Travel reviews by Miss G from Thetford

"Room was comfortable and basic.

Nice and quiet without any intrusion from owner or staff who kept very much in the background initially.

Breakfast choice a bit limited."

"Beautiful room and facilities, with excellent customer service throughout.

Wonderful evening game drive with excellent trackers who used all their knowledge and skills to locate the female elephants and a newly born baby.

Lots of other game seen along the way and beautiful sundowner overlooking the game reserve."

"I had a wonderful time staying at Hobatere Lodge 9 years ago before it sadly burned down. I was not sure what to expect as I returned to see the newly designed reception area and was scared I would be disappointed. It did not take long to allay my fears and we had a truly amazing time relaxing by the waterhole and watching the animals down to drink.

The staff were very welcoming and so interested in what we had been doing, what we had seen and went out of their way to enhance our experience, with the guides running groups of people out to see two lionesses who were laying up a distance away from the waterhole.

We had 3 interesting game drives, which each presented different experiences within the African bush and enabled us to see a wide variety of wildlife at very close proximity. The meals were outstanding and well presented, using local produce. All credit to the Hobatere Concession community for getting this lodge up and running again, I didn't want to leave."

"Don't expect luxury here, but a convenient and comfortable enough stay.

Nice waterhole where you can sit and watch wildlife come down to drink throughout the day.

Buffet style meals which were tasty but basic.

Service was slow."

"Loved this Bush Camp with it relaxed homely feel. Tented accommodation was a bit of a walk away, but added to the experience of being at a Bush Camp.

Certainly needed the air conditioning in the tent on throughout the night. Food was well presented and appetising, Little duikers wandering around grounds with plenty of bird life.

Staff very helpful and responsive to one's needs. Would certainly stay again."

"The most fabulous 2 days ever. Maurice and Anna the Camp Managers were amazing, as were their team of staff.

The visits into the Bushmen Village and activities were so special and memorable, and we had an outstanding time learning about the Bushmen, and how they use the surrounding plants to treat medical problems, as well as how they make their bows and arrows, beads and clothing. The Bushmen villagers made us feel so welcome and never stopped entertaining us with their laughter and gestures when speaking to us in their local dialect.

An experience not to be missed. A real piece of magic not to be missed off your itinerary."

"Nice place to stay with very friendly staff. Well decorated rooms and facilities.

Did not see much on evening game drive despite plenty of searching, but that is the luck of going out game viewing.

Food was very good but portions sizes were very large so difficult to finish 3 course meal."

"Absolutely loved our stay here. This is certainly a very special place and I only wish we had spent more than 1 night as there is so much to explore.

Went out on Leopard tracking activity which was lots of fun and finally found the leopard we were search for laying out in the open. Got some brilliant photos before she slunk back into the bush. Wonderful game guides with a vast amount of knowledge and experience. So much to look at within the reception area and great curio shop.

Will definitely revisit here for longer next time."

"Arrived later than planned but was met with a very warm welcoming reception. Meal times, amenities were clearly explained and service was prompt and non-intrusive. Really appreciated help I received in sorting out a few problems I encountered and with directions I was given to find various things.

Not knowing area and with the light fading I did have a few problems finding the Guesthouse and had to ask directions (probably more due to the map not showing smaller roads so I overshot the turning and then got lost in trying to turn around).

Beautiful location with views over Windhoek, Jacaranda trees. Room very clean and comfortable."

"The views and scenery at Spitzkoppe were breathtaking and a really fabulous place to wander and explore. Several different campsites to choose from, but all were very challenging to negotiate in a 2WD. Spent most of the time nursing the car through huge gullies and ruts in road and having select route over rocky patching in road in order not to damage the undercarriage of car.

Not able to explore nearly as much as I had hoped."

"Campsite was well laid out overlooking riverbed. Good standard of toilet and showers available. Very quiet on night of visiting with few people staying, but campsite was fully booked on day of leaving.

Staff extremely welcoming and a very friendly team."

"Wow- a truly beautiful place to stay. Rooms were well furnished and comfortable each with own private veranda overlooking waterhole. Good parking. Very warm welcome received from all staff who were very helpful and knowledgeable.

