Onguma Tented Camp — Hotel in Oshikoto

It is with mixed emotions that I |write this review.I had such high|expectations for this place, and it was|the dearest place we stayed at this|time back in Africa.|The other times we have been to|Etosha, and we do go to Etosha|everytime we go back to Africa, we|have stayed at a place near to here|and I had said to my husband, one|day we will stay there|So this was our experience this time.|When we arrived there, there was|a mix up in our booking, on their|part at head office. We had 3 nights|there, with drives on their reserve|and in the park itself, but luckily I had|vouchers that were given to me by my|Safari Company to prove what I had|paid for. We went to our Tent and it|was beautiful, looking out onto the|waterhole. Couldn't fault it until on|the second day, we decided to have|a soak in the bathtub during the day|and it flooded everywhere. So we|couldn't use that again, not such|big deal.|The staff at the restaurant were awesome, super friendly &|professional, the food was also|awesome, beautiful.|Our guide Jacob was wnderful,|awesome sightings, such a lovely man,|if it wasn't for him calming the next|situation down, we would have blown|right up.|One of the very first things you are|told about Onguma is that they have|a very healthy population of Lions. We|got to see 1. When we were there they|were hanging out at the waterhole|near the Hide. The Hide is advertised|as being able to book it out between|9-12am. No big deal, we will go there|after lunch. That is when we were told|that apparently someone had booked|the Hide out for the whole day and|that we weren't allowed to go up there|to photograph the Lions. We hoped|that at 6.30pm we might be allowed|to get in, there were 6/7 cars, full of|paying customers, lined up hoping|to get in to photograph them. Calls|were made to Head Office to see if we could get in before it got too dark|But NO, we were kept out until 7pm, too dark to get photos by then. All those paying customers, along with their camera gear, hoping to get photos, only to be kept out, because of a select few.|What blows my mind is, I don't|understand why they advertise 9-12,|only to let it get booked out for longer.|Why not do 9am-6pm, then after 6pm|everyone can go in and get photos if|need be, not just the select few.|They put a feed back form in our room|and I did leave feed back, but to this|day, I have not heard anything at all|from anyone at Head Office|We were super upset when this all|happened, I have left if until now to|write a review, and all those emotions|have come up again.|The Restaurant Staff, Food, our Tent &|especially our Guide Jacob, deserve|5 Stars 🌟 Onguma Head Office deserve 1 Star 🌟 ||Very...

We stayed here for four nights. What an amazing place, lovely tents which have recently been refurbished set around a very picturesque waterhole. We were able to sit on our deck & view many animals coming to drink. It seemed to be a favourite spot for giraffes.||Our tent had everything we needed, even hot water bottles, as it was very cold during our stay. We had a fridge stocked full of drinks, lovely comfortable bed, fabulous bathroom, indoor & outdoor showers & wood fired hot tub. It was all so lovely, we almost didn't want to go out on safari.||We had a wonderful guide for our safaris, he was so knowledgeable about the animals & plants and a lovely guy too. He knew we wanted to see lions but it was proving difficult because of the cold weather but he just kept trying to find them for us and on our last morning he struck gold, two males & two females. Thank you so much Naweya, much appreciated. ||With regard to the safaris, we preferred the drives in the Onguma reserve to Etosha. It seemed a long drive to get to the animals in Etosha and they seemed to be few & far between, maybe the time of year, but we certainly had some lovely sightings at Onguma and enjoyed the Sundowner drives very much.||We can also recommend the Bush Breakfast, this has to be pre-booked. We were driven to an area where our butler Stanley was waiting with champagne & orange juice for us. There was a camp fire blazing away and huge table groaning with continental breakfast for just the two of us. Also a chef was there to cook breakfast for us as well! It was such a lovely experience, we highly recommend you try it.||Also very good was a visit to the Onkolo hide, this is underground & gives a completely different perspective of the animals as they approach the waterhole. Great for photography. The hide does need to be pre-booked.||The food at Onguma was very good with plenty of wines to choose from & excellent service provided by our butler. Thank you Stanley.||We were surprised by how many people only stayed one or two nights here, we think you need at least four nights to fully appreciate everything Onguma...

Overall, the lodge — and especially the rooms — are absolutely beautiful, with great attention to detail throughout. The overall service was also pleasant and welcoming.

However, we experienced two situations that should not occur in this price category.

Our sunset drive with Liberty was wonderful — warm, engaging, and memorable. Unfortunately, the sunrise drive the following morning with a different guide felt quite the opposite: impersonal, rushed, and lacking the same passion or care. While we fully understand that wildlife sightings can never be guaranteed, the overall experience depends heavily on the guide’s energy and effort, which was missing on that occasion.

Additionally, we had asked the staff to store bottles of wine we had brought with us and planned to take home. Unfortunately, they were placed in the freezer, causing the bottles to open and become unusable. While mistakes can happen, we were disappointed by how the situation was handled — neither the staff nor the lodge manager offered a genuine apology or solution. Only after asking were we given a bottle of red wine that is normally included anyway, which felt more like a formality than a gesture of goodwill.

In summary, while the tented camp itself is stunning and beautifully designed, the overall experience felt impersonal — likely due to the fact that it’s part of the larger Onguma complex with several other lodges and camps right next to it. Because of this, it unfortunately did not feel worth...