Travel reviews by Ms L from Queensland

"It was a very unenjoyable stay for me at Imbabala for 3 nights. The manager was absent when I was there which didn't help. I only met him when I was leaving. I experienced a myriad of problems while I was there which has left me with unpleasant memories of my trip. Upon arriving I was introduced to chef by the acting manager to discuss my special meal requirements. The chef seemed to understand what I was telling him, and showed me the food bought for me in their fridge. The manager later said he has to go to some trouble to buy one or two things, which I appreciated. The food there was enough for my needs for the next few days, if only the xhef would use the ingredients. I told the chef what I wanted for dinner, which was quite simple. Just the meat he was already cooking, and a stir fry of a couple of veges that I could have.

At dinner I was served a standard meal with no requested food cooked for me. I was forced to eat things that I couldn't really eat. Then I asked for some sweet potato for breakfast at 5.30am. This lodge only serves tea/coffee, yogurt and a small amount of muesli enough for 2 people, so guests are expected to come back for brunch at 10am. I cannot last that long without breakfast so asked to have a simple filling breakfast instead. The chef didn't look happy to my request but agreed. All he had to do was boil the potato that night and heat it up the next morning for me. Arriving at breakfast the next morning, there was nothing for me. I was told the chef was not around and the waiter offerred me no food. I had to go into the kitchen myself and defrost some bread from the freezer. I then got some jam and honey and set up on the table in the dinning room to eat my food. The waiter then came up and said "you are not joining the others" who are only drinking tea or coffee by the campfire. I said I can't with all my plates and jars. He kept asking again and again which I found rude and annoying.

By the third meal I was desperate and asked the chef if I can cook for myself as it seemed he wasn't ever going to give me the food I needed. By then he had decided to give me separate meals as requested. However there was never any communications between the chef and the waiter. I pre-ordered all my meals and told them what time I was having them. Everytime I arrived at the restautant, often in a hurry because of my photographic needs, the waiter would slowly come to me and ask what would I like. I would tell him I've already arranged with the chef. All he had to do was to go and ask the chef for my meal. He's never happy with my answer, or if asked if my meal was ready he would say he doesn't know. Out of frustration I end up going into the kitchen all the time to find out what is going on. As I had to enter the kitchen to get things for myself all the time, I noticed half of the crockery in the clean pile have never been washed.

Then there was the cleaner who keeps wanting to follow me back into my room to service it as I came back from breakfast to make last preparations to go on safaris. I have never been to a hotel where the cleaners want to service the room while guests are inside. Do they not know guests would want to use the toilet as there are none out on safari for the next 3 hours? And do they not know there is no door between the toilet and the rest of the room? Or does it not matter to them in their culture? I asked him to wait 10/15 mins til I am gone but he didn't look happy. The next day he tried doing the same thing.

One morning I locked my keys in the room but ran into a staff immediately outside. I asked him to get a spare key as I need to get more things from my room. He just ummed and ahhed and eventually said, "so you locked your keys in the room?". I agained repeated everything but he chose to do nothing for me. I had no time to waste as I was doing sunrise photography that day, so found him very frustrating. Eventually I told my guide, who told that staff to go and wake the person who has the key to the office to get the spare key. It seemed that staff at this lodge don't know what to do over simple matters, and wouldn't even go and find out if they didn't.

Then there were the staff who were suppose to accompamy guests to their rooms when it was dark. Half the times when I was there, they were nowhere to be found. It wasn't comfortable to walk alone to the empty restaurant before dusk in the mornings as alot of animals were on the lawns of the property. And I am talking about the time after the wake up call when guests are making their ways to breakfast.

Then there was a well reviewed guide who drives up at high speed to the animals, which frightened them and send them scattering in all directions. Most times we only saw the rear end of the animals so couldn't take a photo. I've only been doing bird watching for a year but I knew what he was doing was not good. However he was not receptive to suggestions.

So was there any good memories from this place? I was fortunate to be assigned to Abe from the second day onwards, who was very good at approaching birds and got me good photos. He was more than willing to go the extra mile so I managed to get some good sunrise shots as well. Thank you so much Abe!

