Travel reviews by M family from Hampshire
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
3
Countries visited
4
Lodges stayed in
23
Excursions taken
0
Another lovely Namibian holiday
Namibia and 1 other country between 2 Jul 2016 and 16 Jul 2016
Very well organised, all meetings, border crossings etc worked.
Manageable driving distances each day (more tarmac than the West part of Namibia).
We mostly did our own drives in the reserves and did not see leopard and cheetah this time. Etosha is fantastic but it is so vast it is difficult to do it justice: you may need a lot of time to go from one waterhole to another if you arrive at a deserted one.
Some slightly odd details: e.g. suggesting laundry possible at Mundulea (it isn't), note Ndhovu runs on Botswana time."
Arranged By Sabina Hekandjo
Thamalakane River Lodge
"Convenient for airport"
Nxamaseri Lodge
"Beautiful peaceful setting, lovely"
Lovely river safaris by boat and mokoro, many birds, hippos etc.
Hippos pretty noisy at night!
Would love to return. Stayed 2 days but so relaxing could have stayed an extra night."
Ndhovu Safari Lodge
"Excellent setting right on river"
Fairly basic camp style but relaxed and comfortable, all ate together in the evenings so met many different people, and Klaus a very attentive host.
He ran slightly rushed game drive in Mahango: we did better ourselves the next day. Well worth a visit. Nice evening river cruise.
Good curio shop selling the hand panted china they use at the lodge.
Worth knowing Klaus runs on Botswana time, i.e. 1 hour ahead of standard Namibia time, as so near the border."
Hakusembe River Lodge
"Lovely gardens overlooking river."
Friendly helpful staff, very comfortable.
Good bird spotting by our guide on evening river cruise although probably not what most guests were particularly interested in."
Mundulea Reserve
"Fascinating insight into conservation effort"
Bruno isn't a guide, he is a conservationist, and you are privileged to see a tiny bit of his work.
Basic bush camp, shared by porcupine! Excellent food cooked over open fire.
We were the only guests at first, joined by another couple for 2 days. We loved it (2 parents, 20+ year old daughters)."
Mushara Lodge
"Mushara Lodge review"
A bit hotel-like for my liking but my daughters enjoyed a bit more comfort, hot water all day etc. Very well appointed bungalow accommodation with glass in the windows (not often encountered on our holiday!). Helpful friendly staff but rather large so not so personal."
Okaukuejo Camp
"Okaukuejo Camp review"
Good to be in Etosha for early drives etc.
Reception, restaurant etc a bit disorganised, although food fine when we actually got it.
Get the detailed Etosha map available at camp shop."
Erongo Wilderness Lodge
"Return visit, still excellent"
We stayed in new "tents" which were a bit further away from the lodge and are being built for self-catering. The facilities look like they will be very good, but not yet complete. Have not yet got water temperature high enough with solar heating for the winter! (We were there in July). Balconies (and outdoor bathrooms) have beautiful views."
Fantastic trip
Namibia between 12 Jul 2013 and 27 Jul 2013
Travel was easier, health issues were straightforward: everywhere was very clean, we could drink the borehole water, we didn't need antimalarials and sustained no insect bites.
The advice to take warm clothing was appreciated. A fleece and woolly hat are very useful. Breakfast/evening meals are often quite cool as they are in open rooms.
We did not appreciate how very dry it would be: lots of moisturisers and vaseline essential. Chris' guide is invaluable: a mine of useful and interesting information (especially about shops etc).
It might be useful to warn people about the veterinary fence, and the fact that they cannot bring meat products south through the fence (although we were not stopped as we left Etosha at Anderson Gate driving south, but we should have been). We were stopped both ways at Palmwag."
Arranged By Sabina Hekandjo
Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge
"Lovely welcome at Kalahari Red Dunes"
Warm welcome, friendly and helpful, excellent food, very comfortable. A very good start to our trip and reassuring that we were off to a great holiday!"
Tok Tokkie Trails
"Fantastic experience"
The walking was really easy, as we kept stopping to inspect plants, insects etc. The terrain was beautiful and we saw oryx and other large animals.
Sleeping outside under the stars was amazing and very cosy: we were brilliantly looked after with good food, very comfortable camp beds, canvas bags, duvets, hot water bottles, tea in bed in the morning AND the Milky Way!
New cook Jennifer is highly recommended.
Very well organised, and visited NADEET for an insight into energy and water conservation. A definite highlight of the trip!"
Hoodia Desert Lodge
"Hoodia Desert Lodge review"
The only place we found this sort of attitude.
Did a good breakfast pack to take to Sossusvlei."
Corona Guest Farm
"Corona: a wonderful eccentric home"
Fascinating house full of antiques and curios, and luxurious rooms in main house.
Excellent cooking and service by lovely Christina.Breakfast under bougainvillea an absolute feast.
Only stayed one night but would have liked to stay longer to do some of their walking trails."
Erongo Wilderness Lodge
"Erongo Wilderness Lodge review"
Very friendly and knowledgeable staff: our guide was Koolis who told us a lot about Namibian culture and traditional uses of the plants which was fascinating and taught us some Damara.
Several interesting walks: I think game drive available but we did not bother.
All the staff very friendly and enthusiastic - waiters pointing out interesting birds at breakfast. Food excellent and plentiful!"
Damaraland Camp
"Damaraland Camp review"
Larger camp, quite a few children. Greeted with singing by Namibian staff and ate outside in Boma, more informal, quite fun. In the morning went on game drive to see desert elephants which we found eventually. A bit concerned that in his enthusiasm our driver seemed to drive a bit randomly across the fragile country (we know that in the arid conditions it can take ages to repair damage done by vehicles).
