Travel reviews by Ms C from London

"Friendly welcome, room was clean, quite spacious and well-presented.

We were given much useful advice about the local area and a dinner reservation made for us at Joe's and a taxi provided for our trip there.

Really good breakfast and very attractive setting."

"It was fine, casual rather professional staff, though always helpful. Food was reasonable, though Ruth being a vegetarian was a challenge for them!

Our room was supposed to be a Dune View, but as it looked out directly onto the large pile of rocks behind the car park, the view was limited! As we were not in the room much it was not a major problem but I think the Trades Descriptions Act could definitely have been invoked!

It was good to be within the National park and we were able to drive ourselves to and from the dunes with ease so we did not take part in any of the activities run by the lodge."

"Again a very positive experience of a guesthouse. Room was clean and well-presented, plenty of space and a very pleasant setting. Very helpful staff, who checked bookings for us and made dinner reservations etc. Plenty of suggestions of what to do in Swakopmund. Great breakfast.

We really enjoyed our time in Swakopmund which is a most unusual place and could have stayed longer as there were other things to do. (And we are not talking adventure sports!)

We organised a day trip to Sandwich Harbour for these travellers. They rated this as excellent, and commented:

Bruno is excellent! Absolutely outstanding. We were privileged to have Bruno as our driver/guide and we were with one other couple, one of whom was a professional wildlife photographer. It was an amazing experience from start to finish.

We saw so many birds and animals, the scenery was superb, we felt in safe and wise hands, even when we got stuck in the sand! Lunch was delicious.

We learned an incredible amount about so many different things."

"This was one of our favourites, partly because of the setting which is exceptional, partly because the room was lovely (though not the best we had), partly because the staff were so positive, friendly and enthusiastic about the camp and their work. We were greeted with singing and we departed to singing too! We loved the activities, from the nature walk, to the game drive to the dinner at the boma by firelight, they provided a vegetarian meal for Ruth each night.

Nothing was too much trouble and all the staff were completely on message. If they were my staff I would have been so proud of them! They rank at the top of our list of staff thoughout our holiday.

Just one point for Expert Africa to note, in the notes sent to us prior to departure, we were told we would need a transfer to the camp and that we would need to be at the transfer point by a particular time. However when we got there, having had to miss out some stops en route in order to make the time, we were told emphatically that with a 4 wheel drive, we did not need a transfer. And indeed we did not need one, it was a very straightforward and beautiful drive to the camp."

"The drive to Etendeka was a game drive in itself which was lovely.

After Damaraland, it was a lot less friendly and a bit rustic and although the latter had its charm, we quickly realised we preferred a bit more comfort!

Some of the activities were affected by those who we were placed with- and while this is not the fault of the camp who have no control over the manner and behaviour of guests, unfortunately it does affect our judgement. We could not wait to leave largely to get away from one particular family with whom we had had to share all our activities. As a couple rather than a family we always tended to get placed where there was space. Generally this was not a problem at all, far from it, and we met some great people, but on this occasion it was very tiresome.

Food was not great, and certainly the vegetarian options were very limited.

The star gazing was an added bonus and we enjoyed the walk very much.

On reflection, we felt that we should not have gone to both Damaraland and Etendeka as there were considerable similarities in what we saw/did and we would have preferred to have had more time in the area closer to Damaraland or been able to see more of Twyfelfontein or the Skeleton Coast."

"This was, obviously, very luxurious but unpretentious. Our room overlooked the water hole which gave us amazing views of the rhino and other animals drinking there. The drive into Etosha was helpful and the drives on the reserve very interesting.

We found the staff helpful and caring. Ruth was unwell for 24 hours and was very well-looked after.

The room itself was one of the best we had throughout our holiday and the views from it and from the communal area were superb."

"This was a surreal experience!

The level of attention to detail, the personal service, the level of luxury all deserve credit.

We drove ourselves in and out of Etosha and the reserve cannot offer what Etosha can so was limited in comparison but the sun-downer drive and morning walk were interesting and informative."

"A stunning situation in the kopjes!

We did not really have long enough to appreciate the camp and in hindsight we should probably have broken our drive to Windhoek from Etosha elsewhere. We enjoyed the amazing views, the lovely setting of the communal area and dining room and the friendliness of the staff.