And I do highly recommend the option of going to Chobe rather than staying at the lodge. In one day I saw a lot lot more at Chobe than in one whole week spread over two lodges. The animals there are so used to humans that we are at incredibly close distance to them. There was virtually no need for any zoom lens. And the animals showed much more interesting behavior than I ever saw elsewhere. In fact, I would recommend staying at Batonka Guest Lodge in Victoria Falls ( see related review) and do a day trip to Chobe, which is only an hour or so away."

"This is one of the best accommodation I've ever experienced. The service reminded me if an old colonial style service that one sees in old movies. Absolutely impeccable. They won't have you standing at the counter to check in. They have you sit in an opulently decorated lounge, with a welcome cold drink, and they come and do the paperworks with you.

The buildings and gardens are immaculate and gorgeous. The rooms are the largest I 've ever seen, with nice and modern furniture. They take good care to cover the food up. And they didn't even charge me for a room delivered dinner for which I supplied half the ingredients. Their rates are at least half of what the hotels in town charge. I found the location not problematic. Businesses in town seem willing to give you a lift back to the hotel. Services I experienced in Victoria Falls all had a high standard.

I should have stayed here as a base, and done day trips instead of staying in lodges which were generally not of high standards.

At the time of my visit, which was the end of the wet season, there wasn't much game at the lodges. But the animals at Chobe, which I visited on a Wilderness Horizons day trip, treated us humans as part of the family and displayed their full range of behaviours right next to us. That was the best safaris experience I and other fellow travellers had during our entire African trip. It wasn't high season so there weren't that many vehicles crowding around each group of animals. I saw a maximum of 3 at any time which didn't bother me."

"Unfortunately this lodge did not live up to expectation. I was guided by Julienne the former manager twice, then a trainee twice, before Spike.

Julienne I truly didn't feel was very committed to or interested in guiding. He picked me up at the gate, and only pointed out a small number of animals we happened to come across along the road. I discovered later that there was a lake and hide half way to the camp that we could have gone to to see a good variety of birds and animals. Upon arrival I was given the closest room to the public area which could result in me hearing all the laughters and conversations in the dining room late at night when I want to go to bed early with my jetlag. I requested a move further away, and was told by him that I had requested the room closest to the dining area for mobility reasons. I never made such a request, and why would anyone come to a camp renowed for walking safaris if they can't walk from their room to the public area?

Expert Africa passed all the room requests to me to check, and the requests we ever made were for the quietest room possible, or the room with the best view for photography. He argued and argued about this non-existent request, and that all future guests coming were families and they want to keep them next to each other. I ended giving up and walked away. As it turned out the next guest was elderly and had mobility problems, and would have made such as request. So good the way they read their emails! As for keeping families together - all incoming guests were adults, and the cottages were spaced several meters apart. Do they expect guests to yell across that distance to have a family conversation? They did end up changing me to a different room but it wasn't a pleasant exchange. As for guiding, Julienne and the trainee Blyde (who is a nice bloke) drove up to the animals too fast, resulting in them running away. Their style of guiding was to drive up, tell you the name of the animal, give you a few moments to take photos, and then drive off to look for the next animal. As there had been alot of rain, game was very thin, and we spent alot more time driving around on bumpy roads than doing anything else. Blyde who was in training, was not in a position to give much information, but Julienne often truly seemed uninterested even when asked. I guesd it's no worse than guides I experienced in many other parts of Africa. But I was told the guides here were very knowledgeable and I was looking forward to much more.

I have read a review that some of their vehicles have seats (which are just old fashion benches) so high that nobody's feet could reach the floor. We made a request for the more comfortable type of vehicle as I have back problems. That didn't seem to be taken into account and I was given the back breaking vehicle. Even after using a tyre or a stool to raise the feet, after one and a half days my back flarred up very badly ( the worst in 20 years). I still wasn't offerred a different vehicle (they did have several vehicles), and given the disappointing safaris experience, I felt so depressed that I decided to give up the next 2 days of safaris, stay in my room to rest my back, and just go home to watch David Attenborough for a better experience. The next morning I went to breakfast when others are leaving for their safaris, and found Spike had a vehicle with proper seats same as the ones at the last lodge I stayed in.