Gave us lunch which I don't think was officially included and drove us back to our car at our convenience. Game drive was a significant additional cost here."
Etendeka Mountain Camp
"Etendeka a real camp"
I don't think we would have attempted drive to Etendeka even in 4WD although others did. Lovely setting, wilder, more spartan with "real" tents, outside bathroom etc. Still very comfortable. Bucket showers and emphasis on conserving water.
Very sociable: all ate together and went on drives in 2 vehicles. Friendly knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff led by Dennis and Bonny who are legendary. Very international guests but everyone else spoke English (we are so lazy).
Dennis gave us an astronomy lecture with excellent view of Saturn's rings after supper. Not a place to come if you want a holiday camp with a swimming pool (stay at Palmwag), but we loved it as it was real Namibian wilderness."
Dolomite Camp
"Dolomite - lovely setting, lots to see"
Camp a stunning location on a hill overlooking plain and waterhole so we had excellent views of about 30 elephant converging on waterhole at sunset.
Chalets quite spread out on both sides of hill and staff suggested that we phone lodge for an escort after dark, but they did not answer phone and we felt quite safe walking around (I don't think they had enough staff to cope with everyone wanting to go to dinner). it was helpful to be able to phone other rooms. Friendly staff but slightly less exceptional than at most other places.
Literature offered packed lunch but they could not deliver on this, however breakfast ample. All better than we expected for NMR camp. Map suggests a long straight road across reserve but actually plenty of manmade, and hence permanent, waterholes with lots to see. We called briefly for fuel at Okaujuego and were glad we had not stayed there - more people than most Namibian towns!"
Ongava Tented Camp
"Ongava great lions and rhino"
Expert guides Leon and Festus. Nothing seemed to much for them or camp manager Elizabeth. They also had Wilderness Safari staff inspecting while we were there, also very friendly.
Fantastic location overlooking well frequented waterhole, although with lions close to camp we had to be escorted at pre-arrranged times after dark and once in your tent you did not open the door.
Comfortable accommodation but our donkey boiler had sprung a leak so our room had no hot water for the 2 days which they did not seem to have noticed. It would be good if they could use solar power rather than burning wood. A very sociable camp where we all ate together at large table overlooking waterhole. The animals made this another highlight."
Okonjima Plains Camp
"Okonjima great for cats"
Staff were slightly business like when we arrived but guides very friendly, and after initial welcome all staff very friendly. We did not arrive in time for evening game drive which did not matter as we were there for 2 days, but it would have been helpful to have been alerted to this if we had only been staying one night.
Good accommodation although I repeatedly fell over an unmarked, unlit step in our room (light present but no bulb).
Excellent viewing of cheetah and 2 leopard at close quarters (although we were warned there was only 50% of seeing leopard). Also porcupine and honey badgers at night hide.
Obviously everything here is a bit more "laid on" and not so genuinely wild but it does mean you have a good chance of seeing leopard which it would be sad to miss. Starts to bring you back to civilisation before the last drive to Windhoek."
Fantastic holiday
Tanzania and 1 other country between 18 Jul 2009 and 2 Aug 2009
I think we were well advised and the combination of lodges worked very well. The animals we saw at both exceeded my expectations, and we weren't surrounded by lots of humans! Often we could have been the only people for miles (and probably were).
Suggestions for improvements:
can't think of anything."
Impala Camp
"Fantastic experieince at Impala"
Brilliant guide (Macumba - that's what we called him anyway), and our boat safari guide Hassan. Particularly enjoyed the fly camp and walking. Saw some really interesting things because of their experience and knowledge. The boat safaris also provided good variety from the drives. The bird life, especially along the river, was superb.
We liked the open vehicles, and there was only ever the 4 of us in a land Rover/boat. Highlight for me probably watching the elephants with their babies swim across the crocodile infested Rufiji!"
Impala fly-camp
"Camping, but not as we know it!"
Quite luxurious compared with camping in the UK!
Unfortunately we slept through any animals prowling in the night, but our guides reassured us that they had been awake all night keeping the wildlife at bay! Lovely to go for an early morning walk following the tracks."
Mdonya Old River Camp
"Mdonya felt like a real camp"
Because it's a national park the animals are not as shy as at Selous, but obviously you can't drive off road as in the Selous. It was good to do both. Lovely scenery, and walk by river.
Lots of elephant, lion, and our guide excelled at spotting cheetah. Quite a way from the camp to the "main" area around the river, and tsetse flies a problem along this road, but as there was game in the camp/ all round the camp, and all along the road it wasn't a big issue. 100% DEET kept tsetse flies away."
Shooting Star Lodge
"relaxing time at Shooting Star"
In general excellent, but I think things got a little muddled because Doreen sorted us out brilliantly when we arrived, but she went off and I don't think there was much supervision for a bit. I thought staff needed a bit more guidance.
We were there in July, and the pool was shaded in the afternoons and quite cool! If I was really fussy, somebody could check the beach for litter: some broken glass.
Diving/ snorkelling excellent: well organised, professional, safe set-up. (I am not a very strong swimmer and was well looked after. Ian and catherine swam with dolphins). Go to see the turtle sanctuary! Also Spice Tour.very interesting."
Zanzibar Coffee House
"Wonderfully exotic"
Situated between the market and the main Bazaar street: because it is a coffee house, you have to go out to dinner and return in the dark. I perhaps wouldn't have been happy to do this alone, but as a family of four it was fine although pretty dark. It would be easy and a bit scary to get lost, but much more interesting than staying in one of the main hotels.
the staff even got up at 5.30am to make us coffee and rolls before we left.
Wandering round Stone Town was fascinating, although you need to say "no" quite firmly. Nothing like as bad as India or anywhere though, and very few obvious beggars."
Good buffet for supper."