The last 20 kilometres of the road has a lot of deep sand in places and a 4x4 is essential for getting through to the camp.

Overall, well worth the visit to a remote location to see a life which if likely to end soon, but not as authentic experience as hoped."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Activities
Good
Rooms
Average
Food
Average
Facilities
Average
Okonjima Plains Camp

Okonjima Plains Camp

"Very wel run and informative centre"

2 nights Arrived 4 Oct 2016
"An excellent end to our trip around Namibia. The whole facility is very well set up and run, relaxing, informative and enjoyable.

The Standard rooms are nicely decorated in a simple way and have two large beds with views out across the plain. Meals are served in a large building. The set 3 course dinners were good - game each night. The first night's meal was significantly better than the second. All staff were keen to ensure the visit was good. Tables were allocated for dinner, but we asked to combine tables with others we met on the game drives and were accomodated immediately.

We took three drives out seeing leopard, cheetah and wild dogs, as well as loads of antelope and giraffe. The guide, Immanuel, was excellent and made an effort to ensure we saw as much as we could during our stay. We were nervous that the viewing would be affected by the way they collar the cats and track them but in practice it didn't affect the experience as the cats are roaming wild and the tracking doesn't 100% identify the location of the animals and the animals might be in areas the vehicles can't reach.

The clinic/centre is also worth a visit to understand the work AfriCat does.

We hung around on our final day as it was such a comfortable place torelax before heading on to Windhoek."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Galton House

Galton House

"Comfortable place for a night in Windhoek"

1 night Arrived 6 Oct 2016
"This is a smart house to stay at before flying out of Windhoek in a quiet residential area. The meals are effectively served in an open plan kitchen/dining area. Breakfast was fine but we didn't feel there was any atmosphere so ate out in Windhoek, at the well known Joes Beerhouse.

The room was quite small but well appointed and very comfortable.

The manager, Eddie, was very attentive and runs the place well."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Average

Rwanda and Zambia - September 2014

Zambia and 2 other countries between 4 Sep 2014 and 21 Sep 2014

Trip rating: Excellent
"Once again expert Africa delivered all that they promised. Our holiday was varied and exciting. Everyone we met made us feel welcome and ensured that our trip was comfortable and safe.

Maruska is excellent. She has great listening skills and an ability to match our desired trip with the Expert Africa offering superbly. Her advice was essential in helping us plan our holiday and the selection she recommended worked well.

Thanks also to Ellie and Chris for their advice on photography and to Ellie for handling our final arrangements.

Primate Safaris - especially Simba - was great in Rwanda. The agent in Kenya was not good and left us waiting at Nairobi airport for a long time when he was due to meet us. Remote Africa run a fabulous, family operation. And Shiwa N'gandu is a quite extraordinary and memorable experience.

The wildlife and experience lived up to all our expectations. The guides and hosts we met as we went around made the holiday for us, providing us with real insights to life in Rwanda and Zambia."

Arranged By Maruska AdyeRowe


Macushla House

Macushla House

"Comfortable small hotel in the Karen suburb"

1 night Arrived 4 Sep 2014
"Only spent one night at Macushla House. Service was good and staff were very friendly. Room was clean and décor is interesting.

Nice not to be in a large hotel. Bit of a distance from Nairobi airport."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Average
Hotel des Mille Collines

Hotel des Mille Collines

"Good quality hotel with quality restaurant"

1 night Arrived 5 Sep 2014
"High quality hotel - check in was very easy and efficient, room was comfortable and quiet. The main bar area was a little noisy and difficult to get a meal. Ate at the La Panorama restaurant - meal was excellent but service a little slow. View across Kigali is excellent.

SImba from Primate Safaris was excellent - really went the extra mile to ensure we had a wonderful trip. He made our trip very easy and informative. He was really interesting to talk to regarding the genocide and the subsequent reconciliation. So overall meeting him added significantly to what was intended primarily as a visit to the gorillas.

Simba also kept watch on other guests and ensured that they were looked after. The morning of our second visit to the gorillas two guests had some difficulty and Simba made sure they were looked after even though they were not his responsibility. He was known to many of the guests and very popular. He is customer focussed and has a lot to offer to tourism in Rwanda."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

"Very good base for gorilla trekking"

2 nights Arrived 6 Sep 2014
"Was uncertain about the lodge having read reviews but shouldn't have been. Very good stay.

