Travel reviews by Liz & Phil from Leyland

"The trip was bookended by a night at the beginning and end of our visit at the Weinberg hotel in Windhoek, staying on a bed and breakfast rate.

The Weinberg is a convenient location to start or finish a tour of Namibia, the room was beautifully furnished, large and clean and we were on the ground floor overlooking the courtyard fountain.

All the staff were very friendly and helpful, the hotel has three restaurants on site, though on our last night two were fully booked but the Sky Lounge was available and worth visiting for a view over the city."

"Three nights were spent at Little Kulala, Nelson our guide who collected at the airstrip and escorted us on the various activities was superb, very knowledgeable and helpful throughout our stay. The visit to the Big Daddy sand dune and Deadvlei, which is a white clay pan located near the salt pan of Sossusvlei, was a highlight of the trip. The colours of the scenery were breath taking, note go in the early morning or late afternoon as it gets very hot during the day. Liz took advantage of the spa facilities at Little Kulala, having a full body massage which was amazing and the space was very well done.

The other highlight of our time spent at Little Kulala was a Hot Air Balloon flight, it was due to have taken place on our first morning there, but we were told that the weather wasn't suitable so it was rescheduled for the next morning. An early start to report to the balloon check in took place, only to get there to find the wind had changed and that the flight was cancelled. We were a little worried as we had only one more chance, it was our last morning, and the weather and wind were good, all systems go !

Amazing, fabulous, awesome are just a few of the words to describe this, something we have wanted to do for a number of years and it happened. If you get the chance to do a hot air balloon flight, then do it, and do it over the sands of the Namib-Naukluft National Park !

You don't come to Little Kulala for the animals, there aren't that many, you come here to see the desert and to visit the dunes."

"The time spent at Ongava was fantastic, right from the word go we saw various animals. On the first evening sundowner, giraffe, various antelope, zebra and a white rhino were seen as well as a male lion who had recently made a kill, who was taking a siesta in the long grass ! Truly our guide was amazing, a fountain of knowledge who made our game trips around the reserve very enjoyable and so much more interesting.

We were able to see more antelope, various birds, more zebra, lots of elephants and giraffes, ostrich, a lion and lioness, a group of white rhino and the elusive black rhino, though admittedly Phil only saw its backside !

Others in the truck can confirm it was a black rhino, so Phil is claiming seeing a black rhino !"

"The Weinberg is a convenient location to start or finish a tour of Namibia, the room was beautifully furnished, large and clean and we were on the ground floor overlooking the courtyard fountain.

All the staff were very friendly and helpful, the hotel has three restaurants on site, though on our last night two were fully booked but the Sky Lounge was available and worth visiting for a view over the city."

"Excellent place to stay, a short walk, if you want to Victoria Falls, or as I did had all my transfers and trips already booked, and Wild Horizons did a grand job for all of them. I wouldn't have dared attempt the border crossing from Zimbabwe to Zambia on my own !

The evening river cruise was a highlight as was the walk around the Falls, thanks to Soul and Robbie for their guidance and helpful information. Last but not least the helicopter flight over the falls was well worth the cost, views were awesome and wish I could have taken better pictures of the falls from above, but it was an experience not to be missed.

The food in the lodge was good, but didn't change, but I was only staying two nights so maybe the menu altered later in the week. The service was excellent and efficient throughout the lodge, and I would gladly stay there again.

I stayed in the older part of the lodge, and it was interesting to see some the wildlife from my room, the warthogs were especially funny to see running away when the thunderstorm started !

Thanks to Tracy for organizing this element of my trip and I hope to visit again in the near future."