The room seemed tired in comparison with all we had been in prior to this and we wondered if the camp itself had seen better days and needed a bit of investment."

"Staff were friendly and helpful though no one seemed to know anything about our transfer to the airport, which was made worse by the change of time of the flight and a lack of info from Air Namibia about this. Thanks to Tracy and one of the waitresses at River Crossing, this was resolved.

We enjoyed the opportunity to sit in the sun on the terrace at River Crossing, admiring the view of Windhoek, sipping our wine/beer as the sun went down. A sublime moment!

Our room was functional but a bit like sleeping in a bunker! It was certainly not pretty!"

"This was a winner, superb in every respect. Staff were on a par with Damaraland in terms of apparently genuine friendliness and interest in their guests. To say nothing of their knowledge of the area and its wildlife.

Our guide was superb. A real effort made with food which was excellent throughout. Our room overlooked one of the waterholes in the Savuti Channel and we regularly watched large herds of elephants drinking right outside our room. It was a wonderful experience.

We saw leopard several times as well as two prides of lions. The game viewing was some of the best we had."

"The room we had (overlooking the river with large numbers of hippo right outside our room) was superb. It was one of the highest standards of rooms throughout the holiday. It was our wedding anniversary while we were there and they surprised us with a private dinner, gift and champagne- it was truly wonderful.

The game viewing was again very good indeed and included one of the most memorable experiences we had when we followed the wild dog pack on a night hunt. Incredible. The guide and tracker's enthusiasm for this, clearly not an everyday experience for them either, was part of what made this so special. We also had the opportunity to enjoy a particularly good walking safari. The freedom to drive at night and go off road also brought great benefits.

The vegetarian food was not quite upto the standard of some of the other camps but it was still very good- and the lunches were generally better than the dinners.

The communal areas in comparison with the room were a bit tired in appearance but had a fantastic setting on the river.

The low water levels meant that all activities were land based which was a shame but out of anyone's control. Expert Africa might like to note that had we been told of this when they were in Oct 2015, (ie soon after our booking was made ) we might have asked to make a change. As it was we were only told when our final information pack was sent out when it was obviously too late for a change."

"Having received news of the fire affecting Little Kwara while we were at Lagoon, we wondered what we would find on arrival. The fire had clearly been extensive, we could see the large swathes of blackened land, reaching very close to the camp, as we flew in and we were so impressed with the way in which everyone had dealt with and was coping with what must have been a devastating experience for them. It did not spoil our experience in anyway, on the contrary, it taught us much.

We probably had the best guide of our entire holiday at Little Kwara (though the guide at Savute came close) and the combination of water based and land activities brought a variety we had not had at either Lagoon or Savute. The boat ride and the mokoro trip were both fascinating but so too were each of the drives. Again the benefits of off road and night drives were clear. We were lucky enough to see cheetah and leopard as well as lions and a wide variety of other game and some amazing birds. We were again treated to a private dinner and champagne which was really lovely, and we felt very spoiled. Vegetarian food was amongst the best on our trip.

The room on stilts was full of character though not luxurious in the style of Lagoon."

"Well what a way to end our month! You really don't get it much better than this. We thought we had died and gone to heaven!

The room was superb, without doubt the best throughout our visit. The river frontage was stunning and to have a private deck of such size and comfort was wonderful. We were very well-looked after with a valet to ourselves.

We visited the school (as we had a professional connection with it) and this was very meaningful too.

The sundowner cruise on our first night when we were the only ones on it was very special indeed and yet again our wedding anniversary merited special treatment with another bottle of bubbly! The sundowner cruise on the second night, on which there were three different boats and a considerably larger number of people was also great, though we were somewhat concerned by the way in which our guide disturbed the herd of elephants drinking at the water's edge by sailing far too close to them.

The food was wonderful and the setting of the dining area magical, especially in the evening but at any time of day, eating beside the Zambezi was unforgettable.

We went to Victoria Falls on a trip run by the lodge which made it all very easy and the helicopter flight over the Falls was undoubtedly a real highlight.

The transfer to the airport for our flights home was slick and efficient.

We wished we had had time for another night at Tongabezi- there was plenty to do locally which we did not have time for and spending time at the lodge itself was a treat in itself. We were very sorry to leave."