Reviews of Muchenje Safari Lodge

"The most outstanding view greets you on arrival at Muchenje, followed by a lovely welcome from Kittie (?) and Toff. Again hand sanitiser followed by drinks, lunch and a tour of the lodge. This lodge is like home from home.

Two French guests were unable to join us as their COVID results were an hour out of time at the Botswana border - so they had to isolate until the new results came through. Kittie and Toff made them as welcome as possible giving them total room service. The results came through very quickly and all was back to normal.

The game drives were excellent and we saw plenty of game." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe

"Overall, this lodge excels most with its magnificent location high on an escarpment on the south side of the Chobe River, providing fantastic views over the flood plains.

The game drives were great fun, and so was the cruise on the Chobe River. Due to the pandemic and the concomitant lack of guests we often enjoyed the luxury of being alone in the car or boat with our guide Ali.

One particular sighting really stood out from the rest: A group of five youngish lions showed some interest in a bunch of buffaloes, and they even launched a half-hearted attempt to attack them, but then the tables turned, and the hunters became the hunted. In a few moments, all the lions went into hiding in the bush. No-one got hurt, thankfully.

Another thing I would like to mention is that the guides are prohibited to do off-road driving, which is the rule in National Parks all over Southern Africa. However, our guide more than once disregarded this rule and thus afforded us some sightings that would not have been possible otherwise.

Also, due to the fact that this is a National Park, a small but noticeable number self-drivers were also seen. For instance, the one and only leopard sighting we had was sort of spoiled by the fact that in no time the poor animal was surrounded by 8 jeeps, and some of them actually pushed themselves in front of the queue. Of course, this was not the lodge’s or our guide’s fault.

The rooms were really pleasant, and one thing that we enjoyed very much was the fact that they had air condition, and unlike in even better hotels in the US, it made no noise.

To summarize, our stay was really enjoyable, and I would like to recommend this lodge to anyone coming to Botswana for the first time. I say this also because this lodge is much less expensive than some of the camps in the Okavango Delta." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 1n in Zimbabwe

"We only stayed one night with an evening game drive (when we saw wild dog and some great birds) and night drive (when we saw nothing), but overall we really liked the lodge.

It is in a great position with sweeping views, friendly staff and nice pool/rooms. The main lodge itself is beautiful with lovely lounging areas which we didn't really have time to explore. The bathrooms are due to be upgraded which will make the rating 5/5 for the rooms.

We will have to go back as we would love to do the river cruise which other guests raved about. Thank you." See all these reviews: 6n in Zimbabwe; 4n in Botswana

"This was our second visit to Muchenje and well worth the return. The communal dining was a great experience, being able to talk to the other guests, the guides and Kathy. Both Ali and KB were well informed and helpful guides. The number of guests per vehicle was restricted to a maximum of 6 people, although we were often only with 2 other guests. The highlight of our visit was the boat trip on the Chobe River - with multiple animal sightings and a delicious lunch. My only wish was that Muchenje could use their own pier for boarding rather than travelling all the way to Kasane - presumably the water levels were too low for this to happen. Sadly we could only stay for 2 nights this time - 3 would have been better!" See all these reviews: 4n in Botswana; 3n in Namibia

"Friendly and efficient staff with hands on input from the owners. A spectacular and peaceful setting on an escarpment overlooking the Chobe river and across into Namibia. The river itself was dry at this location during our stay which is almost unprecedented although a few miles "downstream" in the Park itself, there was flowing water which obviously attracted the game. The game was possibly more concentrated than normal along the river because of the drought.

We opted for vehicle and boat safari full day combos for our 2 full days at the Lodge which gave us the opportunity for early morning game drive or walking safari, returning for breakfast before setting off for Kasane to pick up the boat for game viewing on the river and lunch on board and then, a game drive back to the Lodge through the afternoon and early evening. Additional optional night drives were also on offer after dinner each day in the vicinity of the Lodge.

The accommodation, catering, guiding and ambience were all excellent." See all these reviews: 16n in Botswana; 10n in Zimbabwe

"This was our introduction to safari style accommodation. The rooms were solidly constructed and offered wonderful views from the patio attached. The lighting in the rooms could be improved, as it is difficult to read and built in charging outlets with USB would be a great addition.

The internet is only available at the main lodge and is slow WiFi repeaters in the rooms would be an excellent addition as you are not allowed to walk on the property after dark without the security staff escort. Guests have the feeling of being in a minimal security detention center after dinner locked the chalet. The family style dining provided the evening entertainment and opportunity to meet the other sophisticated and well-travelled guests.