Room was comfortable and clean, staff were very friendly and helpful. Our boots were cleaned very well especially on the second day when we only had 30 minutes before we left. Meals are average but OK. Contrary to other reports there is 24 hour electricity.

So a good base without spending the very high prices at other lodges."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Good
Food
Average
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Ole-Sereni

Ole-Sereni

"Ok hotel for overnight connection at NBO"

1 night Arrived 8 Sep 2014
"Fairly local to Nairobi airport and fine for overnight when making connection through Nairobi airport. Comfortable room. Was very quiet in the hotel when we were there."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Average
Rooms
Good
Flatdogs Camp

Flatdogs Camp

"Very good camp with great facilities"

2 nights Arrived 9 Sep 2014
"I was uncertain about Flatdogs based on reviews on some sites suggesting it is a basic camp. It has progressed considerably from its original back packer camp.

Bwalya was an excellent guide who took us for all our drives over 3 days and worked hard to ensure we saw just about all animals and had a varied experience. He also drove us up to Tafika on the last day. The other staff were friendly and efficient and added to the stay.

The food is excellent with a varied menu available at all times of day - definitely the best meals we have ever had on safaris. - and it was great to have a cooked breakfast when we returned from the morning drives!

The tent was very comfortable - once you got to it around the regular elephant visitors most days."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Chikoko Tree Camp

Chikoko Tree Camp

"Fabulous experience at Chikoko trail camp"

2 nights Arrived 11 Sep 2014
"We had an excellent time at Chikoko - the lodges are very well built into the trees and comfortable - though the stairs up are interesting!

Brent ensured our walking safaris were really informative - he knows everything about the flora and fauna as well as the animals and explains how everything interacts. And then at night can talk about Big Wave surfing in Hawaii during the winter!

The four hour morning walks seemed to go by so quickly. Wonderful sightings of elephant, buffalo and the deer on walks including experiencing maybe 1,000 buffalo stampeding past us.

It's great to be in such a remote area and fully experience the bush. The food was very good and a marvel how well the cook copes with the limited facilities.

As with all of Remote Africa the organisation and staff were excellent."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Big Lagoon Camp

Big Lagoon Camp

"Great camp but less animals to view"

1 night Arrived 13 Sep 2014
"Remote Africa changed our schedule to spend one night only at Crocodile camp and two at Chikiko because of the time of year. The facilities are good but that area had a lot less animal life at the time we were visiting.

It was our first experience of walking safaris. the walks were very informative understanding more of the flora and fauna and the environment despite the fewer animal sightings."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Tafika

Tafika

"Great family run camp with top class guiding"

4 nights Arrived 14 Sep 2014
"The 'centre' of Remote Africa this is an excellent camp run by very friendly and massively experienced staff. A mix of walking and driving safaris provided a huge range of experiences.

Maruska recommended this camp to us as she knew we really enjoyed family run camps from past safaris. Remote Africa really delivered at Tafika, Chikoko and Crocodile camps. The owners are all over the operations and the whole staff feel part of the one family. We met many guests who returned over many years.

Carol, Bryan, Rona and Heather run the camp like clockwork whilst always being around and very friendly. We had great drives with Bryan and Jenny. And walking with Alex and old hand Isaac was fabulous. We won't forget walking through the long grass searching for the growling lions around their buffalo kill.

Bryan excelled by finding wild dogs for us one night just before the ever necessary gin and tonic for sundown!

A return is essential!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Shiwa Ng'andu

Shiwa Ng'andu

"Remarkable experience - well worth it"

3 nights Arrived 18 Sep 2014
"We didn't read that carefully about what we were letting ourselves in for going to Shiwa. It isn't a plush manor house but is a totally absorbing and busy experience across so many dimensions. A unique piece of Zambian and British history, a wonderful location, quite extraordinary owners in Charlie and Jo, a massive farm operation and extraordinary archive of documents.

Charlie and Jo are fabulous hosts - how they run the farm, manage a game reserve, sort the archives, restore the house, care for 1,000 people living on the estate, work with NGOs to improve the facilities in the area and still be available throughout the day to be the perfect hosts is unbelievable.

