Travel reviews by Ms R & Mrs A from UK

"We spent our first night at Villa Violet and were very happy with the accommodation, food and service. It made as great start to our holiday to rest after the flights and to sort ourselves out for the following two and a half weeks.

Villa Violet is a very pleasant guest house, decorated tastefully and thoughtfully in an attractive style. Our bedroom and bathroom were lovely and spotless. The beds were comfortable and the bed-linen immaculately laundered.

Heidi's welcome was warm and informative. We were shown the common areas as well as our own room and invited to make beverages and help ourselves to homemade cookies (always a winner).

Breakfast was generous and delicious.

An extra point about Villa Violet was that during the course of Heidi's welcome she gave us some good tips to acclimatize us to life in Namibia. These were small things, but very useful, eg we said that we were going into Windhoek for the evening. She told us it was a public holiday and that many shops etc would be closed, suggested where we would find parking and how much we should pay for a 'car guard'. In fact she gave us several tips on dealing with over-enthusiastic sellers to tourists and how to make sure that we did not end up buying things we didn't need or at inflated prices. Because of our interest in getting to know Namibia, Heidi also gave us information about farming in the country and how many farmers diversify into guest or hunting farming. All of this was an excellent introduction for us and many of the things Heidi told us remained with us throughout the trip."

"After leaving Windhoek, our first stop was Okonjima Plains Camp where we spent two nights. We were bowled over by the place, the staff, the food, the activities and everything that we were privileged to see there.

Walking into the reception area, we were greeted immediately and warmly. A glass of iced tea was handed to us. What a welcome! The way in which we were received made us feel they had been waiting for us to arrive! That shows a very high degree of thought and professionalism. And the level of service continued in that warm and welcoming vein throughout our stay.

We were amazed by the view from our room, such a wide expanse with lots of animals wandering past. This was our first experience of a 'camp' and we loved it. Sitting outside on the verandah was a treat.

Our guide on activities was Jerimiah. He was excellent. He was very informative about Okonjima itself, the work they do and why they do it, the animals, birds, vegetation. He was tireless in his efforts to make sure that we tracked the animals that we wished to see and in all cases was successful in finding them.

We were enchanted by Okinjima and felt that we were part of a big happy family whilst we were there."

"Mokuti Etosha Lodge was our next stop for three nights.

It was our first experience of a 'Lodge', and having come directly to it from Okonjima, we found it to be a different kind of place. That is not to imply anything negative about it at all. Our room was attractive, comfortable and clean, the layout of the place was attractively done, the food and service were good. The beds were very comfortable and the bed-linen beautifully laundered.

And of course it was an excellent place from which to visit Etosha park."

"We spent two nights at Okaukuejo Camp and had a good experience.

The layout of the camp is exceptional, the great highlight being the large waterhole. We were enchanted to be able to sit there at all times of the day and night and see so many different animals coming and going. The short distance between the chalets and the waterhole made it so easy to pop down there to see what there was to be seen.

Sitting silently watching at sunrise, sundown, by floodlight at night are experiences that I shall never forget."

"We had very little idea about what to expect as we drove to Doro Nawas, although Sabina at Expert Africa had told us that it was special. Nothing could have prepared us for what we found on arrival.

The setting is spectacular, the last few meters of drive up to Reception slope up steeply and dramatically. After our long drive we were delighted to be greeted as we got out of the car by cool towels and fruit juice. As we were shown around I kept saying 'I'm at a loss for words'. The panorama view is breathtaking. Our room was also beautifully appointed. We pushed our beds out onto the veranda and slept under the stars, which was one of the highlights of our trip, unforgettable. We also loved the fact that meals were served variously in the dining room, out on the veranda or up on the roof by candle light at night. Sitting round the fire in the evening was so peaceful.

The service at Dora Nawas was exceptional. The staff were extremely helpful, friendly, efficient, attentive and happy. Again, we were made to feel like part of a big family during our stay.

Mwezi was our guide as we visited the rock engravings, burnt mountain and organ pipes. He was excellent, very informative, enthusiastic and cheerful.

Doro Nawas was our favourite stay of our whole holiday."

"We stayed two nights at the Central Guest House in Swakopmund. It was well appointed, comfortable and clean. The beds were very comfortable and the bed-linen immaculately laundered. Breakfast was generous and very good.

Our hostess was very helpful."

"We spent two nights at Kulala Desert Lodge and were very happy there. It was our second experience of a Wilderness Safari camp and we recognise some of the common features: the spectacular setting, the startling architecture, the tastefully appointed rooms, excellent food, ecological facilities and fabulous staff.

Suama was our guide to Sossussvlei and she was excellent in how she explained everything about the terrain, the geology, flora and fauna. Additionally she skillfully managed a group of very different abilities, allowing them to enjoy as much climbing and walking along the dunes as they could.

I had an incident at Kulala Desert Lodge which illustrates excellent staff service standards. I had thought I had lost my mobile phone. It turned out that it was in our room all the time. All the staff, from the manager downwards behaved in an exemplary fashion in they way in which they dealt with this and I was impressed.

I slept on the roof of our chalet and again the star-studded night sky is something I will never forget.

We were very sorry to leave Kulala Desert Lodge."

"We spent our last night in Namibia at Bullsport Guest Farm. This was a very good experience, as it was a very different type of place from any in which we had previously stayed.

We very much appreciated meeting the owners, farm managers and visiting foreign interns and sitting around the dinner table with them. The conversation was very interesting, as we were given another perspective on life in Namibia from people who have been living and farming there for many years."