Wonderful pool bar area to just relax and soak up the surroundings with well stocked bar and menu offering very tasty light lunches and a la carte food.

Went on Sleep Out on second night- ABSOLUTELY FIRST CLASS. El Gusto, the guide was exceptional and very knowledgeable about all the plants, birds and animals we encountered. His approach to relaying the information was engaging and really enabled a deep understanding of how the whole Palmwag concession works and the way that the wildlife freely roams the area. His optimism to find the Desert Elephants for me was unfailing and even after the decision to head back to the lodge without a sighting, he remained confident that they were around- low and behold we located them on the main road back to the lodge.

The evening sleep out will always be a treasured memory- not so much because of the animal sightings, but more due to the comfort and layout of the camp, the unbelieveable food (braai), drinks and levelof service that El Gusto delivered in the midst of the wilderness, together the the interesting campsite conversation and laughter that he insipred around the camp fire. The tents were very comfortable with everything that was needed to make the whole experience very memorable."

"Driving through the gateway and along the 16 km road with the open grasslands, rocky kopjies and riverbeds I just didn't know what to expect - arriving at the reception to be met by both the chorus of bird song and the warm friendly welcome of the owners was a perfect start to the most wonderful overnight stay in the Treehouse.

On arrival, I was informed that the Desert Elephant were at the waterhole and was bowled over at the teriffic views that were available over the waterhole and surrounding area to just sit quietly and watch the various animals just wandering back and forth. The whole lodge and surrounding landscape was glorious and a real haven for the amzing variety of birdlife. This will most definitely be a place I will retun to again.

I spent the night in the Treeehouse on my own and what an awesome experience. The completey stillness of th surroundings was profound and mesmerising and just sitting watching the animals lazily making their way down to the waterhole was a very precious and special experience. The whole experience was capped when three lion cubs came plodding into sight, and started to play chase with the guinea fowl before settling down to lap water from the pool of water, and then a few minutes later two lionesses came sauntering into sight and joined the cubs drinking. As the light faded, the lions moved into the bushes behind the treehouse and a herd of elephant then came down to drink- with the only evidence of their presence being the quiet shuffling of feet in the dust, the occasional rubbling tummy and the odd cracking of branches. To spend a night under the clear skies with the stars and these animals for company, was an unique lifetime experience and I would certainly recommend it."

"Room was very basic, clean and comfortable. Service at reception was very unwelcoming and receptionist was quite offhand. A poorly photocopied map was thrust in front of me showing the basic layout off the area and I was given instructions of how to try and locate my lodge.

Having settled in I decided to go for a walk and see the area and ended up back in the vicinity of the reception, where there is s "shop" ( very poorly stocked and dirty). The sales person gave me the opinion that I was putting her out when I wanted to purchase a bottle of water. Later when I went to dinner, the resturant staff were very off hand and it seemed that the fact that they already had 4 tables to serve, was more than they were capable of dealing with ( despite there being 8 staff around).

It took 15 minutes to be given a menu, a further 10 minutes to be offered a drink, and a further 20 minutes to have my food order taken. When the food arrived some 20 minutes later, it was tasteless and tough. Having had my plate cleared I sat a further 30 minutes hoping that I might get the dessert I ordered, but instead the bill was thrust in front of me- at which point I decided to leave before the amazing time that I had being having up until my stay at this location was ruined.

Willing to brush this experience aside as a one off, the following morning I went down to breakfast early as I needed to make an early start. When I arrived the breakfast was not set up and when I asked if I could get breakfast, I was told to wait on the veranda. 45 minutes later, the coffee and fruit juices had emerged, but there was no cereal, yoghurt, fruit or toast available. A further 20 minutes later I finally managed to have something to eat, but the bread was stale- whereupon I decided that it would be better to make a hasty departure and left the Waterberg Plateau Camp immediately.

At this point in time, I certainly will not recommend this place to anyone or return to it myself. Some serious customer service training seems to be needed across the board, particulary in the restaurant."