Reviews of Muchenje Safari Lodge

"We were there Dec 3-7, after the rains had started and many of the animals had disappeared into the bush. We did catch our share of lions, giraffe, zebras, one big buffalo herd, zillions of hippos and terrific bird life. Not at all disappointed.

The lodge is in very good shape. New managers, Robert and Joy, moved in less than two months ago and are busy refurbishing the place - new furniture, new bedding and a lot of work on the grounds and facilities. I remember reading somewhere that Muchenje was looking a little tired, but that's definitely not the case now.

The staff are a really nice group - deputy manager JJ, chief guide Nicko and a bunch of younger people. The place is beautifully designed and located in a spectacular setting overlooking the Chobe river. The Chinese have been busy upgrading the main road along Chobe park, so it's very quick to get to Muchenje from Kasane airport.

As far as we're concerned, it was a great choice." See all these reviews: 4n in Botswana

"The whole experience at Muchenje Lodge and Chobe was excellent. The staff were welcoming and knowledgeable and the game drives were wonderful.

The view from the Lodge itself is amazing, down across the river where you could see zebra, waterbuck, impala and sometimes elephant and buffalo. On the game drives we saw lots of elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, impala, warthog, kudu, baboon and waterbuck. We were also very lucky to see hyaena, jackal, lion and leopard and about 150 different species of bird." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"Loved it here, warm welcome and very well looked after by Joy and Rob. Plenty of great activities on offer with great guides. rooms clean and lovely, food excellent, all staff members we had contact with were friendly and good at their respective jobs. The free laundry service was much appreciated too.

Meals are taken at large tables with Rob and Joy joining all the guests to eat. Their attitudes and characters made this work very well, which hadn't been our experience at some of the other lodges where meals were served at large tables. We were very sorry to have to leave - would have happily stayed for weeks!!

We got stuck in the driveway leading to the lodge because the sand is too deep for a 2WD to safely negotiate. If anyone is arriving in a 2WD the lodge is happy to collect them from a suitable location outside the lodge.

We were due to have our hire car collected from here on our second day, and we had been told by Expert Africa to make sure that the car hire company looked over the car and signed the form for us to keep that stated the car was given back in good order. We were therefore concerned when Budget didn't arrive to collect the car on the pre-arranged day, and even more concerned when they still hadn't turned up when we were due to leave! However, Joy completely put our minds at rest by reassuring us that when they came to collect the car she wouldn't turn over the keys to them without them signing the form first!" See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia; 2n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"The lodge has a lovely panoramic view which had grazing herds of game as far a the eye could see! The new managers were extremely friendly and helpful, and engendered a house guest feeling. Everyone sits at large tables and chats about their day.

The drive along the plain by the river is stunning and was a revelation as we had not expected much from Chobe. The hillside is indeed bone dry at this time of the year but this concentrates game along the river.

The combined day trip of drive and boat trip is well worth doing. We bobbed quietly in our small boat as a large herd of elephant with young swam across the river in front of us, trunks aloft - magic!" See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia; 9n in Zambia; 2n in Botswana

"This was a very interesting but at times a rather intense experience.

The boat trip was particularly good and it was nice to have the option of a night safari. (I imagine that this coulld have been a superb option in Etosha) Our guide was not as good as others, some of the trips were a bit rough due to rough tracks and the way they were driven. On occasions the guide was too quick to move on and often drove off without checking that everyone had finished photographing etc." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia; 5n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe

"Best overall experience during our trip - everything was included - including all game drives, lunches, drinks, etc.. Guides were excellent & did everything to find game - morning, afternoon & night! The full day game drive & river cruise was outstanding - they knew exactly where to find the wildlife - getting very close to lions, hippos & elephants but taking care to keep us feeling safe at all times.

Location is superb overlooking the river from all rooms which were very good - especially the honeymoon suite.

Full marks to Kathy & Rod for running a superb operation & dealing with a wide variety of guests" See all these reviews: 9n in Namibia; 4n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe

"A great place, we really enjoyed both our stay and the activities.

Everyobne was very friendly & helpful as well as knowledgeable." See all these reviews: 5n in Namibia; 4n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"Not quite as personal as the Ker and Downey lodges or our lodges in Zambia last year." See all these reviews: 10n in Botswana

"Excellent all round experience for our introduction to Africa.

The staff were very friendly and helpful and Sean in particular, was a wonderful host. Our guide Sinka was exceptional and worked extremely hard to find everything that was possible to see.

The only reason for 'good' and not excellent for location, was the long drive into the Park." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana

"This is a very well run lodge in a relatively quiet area overlooking the Chobe river.The area immediately around the lodge had been devastated by elephants so lit ooked somewhat stark ,particularly at this time of year
Rooms were very comfortable but lacked storage space ,which Cathy the manager said was being rectified.Cathy went out of her way and worked very hard to be hospitable and attentive to guests .
This was the only time we had hairdryers and charge points for our batteries so we made full use of them
Food was varied and very tasty
Sinca our guide responded well to our declared interest in more than the big 5 and actively brought to our attention a whole range of wildlife and Botswana culture.He also tactfully managed the fact that the other 2 occupants of our vehicle had no interest whatever in birds or flora.
We had requested ,by email in advance ,to visit the school to take gifts (mentioned on lodge website) and this was arranged -very interesting but not much opportunity to speak with the children or see them in lessons.
One of the highlights was undoubtedly the full day safari with an afternoon boat trip-amazing variety and numbers of game and birds while we moored on sandbank for a picnic lunch surrounded by hippos,elephants ,crocodiles ,puku .Wonderful day. However this involved a long trip on the tar road back towards Kasane and so we wonder how much we benefitted from Muchenji's western location at this time of year which wasn't as busy as it can get in the high season.
We also enjoyed watching activites around the water hole as the bush came to life in the mornings and the night drives (bushbabies leaping and a young leopard with a recent kill)
The fleece lined ponchos were wonderful and we really needed them on cold late June mornings/evenings.
What marred an otherwise good start to the holiday were a number of incidents relating to attitudes to staff and their management. From the start Cathy (very courteous to us) made critical comments about staff failings and inabilty to follow instructions both in front of them and behind their backs .
When we requested a walking safari to be included in our activities Cathy left Sinca to explain it wouldn't be possible and he was clearly embarrassed not to be able to give a reason.
At the end of the second day one of the laundresses came to our room to explain she had damaged a blouse with an iron that was too hot.She was clearly terrified ,had been worried all day and burst int tears when I assured her it was an accident and that I had done something simlar myself. There was no way we were going to mention this to Cathy, but after dinner she raised the matter herself and reiterated how incompetent staff were despite being told how to do things correctly. A positive outcome was that a morning walk could now be arranged for the next day and this we really enjoyed very much.
We regard these incidents as very sad as at all other lodges the atmosphere was one of mutual respect and harmony among staff at all levels.

." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana