Travel reviews by Ms A from NZ

"A delightful, comfortable accommodation choice. Service was friendly and the breakfast excellent."

"As our first venue in the wild on this safari Desert Quiver blew us away with the location and facilities. The huts felt luxurious and the bar/pool area under the kopje overlooking the desert was exotic Africa.

Service was good and we found to our surprise that dinner and breakfast were both catered for at nearby Sossusvlei Lodge. We had expected breakfast only and are not sure whether we had a free meal by mistake or the error was ours. The food at the Lodge was outstanding, while the bbq we held ourselves on night two was great fun, with jackals and oryx entertaining us under an amazing night sky.

We felt this camp was real value for money.

the hot air balloon safari is a real must. This was an outstanding experience.

These travellers enjoyed a morning balloon flight over the desert during their stay. Here's what they said about it:
The whole hot air ballooning activity was a superb experience from the drive through the dark in the desert to the launching pad to the exciting landing on the rim of Sesriem Canyon. It was professionally run and had all our group buzzing for days afterwards. The champagne breakfast was delightful overlooking the Canyon and Sossusvlei plains. The pilots were professional, informative and passionate about the flight. Those who started the flight in some trepidation soon felt comfortable and everyone enjoyed the flight to the utmost. The stunning desert scenery added immensely to the whole experience. Cannot be recommended highly enough ."

"Sam is a friendly host and pays attention to his guests and their comfort. The general ambience was Germanic which is appropriate in Swakop.

Breakfast was excellent. We opted to eat in town but found the location just a tad far too far to walk into town on a cold night. Fine during the day for walks around the town.

Sam's quaint and easy to recommend as convenient accommodation in Swakop.

These travellers enjoyed a morning kayaking excursion to Pelican Point seal colony during their stay. Here's what they said about it:
Jeanne Meintjes was the perfect hostess for this activity with her infectious good humour and obvious enjoyment of the whole experience. We had expected to just go kayaking, but instead spent a couple of delicious hours sitting on the water and playing with (mainly young) seals which surrounded us on every quarter. The seals were not shy in interacting with us and the whole experience (despite the mist and fog) was delightful. Definitely to be recommended. Jeanne even fed us rolls and coffee afterwards. The drive around the lagoon with its wonderful bird life and route past the large saltworks was, in itself, special."

"The rooms at the Lodge were being renovated which detracted slightly but service was good if less personal. The buffet food was average but the setting superb.

The safari to see the desert elephants was excellent but did involve a very long drive back to the Lodge in the dark. Having said that seeing the elephants was definitely worthwhile and the search up the dry river and back past the local village fascinating. We note the elephants now share the new community water supply and no longer have to dig for their water.

All in all happy with the accommodation and activities."

"We loved the feel of luxury accommodation surrounded by bush. The rooms were big and very comfortable.

The camp gives easy access to Etosha, staff were friendly and the food was wonderful.

We were served a wide variety of game meat to sample."

"We loved the tented luxury accommodation and the beautiful main reception/dining area at Mushara. With warthogs grazing on the lawn in front of the open sided main building, the first impression of this camp was magical.

The staff were exceptionally helpful and friendly and entertained us both nights with a celebration birthday song (the second night for Kieran). The food was excellent and a birthday cake presented on request to make it a special occasion.

Very comfortable with a delightful bush setting. All the group commented on how varied and delightful the accommodation had been so far."

"Roy's Restcamp does not aspire to being more than the stopover it is. The facilities were comfortable and the main area had character. Some of the architecture is quite quirky in a rather heavy Germanic fashion.

The dinner was fine and we enjoyed using the hide overlooking the waterhole which attracted ostriches and eland. The compound included a swimming pool and good camping area and the birdlife was varied.

As we had a long drive the next day we ordered packed breakfasts to eat en route. Unfortunately these were terrible, consisting of one soggy ham and cheese toast and lots of sweet things (lollies etc) which we were unable to eat."

"We all loved Nxamaseri where we were treated like royalty by Christiane and Geraldine. Our guides Adam and Fish also deserve a special mention. Being the only guests there did help, but at Nxamaseri they went out of their way to make the experience very special.

The accommodation was comfortable and fun, being open to the bush and water and accessed by boardwalk. It felt exotic. Our bar tab was generously picked up by the Lodge in recognition of the support over the years from Expert Africa's Maruska and Saskia. The water based activities were wonderful mokoro and fishing trips through a bird rich environment. The isolation of the Lodge on an island adds to the magic and feeling of having left the world behind.

Food was good. It was the only place we all felt we could have easily spent longer."

"We enjoyed the open sided accommodation overlooking the Okavango River. It was comfortable, if a little cramped. We also felt that a low railing around the cabin deck would have added to the safety, especially when dark.

The setting along the River is lovely and the grounds around reception are well laid out with quirky, fun touches in the form of statues and signs. Where Ngepi fell down was in the service and food. The latter was okay but the systems around its delivery were awkward, especially at breakfast. Guests were requested to order breakfast at the bar but were then not directed to the tea and coffee or told that they should await their order at the kitchen counter. It would have helped to have the tea/coffee in the dining area and some direction from staff.

We had an incident involving an overflow pipe which soaked the bed of Stuart and Joy's cabin just as they were going to bed. When we tried to get assistance there was no one available at reception and it took some time before our calls were heard and responded to. The young manager eventually arrived to transfer Stuart and Joy to another cabin, by which time they were pretty cold and unhappy. We felt also that the manager could, at the very least, have appeared the following morning to see if Stuart and Joy had had a comfortable night, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Finally, when we wanted to pay the bill the electronic payment system was unavailable and we were advised the exchange rate for our US$ was 12.5 rand when it should have been almost 16 rand. We felt that this was unacceptable."

"A beautiful lodge with attention to detail and great evening meals where everyone was involved in discussion over great food out on the open deck. Very comfortable with excellent service.

Roger, the manager, was attentive and was supported by friendly and very competent staff. Great systems in place here. The wildlife was a little disappointing however this is not something one can control. We enjoyed an informative walking safari.

Transfers from and to the Lodge from the village where we parked the car were seamless."

"Muchenji impressed us from the start with the welcome, the setting, the attention to detail, the food, the entertainment and the friendly and very competent staff.

Robert and Joy were conscientious and very capable in their role as hosts, providing us with detailed information over a welcoming snack and drinks as soon as we arrived. They were excellently supported by their assistant managers Natasha and Paul. The attention to detail was further evidenced by the provision of hot water bottles and ponchos to wear during cold morning and evening game drives.

The game and boat drives were excellent with knowledgeable guides and Chobe providing great variety in game viewing."

"The ambience and service at Ilala were in keeping with the historical nature of the Falls and township and provided the perfect setting for our stay there. While not quite the Victorial Falls Hotel, it came very close to providing the same feeling.

The food was very good and the location close to the Falls (easily walkable) and township a bonus.

All in all a delightful experience."