I joined them at the last minute and found in Spike the most considerate person towards guests and animals. He is one of a small number of guides who truly knows how to approach animals, and particularly birds which require alot of care. With him I had good sightings and was able to get many good bird photos. He had a true love of nature and was ready to impart his extensive knowledge to guests at all times. Even with the late turnaround, I cannot recommend this camp as there is no guarantee that one would get Spike for their stay. I actually preferred guides from Namibia to most of the ones here. They were more communicative and approachable. I cannot comment on the quality of walking safaris here as there wasn't really much game around to attempt that.

And for the accomodation, this place was set up and run on a shoe string. Lighting is the dimmest in all lodges I've stayed in for this trip. They could have mounted the lights lower and it would have been brighter. There's no light in the bathroom whatsoever. Basically one has to use a torch throughout the cottage, and in the dining room to see what food is being displayed, and to eat. Expect Africa made a couple of food requests on my behalf. Some weren't brought in until I was half way thru my stay. Even then they were of such low quality (rotten) that some had to be thrown out and recooked.

This place, unlike most lodges, made no attempt to cover their food. Virtually everything was consumed by insects of all kinds, before by humans. They could see I was bothered by flies, and made attempts to use a fly net to cover my food. But what about other guests? Even with their attempts, I still found a dead fly in my food and dead ants in my honey. Since such issues seemed insignificant compared to other things I had to deal with, I just scooped them out and continued the eat the rest of the meal. If insects in your room and food bothers you, definitely don't consider this place.

Kim who looked after guests' daily needs made a genuine attempt to accomodate my dietery needs. But as was the case across Africa in general, only half the instructions were followed as they got passed down the chain.

The best thing about this lodge was their meat was the tastiest I 've ever had anywhere (even with no favoring).

In summary, I experienced the lowest standard in accommodation and vehicle comfort at this lodge. Another lodge with the same uncomfortable vehicle had built metal footrests across to fix the problem. Here you are expected to rough everything. For me, it just wasn't worth it."

"Apartment was spacious, but had no toiletries and poor quality cooking utensils.

We requested low fat milk which is easily obtainable from supermarkets, but was not provided by this accommodation. I ended up using full cream milk for cereals and was sick for the next few days."

"I didn't end up doing anything here as there was alot of rain plus I couldn't get into my car with a flat remote battery. Reception was the most impersonal compared to other lodges. They were often too busy. The phone from my room didn't work so couldn't contact reception for anything.

Had to walk several minutes to get to reception from my room. The view rooms do not have any views in particular but are at the edge of the forest so good for seeing wildlife. The rooms were modern and spacious, but has too much of a concrete look and feel to them.

The road going in is not good, and when there is heavy rain, you cannot cross the river to get in or out forba few hours."

"The area has buttes and mesas made of exactly the same sandstones, and eroded in the same way as those in the South West of USA. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived here for a 1 night stop to break up the driving. The lodge was built nicely onto the side of a mesa. It offered exceptional views around.

The rooms were well furnished except that they were too small for the furniture that were put in. The main problem was it gets too hot at night (being built on a rock) and the ceiling fan had little effect being mounted too high and filtered by the mosquito net over the bed. They really need a pedestal fan.

Meals were buffets which had a good range and was well cooked, except half of dishes for dinner were spicy. They took no notice of any special meals requests, even for low fat milk."

"If you like rocks, definitely come here. The superior views room open up to a panaramic amphitheater of granite boulders. The public areas and sundowner spot are also lovely. For a 2 day stay the desert elephant tracking and Twyfelfontein are run by nice guides. The elephant sightings are guaranteed at the time I went, but it was the bumpiest road to get there over 2 hours.