We spent three days with them and it wasn't enough. Over breakfast, lunch and dinner with Charlie and Jo we managed to get a small insight to the remarkable place and Charlie's family. It is an incredible operation. We also met some of their friends - some passing through and some resident on the estate.

The meals were great, totally from locally produced ingredients.

Well worth the visit to see a totally different part of Zambia from the Luangwa Valley and to get to know in a small way a remarkable couple. We didn't have enough time in the archives and we look forward to reading Jo's account of life in Shiwa from Sir Stewart Gore- Browne's arrival to the current day. Keep writing Jo!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Fabulous trip, Expert Africa made it

Namibia and 1 other country between 18 Jul 2007 and 8 Aug 2007

Trip rating: Excellent
"Fabulous trip and we were looked after extremely well by Expert Africa - they truly know the countries and say when they don't.

Maruska recommended exactly the type of accomodation we wanted and suggested a great mix of differing experiences. We were delighted in particular that she recommended Etendeka to us - just wish we could have stayed longer.

And the Mokoro Trail in the Okavanga is out of this world"

Arranged By Maruska AdyeRowe


Olive Grove

Olive Grove

"Comfortable base to start trip from Windhoek"

1 night Arrived 19 Jul 2007
"Comfortable, clean B&B that was just what we needed after overnight flight to rest before setting off on trip

Staff were friendly, rooms very spacious, nicely yet simply decorated.

Some road noise especialyl commented by other guests with rooms closer to the side road

Location appeared a little off the beaten track but seemed safe once we were used to Windhoek. Great to be close to Joes Beer House for dinner!"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Image alt

Kulala Wilderness Camp, Namibia (this camp has since closed)

"Great base to visit the dunes"

2 nights Arrived 20 Jul 2007
"Located close to the dunes. Good Wilderness camp - staff here were significantly more friendly than the other Wilderness lodge we stayed at. Excellent tents and meals were good.

Our guide Johan was excellent and made our trip to the dunes far more enjoyable than if we had gone alone - including encouraging us to climb Big Daddy at Dead Vlei!

Would recommend booking the activity to visit dunes with them - saves time getting in at dawn. Sundown activity drive isn't worth the money. Would book full board versus buying activities separately"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Facilities
Good
Sea Breeze Guesthouse

Sea Breeze Guesthouse

"Comfortable B&B just outside Windhoek"

2 nights Arrived 22 Jul 2007
"A bit out of town this is a simple but clean B&B with spacious rooms. Staff were helpful and reasonably friendly including advice on places to eat. Not a long drive from centre. Good place to stay as stopping point on self drive holiday"
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Average
Service
Good
Facilities
Average
Rooms
Average
Food
Average
Doro Nawas

Doro Nawas

"Good Wilderness camp but less friendly"

1 night Arrived 24 Jul 2007
"Well organised. Fuller of families than previous camp we had been at. Didn't feel as relaxed or as friendly as camp at Sossuvlei. Very confortable and great location. Not really worth staying much more than one day.

Were flexible in arrannging for us to visit the rock engravings and desert elephants in one trip - though it was freezing cold in the early morning fog!"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Average
Etendeka Mountain Camp

Etendeka Mountain Camp

"Must Stay location - fabulous"

2 nights Arrived 25 Jul 2007
"One of our top two locations on our trip. Dennis and Barbara made the whole experience out of this world. Location is fabulous - totally away from everywhere, incredible scenery, totally quiet, extraordinary evenin skies. Camp is comfortable, relaxed, basic and fun. And Dennis' enthusiasm for geology, fauna and flora is infectious. As Chris wrote - what they do they do very well.

Fabulous and informative hiking in the morning and great animal viewing in the afternoon - so different from Etosha; were rally lucky to see a leopard as well as herds of Hartmann Zebra and giraffe etc

Two days is too short"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

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

Okaukuejo Camp

"Good base to visit Etosha"

2 nights Arrived 27 Jul 2007
"Large and lacking in character but easy to get out on drives. Food was pretty awful and very little to buy in the store to be self catering.

