Reviews of Nkasa Lupala

"Great staff, a real feel of wilderness with birds and animals coming around the lodge. Difficult drive in as we were advised by the lodge to drive ourselves." See all these reviews: 10n in Namibia

"Beautifully situated lodge with Elephants enjoying a drink on our arrival magical. Erica the manager was helpful and friendly.

The accommodation was as described, our adult daughter was travelling with us, we had a family tent which was well laid out and gave her privacy.

Sadly, the game guide lacked communication skills to make a rather dull game drive on the first evening more interesting, not his fault lack of animals, except for lots of warthog and a large herd of buffalo on the way back to the lodge in the dusk which was amazing. Also, the sundowner a disappointment as only offered beer in tins with no glasses or alternative for the ladies.

The Combo Drive with the river cruise was well worth it seeing lots of Elephant, Hippo, Zebra, Lechwe and Bird life and a proper sundowner! (I and another guest had spoken to Erica the previous evening)

Despite the tiny problems they did not spoil the stay and we would recommend this lodge for the experience and location. Its Africa!" See all these reviews: 5n in Namibia

"The instructions for meeting our lift to the camp were less clear once you arrived in Sangwali village. No obvious meeting point. It was only by chance that we spotted a safari vehicle for another camp within the park and asked them where any meeting place was.

Our guide, Westy, arrived promptly. We had to leave our vehicle at a civic centre – something obviously agreed with the Sangwali authorities.

The camp is in one of the most remote corners of the region. It was more rustic than we expected which another guest had warned us about. Our tent on stilts was basic.

It was a pity that the light bulbs hadn’t been checked. Water conservation obviously isn’t an issue there – no plugs again!

An average welcome included the formality of the passing of the wifi voucher, restricting your use 200MB for the stay, please don’t drink the water and everyone must sit down to dinner at 7pm at one long table.

One flask of filtered water was provided in your tent each day. Any extra had to be purchased.

When sitting down for dinner, we discovered most of the guests were German (no problem with that) who were only interested in conversing in German amongst them selves. Not a very enjoyable evening.

The big complaint for us was that staff were clearing plates away before other diners had even finished that course. We objected strongly at the time as one of us was still eating a course when the next was about to be served to the other one !

We spoke to the manager who eventually agreed to allow us to sit at separate tables after that. As it turned out, we weren’t the only ones who disliked the arrangements.

There was an honeymoon couple who also had to request a separate table. Obviously for groups, of which there were several, these arrangements weren’t an issue. Breakfast was served at separate tables fortunately.

The staff themselves were very friendly and courteous. Most of the time service was good. The meals were somewhat average / mediocre.

We went on a sunrise drive and did the combi drive the next day. That takes you down to the wetlands as well as a normal morning drive. You’re out for more than 4 hours. We enjoyed the quiet as we listened to the sound of the lapping water when on the water. Westy was a very good guide and did his best to find as much as possible to see but the animals weren’t playing ball! However, a dash to find a leopard was somewhat scary!!

So, we felt the camp might have needed a bit of tlc/refurbishment and less obtrusive ‘management’ of the guests.

We’re pleased to have been there if only to see the wetlands up close.

However, it’s not one we would necessarily return to until is has been improved and made more multination ally welcome" See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia; 2n in Botswana

"Great location, lovely staff, good food, great wildlife viewing, loved the Linyanti boat trips in particular" See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia; 1n in Botswana

"This was the most rustic (in appearance only) of the lodges we stayed in but was very comfortable, clean and provided all the necessary items and facilities.

The main area (where meals of a good standard are served at a table shared with the owners and all other guests) was very welcoming. There was a constant supply of tea, coffee and rusks or other treats depending on the time of day.

Due to the late rains, the wildlife was not as prolific as on our last stay in the area (at the sister camp Jackelberry) but we very much enjoyed our shared game drives throughout the park. The owner was very engaging, great company and really helpful when we needed to sort out some minor practicalities.

Would highly recommend." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana

"Very glad we booked a couple of nights here. It's the location that is particularly interesting - on Rupara Island . We drove south with the guide through the island to reach the Linyanti Marshes where we hopped on a boat for a really wonderful cruise through the marshes for about 1 1/2 hrs. Eles (from Botswana side) came to drink. many birds etc. Beautiful scenery. We were away from camp about 6 hrs - its called the combo tour. Absolutely worth it.

Simone the manager was very engaging and knowledgable.

Tasty food." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana

"saw many Hippos out of the water in several different places - took a boat ride - saw uncounted Elephants - some very close, with many babies, splashing and swimming in the water . Then they all got out of the water, and started throwing dust on themselves . Saw many Cormorants, and an old male Lion, with a white beard, laying by himself in the shade - What a memorable last day in Namibia!! The tent rooms were quite comfortable - they were mounted on stilts, with a Wonderfull view . I awoke at dawn, to see more Elephants from my private deck, in the distance - out beyond the hedgehogs grazing on the floodplain nearby !" See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia; 3n in Zimbabwe

"Loved the fact that we had glass doors and didn't have to mess about with zips.

Again staff very friendly and helpful although the guiding was, in my opinion no where near being up to scratch. Really enjoyed the after dinner chats with the owner about all sort of things. Between us we were able to put the world to rights and forget for that brief moment of time that people like Trump and Borris Johnson even exist.

Like most places we stayed at, game was in short supply. The early rains in October meant that there was a plentiful supply of water in the bush and the wildlife didn't need to come out" See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"Nice spot, with a waterhole.

Did a good game drive and boat ride from here.

Once again everyone sat together for dinner which we think is great." See all these reviews: 22n in Namibia; 2n in Zimbabwe

"This is a very remote and peaceful camp. It did have some drawbacks but these did not spoil our stay, which overall was wonderful.

The tented rooms were very small - the bed took up most of the space. During our stay we had no hot water - probably due to the cold nights (around 5C). My daughter and granddaughter did a guided walk with Stefan on the afternoon of our arrival - this was excellent - they got very close to elephants and other wildlife. My husband and I had planned to go on this walk but it was very hot and at the last minute we decided we'd go on the morning walk instead. During dinner the manager apologised and told us there'd be no morning walk as they had only two guides at the camp and they'd both be needed for the morning game drive and boat trip as 10 guests had booked on these excursions. This was disappointing - I do think they should have told us when we booked the morning walk that there was a possibility that it would not go ahead - perhaps they need another guide at the camp to cater for all the guests.

We did a combined game drive and boat trip in the afternoon which I think probably was better than going in the morning - we saw a lot of wild life during the river trip, but not so much wildlife in the park. There was a lot of wildlife around the camp itself (including elephants) The roads are very bad in the park although we did drive in to the camp - it was ok and we are not experienced at driving in sand. Dining here was at a communal table for 18 to 20 guests." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia; 2n in Zimbabwe