We were given almost 2 hours with the elephants, so it was a good experience to be able to observe their behavior. The 2 year old calf kept falling asleep on the ground as she was foraging. It was very funny. The other tour included a visit to Twyfelfontein, Burnt Mountain, and Organ Pipes. Burnt mountain didn't feel worthwhile to me.

The rooms were spacious, fairly cool, and comfortable. The camp lacks water so doesn't want to offer laundry services. They wanted to charge me USD $40 to wash seven items.

Staff were nice but a bit backward. Rooms do need more signage to get to."

"Spitzkoppe had the best scenery in Namibia, and the best lodge for someone like me with special requirememts. The granite boulders were smooth like sandstone, and come in the most interesting shapes, with small trees growing out of the gaps. The mountains were made of rose colored rocks and rises majestically over the flat plains, and are visible hundreds of kms away.

The lodge is managed by Janine very competently. The staff here are the most competent and hard working I've seen anywhere on this trip, or virtually anywhere else I've travelled to. This is the only lodge that had virtually everything I had requested for my dietery need. The chef came to me with a plan for meals for the next 3 days upon my arrival, to check whether her plan suited me. She readily modified it during our discussion to suit me. It was amazing!

The rooms were good, and the transfer service between the restaurant and rooms were efficient.

The suggestions I have for improvement are:
• have non see through curtains ( one can only change in the bathroom at present), and there isn't enough feeling of privacy during daytime.
• provide a larger range of good for the buffet (I didn't eat from it but had seen it).
• have a more self explanatory map.
• put signs on main roads or intersections as many people getl lost in the area. I've read about this problem over the years. I don't undetstand why they haven't done anything about it.

But this place is a gem. I recommend staying 2 to 3 days."

"This lodge is located nicely amongst spectacular granite boulders. I requested a room with best views and was given one. However it seems to be poorly managed. They never bothered to obtain a couple of items put through to them more than once before my arrival. They only started ringing the store at Omaruru after I arrived and spoke to them. That store being in a small town had virtually nothing I needed except low fat milk. The owner who happened to be around for a few days had to go to pick it for me, with some of the other food being brought back by the manager from Windhoek (where his wife had to go for an appointment) after half of my stay was over.

I was told by Expert Africa that all the Namibian lodges confirmed they will supply what I requested, but it hasn't turned out to be the case.

Upon arrival I booked the sundowner tour, and was told to go to reception at 6.30pm. I went to reception at 6pm, confirmed it again, saw the guide walk past, and found out at 6.30pm they had left without me as the time had been changed to 6pm without the receptionist knowing, and the receptionist had never told the guide of my booking. So at 6.30pm, the owner had to take me up to join the group himself. I was very put out.

This lodge appeared to have little organization. Reception has no fixed open hours. Light bulbs leading up the steps to the restaurant were blown. If one didn't have a torch one had to go up stairs in the dark. I suspected they only got replaced as the owner was here and noticed it.

This lodge had a reputation for bird watching. But due to the severe drought 2 years ago, most species have left, and I only saw several rather common species around.

My recommendation is to spend about a day here, just to do some of the walking trails. Otherwise there's not much else to do."

"This hotel seemed to have upgraded me to a spar suite at no extra cost. The room and furnishings were nice. However the receptionist was awful. Wouldn't give me a map to get to the lagoon (said had just ran out). Only said it was up the road, didn't give the name of the road or draw me a simple map. So I ended up in a slum area next to an industrial area somewhere and wasted half an hour, when literally the lagoon was only a few streets away.

When I said I will give the chef some pasta I brought to be cooked for dinner when I come back in the evening as I had to leave to do some photography, the receptionist insisted I talked to the chef straight away as she could be busy when I come back. When I explained I couldn't delay leaving as I needed the right light for photography, she wasn't happy. In fact, I saw no-one eating at the restaurant when I returned. The chef certainly wasn't "busy".