Staff seemed not to care about service

But probably better than staying outside the park and evening waterhole was great"
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

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

Halali Camp

"OK lodge in goodlocation"

2 nights Arrived 29 Jul 2007
"Service was slightly worse than Okaukeujo but game viewing was even better

Staff were sullen and unhelpful in restaurant and again very little to buy if self catering. Snack bar closes for lunch

But saw fabulous game driving around the area - many lion, black rhino etc And the sight of 40+ elephant at the watering hole at night was amazing plus rhino

New chalets are clean and nice

Worth at least a night"
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Excellent
Service
Poor
Activities
Average
Rooms
Average
Food
Average
Facilities
Average
Roy's Restcamp

Roy's Restcamp

"Ok stopping point acroos from Etosha"

1 night Arrived 31 Jul 2007
"Probably the only place to stop at on the journey from Etosha to Caprivi. Comfortable, slightly quirky lodge. Not much to do but fine as the overnight stop. Surprisingly noisy from the road. Staff were OK but more interested talking to each other than to guests. Food was OK and rooms comfortable"
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Average
Service
Average
Activities
Poor
Rooms
Average
Food
Average
Facilities
Average
Ndhovu Safari Lodge

Ndhovu Safari Lodge

"Great lodge in nice location next to the rive"

2 nights Arrived 1 Aug 2007
"Very friendly staff at this great lodge next to the Okavango river. You can spend hours just watching the hippos in the river (and around the tents at night!).

Staff were keen to help and the owner was very welcoming and helpful.

Definitely do the village trip with one of the local staff. It was done in a very thoughtful way - you didn't feel you were intruding but learned a lot about the local way of life. We were really pleased we did it.

Would recommend as a place to stop off at for a couple of days - didn't try the game viewing in the local park as we had come from Etosha"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Average
Rooms
Good
Food
Average
Image alt

Marinas Camp, Botswana (this camp has since closed)

"Small B&B outside Maun but run down"

1 night Arrived 3 Aug 2007
"Small B&B outside the town up a small lane. Nothing really to see or places to sit around a relax. Was noisy at night with music from some local bar

Food was quite nice but wouldn't recommend as a place to stay
But close to the airport"
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Poor
Service
Average
Activities
Poor
Rooms
Average
Food
Good
Facilities
Poor
Image alt

Kanana Mokoro Trail, Botswana (this camp has since closed)

"MUST DO way to see the Delta"

2 nights Arrived 4 Aug 2007
"Absoulte highlight of our trip. Just three of us on a small island looked after by five fabulous staff.

Location was amazing - 40 mins mokoro trip from nearest camp on a small island where everything was set up in s simple but remarkably effective way. Not what we expected for 'camping out' in the delta. Being greeted with a gin and tonic was a good start!

The whole staff made an exceptional job to make us feel at home and ensure we reallt enjoyed every moment. How the cook produces such stunning meals including fresh bread and cakes baking on embers I will never know. Paul, the guide (see references to him at Footsteps camp), was knowledgable with infectious enthusiasm and really 'read' us and what we wanted. We felt we were truly 'feeling' the delta without any over sensitivity on safety

Mokoro trails with Abulance and Chief were great - they did absolutely everything they could to find the animlas and birds for us, punting through the thickest reeds we had seen. Sitatunga, Pels Fishing Owl, Fish eagle etc, they found the lot. And hippos look a lot larger from a mokoro!

Overall an incredibly relaxing experience, visiting extraordinary scenery and wildlife, with every possible help from the staff. Cannot recommend it too much. Oh and a large bull elephant coming through the camp at night walking around the drinks table was memorable!"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Pom Pom Camp

Pom Pom Camp

"Pom Pom review"

2 nights Arrived 6 Aug 2007
"Nice location and comfortable accomodation spoiled by too hands-on, over safety conscious management.

Felt staff were going through a set script rather than relaxing and going with the guests. We couldn't move for risk of safety - quite a contrast to our time at Ndhovo camp and the mokoro trail camp. You couldn't even walk to your tent in case there were animals within 20 feet - which clearly there weren't.

Trips out were too short, delivered to a set speech, surrounded by other mokoros or jeeps which ruined the experience.

if you want a very tame, totally safe, comfortable camp with nice food then this is the one for you. It wasn't the one for us."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Good
Service
Average
Activities
Poor
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Facilities
Average

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