Review: Gecko Ridge Swakopmund, Namibia
Intro
During my time in Namibia, I decided that for my last night, I would stay on a ranch for relaxation purposes. Originally, I was planning on staying more than one night at the ranch, but then complications arose. However, while at the Ranch, I enjoyed a level of peace that I hadn’t had in a while, with plenty of wildlife, delicious food, and a lovely bedroom. For the cost of the ranch, Gecko Ridge is a fantastic place to stay.
Location+Price
Gecko Ridge is a bit of a pain to find. Perhaps that is a good thing as it means that you truly in a bit of a remote area. Located approximately 25 minutes to the East of Swakopmund lies the small “house-looking” property (from the outside).
Now, here is the one issue with staying here: most taxi drivers don’t want to drive out that way. In downtown Swakopmund, I attempted to try and find a taxi driver to take me out to Gecko Ridge, and after 6 taxi drivers, I finally found one that agreed. My advice would be to contact the property to arrange transportation either from Walvis Bay Airport or downtown Swakopmund.
In terms of pricing, it really doesn’t get much better than this. Rates began at 33 USD per night, although, for my stay, I ended up paying in the range of 45-50 USD for a basic room.
The Property
Arriving at the property, I was kindly greeted by the lovely host, Zandre (more on him later as he is a really kind man). From the moment we entered through the gates of the property, I could tell that this place was nice. The outdoor area was maintained, and the house looked stunning.
The property is laid out with a main lodge featuring a few rooms as well as a restaurant. Connecting the main lodge with the secondary lodge is a swimming pool and a walkway leading to the other side with a few more rooms. During my stay, there was no one else on the premises except Zandre and some of his family.
Around the property, there are plenty of features, such as a swimming pool (not heated), a full working gym, and plenty of places to sit indoors and outdoors. However, my favorite part about the property is the amount of animals that come to chill out. That evening, as I was enjoying my Windhoek beer, there happened to be multiple peacocks chilling out no more than 4 meters away from me. It’s an open property, meaning anything can come in (which, to me, is cool).
Lastly, free wifi is offered to customers. Caution- be advised that this is an isolated ranch, and power issues can happen once every 6 months or so. The night I was there, most of Swakopmund lost power and it also affected the ranch. Thankfully, the backup generator lasted almost the whole night.
More from the main lodge building:
The Rooms
At a very reasonable price point of 33 USD (yes, I paid more), I wasn’t expecting the nicest rooms. So when Zandre escorted me up to my room in the furthest corner of the main lodge, I was enthralled to see this beautiful room. Featuring a comfortable bed, international charging ports, a nice mini bar, and a beautiful shower, this is a place I could have come for a week to disconnect from the world. The attention to detail in the room was exceptional.
Dining
Perhaps where Gecko Ridge really shines is the food offerings. In my opinion, if you don’t eat meat, you are going to go hungry in Namibia 😂. The dining might have been the highlight of the stay, as it was just delicious meat for dinner and breakfast (yes, they have traditional breakfast dishes as well). Zandre provides guests with a menu, and you just have to let him know what you want. There is a chef who comes in during the day (until 9 pm) and is happy to make whatever the guests order.
The steak is just delicious, my gosh. In addition, Zandre has a collection of multiple different beers and wines from around the world. At 10 USD a steak and 3$ a beer, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Hospitality
As I have mentioned in the past, staying with a family-owned business/Airbnb in Africa is much more culturally enriching than staying in a traditional hotel. The part about this property that shook me was how nice Zandre and the staff were. That night, I began to freak out about being bitten by a stray dog (not sure why I wasn’t freaking out before), and Zandre was happy to set up a driver to take me to Windhoek Airport the next day, with a stop at the doctors to get my first shot.
Once I had calmed down, we spent the evening chatting and drinking beers together. I learned a lot about his life (which I will not share; that is private), and we discussed how COVID-19 affected Gecko Ridge. I don’t take a cut from anything (maybe I should start to 😅), but I would highly recommend staying at Gecko Ridge. If we don’t support each other in life, how else are we supposed to be good people?
Final Thoughts
If you happen to be around the Swakopmund area and want a relaxing place to decompress close to the town, look no further than Gecko Ridge. With wildlife flooding the area, beautiful rooms, a full gym, a lovely swimming pool, fantastic food, and one of the nicest hosts I’ve met, I cannot recommend this place enough. This was the perfect way to spend my final night in Africa, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Thank you, Zandre!
If you are interested in booking Gecko Ridge, this is the link (no, I do not take a cut).
Comentarios