Holiday review by Evelyn P

Name: Evelyn P

Date of trip: 22/06/2017

Number of people: 2

Too numerous to list! And impossible to decide... Best landscape - Sossusvlei dunes, or coming over the Spreekshoogte Pass? Best accommodation - Footsteps was unique and incomparable. Camp Kipwe and Mushara Lodge vying for best otherwise. Best guides - Vilho (Desert Homestead), Taffi (Camp Kipwe), Petreus/'Peter' (Mushara) and Noah (Footsteps) - all excellent Best wildlife - all of it but especially being surrounded by the desert elephants in Damaraland, close up with lions in hunting mode at Footsteps, the sheer proximity of so many magnificent animals, large and small.

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Tribes Overall:

Way surpassed everything we hoped for. Namibia was truly beautiful, all the accommodation was excellent (bar one stop, see later), we were looked after like royalty and the logistics worked perfectly. The wildlife was absolutely wonderful!!

Tribes Service:

Brilliant throughout from the initial contact to the end of the trip. Tracy was extremely patient with our tweeks to our plans and numerous questions.

Guides:

In every case bar one the guides were superb. They were SO knowledgeable and interesting, and taught us so much. As soon as they realised we wanted to know about as much as possible about the places/animals/environment etc they responded with enthusiasm and inexhaustible energy.

Social & Environmental Responsibility:

This is a tricky one, and one I am not sure I have resolved with myself. We were so well looked after that at times I felt the staff were almost too subservient and I felt guilty that we were living so well when there was obviously a lot of hardship in some of the places we travelled through. At the same time, at least by spending money in those countries we are contributing to the economy and providing much-needed jobs (if only to relatively few people), so I hope we were welcome from that point of view. Also by hearing about their problems, and those faced by the wildlife, we have been enlightened and perhaps we can pass that on to other people to make us all more aware.

Exterior of Desert Homestead in purple clouds, Namibi Desert, Namibia

Desert Homestead Lodge

Namib Desert

Beautiful spot, well staffed, good food. Lovely place to start our proper travels. Very comfortable individual houses.

Swakopmund Guest House

Namibia

Again only a brief stopover. After a bad journey we didn't really appreciate Swakopmund as we probably should have, so judgement a bit clouded. The staff were very helpful regarding our car problems. Bathroom could use a lick of paint.

Camp Kipwe

Namibia

Superb! Wonderful setting, lovely people, very good food - would love to go back one day. Would be perfect for a romantic honeymoon stay. Loved the quirky bathroom fittings! Desert elephants were just amazing.

Mushara Bush Camp

Etosha National Park

We loved the tented rooms, the main building was beautiful, the staff were the best we encountered and quite charming, and the food was excellent (but beware the chef who eats the guest's eland steak! Joke of our trip, taken in good faith all round.)

Shinde Footsteps

Okavango Delta

Hard to describe such a special place. We will remember Footsteps for a very long time and feel we stayed there much longer than just three nights. They certainly gave John a birthday to remember with a surprise lunch venue under an acacia tree, and a cake and singing in the evening. So much wildlife nearby and in the camp itself, and Noah was absolutely exceptional and tireless as a guide, backed up by the other staff looking after us superbly.

Chobe Elephant Camp

Chobe

Our initial reaction was mixed but Chobe grew on us and was actually great. Comfortable and clean, very private rooms. Loved the choice of inside or outside showers.It is a little way to drive to the best wildlife areas but I didn't see any accommodation closer to the park gates.
We didn't like the 'happy campers' introduction to dinner which made us feel uncomfortable for ourselves and for the chef and waiters/waitresses. Also not sure if eating on a group table always works - conversations can be all or nothing, and often were the latter. It's nice if you get the chance to sit with the guides though as you can learn about all aspects of their lives and culture.

Victoria Falls Safari Lodge

Zimbabwe

Although much larger than our normal choice of accommodation this was not a problem due to the clever design of blocks of rooms all at an angle facing the waterhole. The waterhole was wonderful, and as we had come here to wind down after our travels we were more than happy sitting on our balcony watching the wildlife come and go. The food was excellent and again the staff coped smoothly with the number of guests. We were very glad we were not in the centre of Vic Falls and the shuttle service was fine for getting to the Falls themselves.