We had an excellent knowledgeable guide, Ali, and the drives made up for any quibbles about the rooms. The night safari drive was our only disappointment as we had limited views of only a couple animals and could easily be skipped. The pontoon boat ride on the river was the highlight of our trip with an exceptional picnic lunch aboard while observing large herds of animals especially elephants that we estimated at about 300 animals.

This was our introduction to "The African Massage" on the deeply rutted poorly maintained trails of Chobe National Park. One of the ruts was so bad that my mobile phone flipped out of my pant pocket. I was extremely grateful and impressed that the guides found my phone after we departed. The Lodge had it air - shipped to me at the airport in Maun. The main delay in retrieval was that they found two identical phones the same day that could only be identified by the SIMM card inside! Carry all small items in a zipped pocket or bag when out on your safari drives!

We could easily have spent an extra two days at the lodge to decompress and and just laze around the pool." See all these reviews: 7n in Namibia; 7n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe

"This was my favorite safari camp/lodge of my 3.5 week trip to Africa. There were such an abundance of activities to choose from each day and all were excellent.

Lodge staff and guides were great. There was really nothing I didn't like about it. Each day, we were awakened at 5:30 for either an early morning game drive or early morning bush walk. Then we'd return for breakfast at 8:30 and then went on a full day safari until about 6:45 in the evening. Dinner at 8:30.

The full day safari was so wonderful that we did it for 2 days in a row. It starts with a boat ride and ends with a game drive back to the lodge.

Dining was communal and the food was very good. I require a gluten-free diet and this was no problem at all. I also appreciated the lodge's commitment to reducing waste and avoiding plastic water bottles.

If I went back to this area of Chobe, I would absolutely stay here again." See all these reviews: 3n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe; 1n in South Africa

"Very nice lodge. Great location at top of river valley.

Very friendly and accommodating staff including managers and owner. Excellent food.

Activities great. Walking safari, boat ride and game drives excellent. Guides very special especially Ali." See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana; 3n in Zambia

"Our first safari experience, so we did not have any preconceived expectations. Wonderful location with expansive views.

Arrived in time for a late lunch which was an unexpected surprise for just the 2 of us. We were kept busy nearly all the time, with little downtime which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Tea at 3pm, followed by afternoon game drive to western side of NP from 3:30 to 6:30pm. As we were the only arrivals today, we had the jeep to ourselves. It does take driving 15-20 mins to get to the park and back by road, but wildlife sightings were frequent even on this stretch. After dinner, we elected the evening game drive in an area close to the lodge (again just us), but sightings were few, just some giraffes and impalas. Our first full day was also just the 2 of us. We started with an early morning game drive 6am-8am, followed by breakfast back at camp. Then we elected to do the boat cruise/game drive back thru the park. This is one of the severest droughts Botswana has experienced, so the floodplain close to the camp was dry. We had to drive 50 mins to Kasane in a van to meet our guide at the dock. The 2 ½ hour boat trip was probably the highlight of our entire trip. The sheer density of animals close to the river was astonishing. With only the 2 of us on the boat, it was easy to move around for the best photo vantage spot. We stopped for lunch on the bank of the river, surrounded by several herds of elephants almost within touching distance. Back at the dock, we had a 4-hour game drive driving back thru the park. We stopped close to the river for sundowners, watching a herd of 300 plus buffalo making their way down to the water. We elected to skip the evening game drive this evening.

For our second full day, we elected to repeat the previous day’s activities. With the new arrivals, we were 8 on our boat, and six on a second boat. We did have memorable new wildlife sightings, including following a leopard.

On our last morning we chose the early morning walking safari which provided a new perspective. Then after breakfast there was time to visit the local village nearby. Although it was Saturday and no school, there were children and teachers on hand as a university student group was visiting. We got to attend a local basket making presentation. We were provided with a full lunch just for the two of us at the camp before driving back to Kasane airport for our next leg.

Overall the accommodations and food were excellent. There were power outlets in the room, but I failed to bring the correct Type M (South Africa) adapter. The manager (Kathy) was amazingly helpful providing the needed adapter, additional wi-fi connection options and other advice." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe

"Warmly welcomed on arrival which set the tone of four memorable days.excellent individual rondawels overlooking the vast Chobe plain and river, viewed from our patio and the restaurant area. Excellent guide, with Lips, who managed to show all the game, even a leopard chasing a giant lizard. Our young grandchildren were so warmly looked after at meals and on the boat and game drives. This was our second stay at the Muchenje Lodge and would love to come back. Can highly recommend and no negative comments at all." See all these reviews: 4n in Botswana; 1n in Zimbabwe