Ngoma Safari Lodge, Botswana: a view to lust after

By Roxanne Reid
Ngoma Safari Lodge lies in the Chobe Forest Reserve, outside Ngoma Gate in the west of Chobe National Park, Botswana. We visited to see Chobe’s wildlife, but discovered something equally special: a view to lust after. If you can stay here without falling madly-wildly in love with the view, then you’re either near-sighted and should be wearing specs, or you simply have no soul that can be stirred.

​Ngoma Safari Lodge has an elevated position on a rock koppie and a sweeping outlook over the Chobe River and floodplains. A baobab tree forms a natural sculpture in the foreground. Whether you plant yourself on the main deck at the top or the lower pool- or fire-pit decks doesn’t matter. From any of them you can watch zebras come to the nearby waterhole to drink or hear an impala ram snorting to warn off other males. Buffalo, giraffe and elephant may visit too.

Best of all is that the river backdrop changes colour according to the time of day, from pale pink in the early morning to deep crimson at sunset. 

​For dinner on our first night, we had an intimate little deck to ourselves as if we were honeymooners. Small baobab trees made from wire with romantic fairy lights on them stood in for candles or paraffin lamps.​

Our free-standing thatched chalet had tall windows and its own small splash pool and sun deck, so we didn’t have to give up the view even for a moment. Apart from an outdoor shower on the sundeck, the rest of the airy bathroom – including shower, large oval bath and twin basins – was on a raised platform behind the bedroom.

You can go on a full-day excursion that begins with boating near Kasane in the morning, followed by a picnic lunch at Serondela inside the park and a game drive back to Ngoma. Or, as we did, you can do a morning and afternoon game drive, and spend the middle of the day relaxing in all the inviting spaces at the lodge.

Sunset in the park
During our afternoon drive into Chobe National Park with guide Bevan Machira it didn’t take long to see that he had a special affinity for trees. For instance, we learnt about the knobthorn, jackalberry and brown ivory, which has a sweet raisin-like fruit. The local people also use it as a dye for decorative basketwork. ​​

In the old days, there used to be a logging operation at Chobe and Zambezi teak trees would be sent along the river to what’s now Zimbabwe. ‘The loggers would shout in their local language “Chobe, Chobe”, which means to push, and that’s where the name of the Chobe River comes from,’ said Bevan.

Whether this is history or local legend is unclear. Google tells me the origin of the name is ‘unknown’.

​Chobe’s 11 700 square kilometres are chockfull of elephants. Because elephants come and go depending on the season and the park isn’t fenced, it’s hard to know how many there are at any one time. I’ve heard estimates from 40 000 to as many as 120 000. But if you look for them in the morning you might not find them because they’re still feeding in the bushes. ‘By late afternoon they leave the warmth and protection of the bushes,’ said Bevan. That’s when they come to the river to drink, bathe or both. 

​A glossy sable bull walked along a dry ridge and by the time we saw a tower of giraffe the sun was sinking and the air cooling. It was time to go to what here in Chobe they call a ‘stretch point’ where you’re allowed to get out of your vehicle and dive into the goodies in your cooler box.

​The sun melted into the horizon on the other side of the river, a breeze rippling its reflection. After a long hot day, there’s really nothing as riveting as an African sunset in the wild with an ice-cold drink in your hand.

Note: I was a guest of Africa Albida Tourism for two nights, but the opinions are mine.
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Highlights of Chobe, Botswana
Voices of Botswana: the tree man of Ngoma

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