By the time I got back, I felt so put out by that receptionist that I just bought some frozen food from a supermarket to cook in the microwave in my room. But the assistant manager greeted me and informed me she had acquired a number of items that I had requested for my breakfast. I was grateful that she went to the trouble for my one night stay. I also told her about the receptionist. She then insisted that I give the food to the kitchen to cook. She was also happy to wash my clothes eventhough the laundry is not open , and went as far to iron them very early the next morning before I left as they have not dried. That was exceptional service. If it wasn't for the receptionist, I would rate this hotel 10/10."

"The rooms had nice furniture and lots of it. But it was hot at night facing west, with a big rock behind emitting heat. Service was abysmal. The lady at reception named "Memory" seemed to have no memory. Anything requested that were supposed to be delivered to your room never arrived. Asking again still gets nowhere. You literally have to get it yourself. Even when my special meal has been cooked and I was told by her that it was ready when I arrived at the restautant, she showed no intention of getting it from the kitchen for me after 20 mins. I ended up going into the kitchen myself where I was told the meal had been sitting there for a long time, and just ended up eating it there as it was already 9.30pm, and had to wait for the other half of the meal to be cooked.

When I asked for 2 extra towels to use instead of a pillow, some staff didn't want to allow it. I had to beg them with the reason that I had a medical condition.

The chefs were happy to cater for my special dietary requirements, but never bothered to obtain anything requested, not even low fat milk. The food was generally not cooked well. Once I was given a steak that had gone off (verified by 4 restaurant staff). Breakfast was terrible. The fruit they put out should be in the bin. Bread was of the lowest quality possible. Most lodges made their own lovely white and wholegrain bread in Namibia. I was glad I brought my own cereal and bread so had breakfast in my room.

There is really no need to stay in this place to do sunrise at the Deadvlei. I was the first person to arrive at the shuttle both mornings, well before the shuttle drivers who lived outside the park gate. The tarred road is so good you can do 100km/hr on it easily. The sun does not hit the Deadvlei pan for 40 mins after sunrise. Most people caught the second shuttle and arrived well in time to do photography.

Given this lodge is not pleasant, I would recommend staying somewhere near the gate, and just come thru at sunrise. Whether you are the 1st or 50th person to get there, the pan is full of photographers by the time it is right to be photographed."

"The lodge is set very far from the road. One passes a lookout for the impressive Rostock Mountain well before reaching the lodge. Its best to take your photo there. The manager was quite flustered as he seemed the only staff at reception. He didn't even realise that the kitchen had purchased a number of food items that I had requested for me. Staff morale seemed low here.

The place has the cheapest construct I've come across on this trip. The funky looking white igloos are no longer white, having been covered up by the local stones to help keep them cool. They are still hot at night though. The very basic furniture inside is made of the same slate looking stones, or rusted metal. The room and bathroom were small, and felt uninviting. It looked more like a pioneer's hut from a century ago. The garden outside was even more unappealing.

The meercats that were featured in travellers photos earlier no longer visit the lodge very much. There was a path to follow if one wanted to go for walks, but the rocks strewn all along the path made it look unsafe.

I don't recommend this lodge even for an overnight based on my stay."

"This hotel turned out to be alot nicer than what I've read. The room are pleasant and the breakfast had the largest variety I've come across. It would have been better to have mini fridge though. The only problem I had was finding it. The instructions from Expert Africa was not very clear. As I went to Woolworths first, I thought it was better to ask for directions than to try to backtrack in order to follow EA's directions. And that's when all the trouble started.

Airport staff, one after another, all seem to give incorrect directions to this hotel. There is a lack of signage to the hotel which is not good. But first I ended up at the opposite end of the airport from where the hotel is. Asking at the valet parking counter then ended up with me being led around airport carparks and driveways not meant for pedestrians for another 20 mins, and being told to get my heavy lugguage trolley over kerbs not meant for pedestrians. While all the time we can seen the hotel and have walked past a distant sign for the entrance, which I was told not to go in.

These airport staff really puzzled me. I got worried that it might be a scam, and finally went my own way.

My recommendation is really not to stay overnight at this airport. If you do, not to ask for directions."