Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs G from Cottenham

"We used the hotel as a base to drive to table mountain, the botanical gardens, downtown Cape Town (aquarium) and to a restaurant in Franschhoek. We also ate in the Myoga restaurant in the hotel, which was very good.

The staff were very friendly and helpful, the buffet breakfasts enormous, and the gardens and setting are very picturesque."

"We arrived from Cape Town around 4pm and were immediately welcomed.

We were very pleased with the restaurant recommendation of 'Michaels' for that evening, just up the road, which was probably one of the best meals we had on our whole trip.

The next day we explored the Cederberg Wilderness area, finishing up at the Cederberg winery for a quick tasting in the afternoon."

"This was our final stop in South Africa before crossing into Namibia.

The owner was very friendly, and gave us a good recommendation for dinner in town.

We were able to head into Springbok the next morning for a few supplies before heading onto the border, after a good breakfast."

"We loved this lodge.

We did the short sunset walk on our first evening, where we enjoyed the spectacular scenery, and watched several Oryx in and around the Lodge. This was followed by a delicious meal.

The next morning we did the sunrise walk before breakfast, and then we drove ourselves to the Fish River Canyon.

We came back to the lodge for our afternoon game drive activity and sundowner drinks, before another great dinner. We particularly enjoyed this drive.

Jackson was our guide for all our our activities (just us and Jackson - no other guests), and he was great fun and very knowledgeable.

Just a note on wildlife - we were told that there were no giraffe or black rhino in the area as it was too dry. we also saw a black backed jackal catch a hare on the walk back to our room, which was really cool."

"Driving from Canyon Lodge, we drove straight to Luderitz and Kolmanskop, and spent the whole afternoon exploring the old mining town.

For this reason we didn't arrive at our accommodation until that evening. We were given a very warm welcome, and had a great night's stay in the chalet. Unfortunately, after a great breakfast, we moved on to our next lodge, so didn't do any activities whilst here.

N.B on wildlife - informed there are no cheetah in this area. On the road from Aus to Luderitz we saw Ostrich,Oryx, a Jackel and wild horses. We also saw a scorpion whilst driving to our chalet in the headlights after dinner!"

"We really liked this lodge.

We were given a very warm welcome, the main lodge was very comfortable and our room was great, especially the outside shower! All the food was delicious, and the staff were all very friendly and helpful."

"Cornerstone Lodge is great.

Peter is very friendly and helpful, and provides a hearty breakfast each morning. We were given great recommendations for restaurants and for excursions, all of which was organised for us by Rowena (I am not 100% sure we are remembering her name, but think it's Rowena!) She was extremely helpful and friendly, despite clearly being kept very busy by some other guests! We ate at the Tug, and then we also ate at the restaurant at the end of the pier the next night. Both were amazing, with excellent seafood and drinks.

We would also like to recommend Oryx Aluminium Canopies. We had rented our car from Bushlore - who we would also like to recommend, and had an issue with the toyota hilux rear hood cracking from bouncing around on the gravel roads. We were contacted within ten minutes of reporting the issue, and told to drop off the car there whilst we did our morning activity, and it was returned to us as good as new!"

"We arrived at lunchtime on Friday, and were immediately transfixed by the bird bath and lizard activity outside the main lodge.

There was slight confusion with staff discussing the access to Paula's Cave to see the rock art, as our road map showed we could drive to it ourselves (not possible), but this did not ditract from a great stay.

We did try to find it initially, before driving around other parts of the conservency, looking for the other rock art marked on the map. This was at the AiAiba lodge. We saw springbok and 3 groups of baboons!

We made it back for the sundowner excursion, which was very enjoyable and had fantastic views. On Saturday morning, we went on an early morning excursion with Bony. This was also great fun, and we saw more baboons.

We only wish we could have spent more time relaxing on our balcony taking in the fantastic vista (although it was extremely hot)!"

"Ongava Lodge was great. We arrived on saturday lunctime, and were shown to our amazing room. As enthusiastic safari lovers, we declined the Ongava lodge safari activity that evening, and instead headed straight into Etosha in our own vehicle. We had a great dinner that evening after our afternoon game drive.

On Sunday and Monday morning, we got up at 5.30am to breakfast and head out into Etosha again for opening at sunrise (6:15am). We were slightly disappointed that seemingly the breakfast was geared up for guests who were being driven into the parks for the 7am excursion (served from 6:30am-9am), and that we were only able to get food items after a kind member of staff felt sorry for us looking hungry!

As we were in Etosha for the afternoons, we were unable to go on the guided drive (afternoons only) in the Ongava Lodge reserve.

The watering hole at the lodge provided amazing viewing each evening, the hightlight being an altercation between a white rhino + baby, and a cantankerous black rhino, swiftly followed by a lioness with 6 cubs then being charged at by the same cranky black rhino!

We covered 1000Km from Saturday afteroon to Tuesday mid morning, and absolutely loved every minute we were in Etosha.

Another point of note was that our accomodation didn't have a fridge to store cold water, but this was available ftrom the dining area. There was restricted access to the accomodation in the evenings (requiring a member of staff to walk back with you), so guests just need to remember to fill up with water before heading back to their room in the evenings."

"We absolutely loved our stay at the Okonjima Bush Camp. The accomodation was amazing. It included a separate area with loungers to view wildlife. We would definitely recommend people stay here for a minimum of two nights.

We signed up for all the activities. Opari was our guide for the whole time (and Usha for the night activity to the hide out). Opari was absolutely hilarious, and extremely knowledgeable about all the conservation and activities that the foundation undertakes.

The first afternoon we went looking for leopards, and found two young brothers sleeping not far from each other. During the night activity we saw a porcupine and brown hyena (which seemed to know where we were headed) at the hide out.

The next morning, we took part in the cheetah walk. We tracked them for a little while before they decided to have a nap!

In the afternoon, we took part in the rhino tracking activity, but we asked if we could track leopards as well. We were extremely fortunate that we came across the rhino in the area where the biggest leopard also was active, so we were able to follow rhino on foot, and then track and eventually follow the leopard, which came right up to the jeep. All activities were incredible experiences.

The staff were extremely accomodating and friendly. We particularly enjoyed the educuational centre, rehabilitation centre and newsletters, learning about the foundation's research and medical provision for the animals. We are indebted to such reserves rescuing and protecting wild animals and making every effort to successfully rehabilitate them into the wild.

N.B - at the time of our visit, the wild dog pack had become too large for the reserve, so had been moved to an alternative location. Understandably, sightings of certain animals isn't guaranteed. The foundation are continually working hard to understand the balance of different animals in an ecosystem which is (currently) relatively small. We hope they continue to expand the site and the good work into the future."

"This was our stopover for a night before catching a flight home the next day.

The staff were very friendly and were able to book a table at the restaurant of our choice. The rooms were clean and functional.

The night guard in particular was very friendly and welcoming."