Chobe River Camp

Chobe River Campsite is beautifully situated on the banks of the Chobe River, very close to the Ngoma Bridge Border Control with Botswana. Each campsite features practical tents with private showers and toilets. The pool is very nice, and the restaurant serves great food, though it needs to be booked in advance. Everything is well-settled, and despite some trouble with the hot water during our winter stay, we would surely recommend this campsite. A highlight was the visit from a small herd of elephants near the campsite, which was a lot of fun.

Had car trouble en route, and despite sending emails to the booking office explaining our delay, when we arrived after 6pm, one day late, our reservation had been cancelled. This was to be our first camp of 3 for the 9 days that we booked, and paid for in advance in the Gondwana group in Namibia, so extremely distressing. It took us about an hour to check in and we helped receptionist Beauty to re-arrange bookings to give us our 3 consecutive nights in one room. We also somehow misread the marketing material and were very surprised not to have a kitchen or at least a fridge as we generally do self catering. But a happy surprise was that the price included breakfast, which was a really nice spread with quality ingredients. We had the boma dinner one night, but felt the menu was very boarding school like and could be elevated for the experience. We also ate lunches and dessert at the restaurant which was of much better standard. The duty manager Bevan is a real people person and an absolute asset to the lodge. The area had a problem with no power for a day, and of course the wifi couldn't work with the tower down. Felt so sorry for the staff trying to assist Guests checking out. And also dealing with the elephants at night, who crossed the river into the camp. Despite all this the location is amazing, staff friendly. We finally felt we were on holiday and could destress, enjoying walking around the area and birding. The boat cruise is an absolute must. Our guide was Elphias, really went the extra mile for his group. The sightings from the water were very special and sunset was spectacular. So enjoyed all the photography, and the last sighting of elephants with babies crossing the river was absolutely memorable.

Firstly, we were abandoned at the airport, having paid for our airport transfer. After 2 hours, we had to pay taxi drivers to take us to the lodge. Our arrival was pleasant, the receptionist Beauty apologised and all seemed well. Other than her and Enoch, our canoe guide, everyone else’s attitude towards service was poor. Drinks orders were wrong, and I got eye rolls when I tried to correct them. Table mats and glasses were often dirty and food was served cold. On our second last day, I enquired about our airport transfer to ensure no issues would arise and Beaven not only lied on the phone about the initial mistake, but became incredibly hostile and patronising with me. Only when my finance got involved did he change his tone. Sufficed to say, we has to arrange our own airport transfer despite having prepaid for it. If you can, avoid this lodge all together. They leave a LOT to be desired.

The rooms smell like rats, the deals are not clear and we spent almost an hour at the reception because the staff were unclear, the service was mediocre and the some of the staff was rude. They ran out of food for breakfast.