It's located 4 kms (2.5 miles) off the main road, but you'll find that the dirt track that leads to the lodge is well worth the effort. This lodge is a little more rustic than some of the other Gondwana properties, but definitely in an attractive way.
In fact, we found that this lodge gave us our most "African" experience to date!
We have arrived!
The main entrance gate to Namushasha River Lodge.
We parked our vehicle under the covered parking area. There is only room for maybe five cars there, so this was another benefit of arriving during the slow time of year! Not a big point really, because we didn't need to go anywhere during our time there. Our car just sat for the three nights.
Ruth, at the reception entrance.
We filled out the guest book as we are required to do at all accommodations in Namibia. Then, we were led to our room...
We were in room #16. There are 12 duplex style bungalows, so 24 rooms in total.
Comfortable, European style beds.
And a very cool bathroom!
...with a sunken shower!
And large windows that overlook a beautiful balcony and the river.
They explained to us how things work a little differently at Namushasha. They operate the entire lodge off a generator and satellite dishes. Entirely off the grid! The generator is turned off religiously between the hours of 11:00pm and 5:00am. Even when it was running, we never heard it so it's not a noise issue. There's just no point in having it run between those hours when almost everybody would be sleeping.
So every room is also equipped with an oil lamp and matches, and a battery operated lamp.
After we got settled, we went for a walk to explore the grounds.
The sundowner deck is gorgeous!
The pool is small, but great for a cooling dip.
There's a gift shop with some amazing African tourist trinkets.
And a 15 site campground.
With shower and washroom buildings. But, watch for elephants and hippos when you go to the toilet in the middle of the night!
After our stroll, it was time to freshen up for dinner. A menu was on the table in front of us...
Onion Soup
Creamed Mushroom and Spinach served with Phyllo Cups.
Choice of Eland Saltimbocca or Lemon Honey Chicken
Brown rice
Herbs Spatzel
Mixed green beans
Buffet salad
Cream Caramel served with berry sauce.
We missed getting a photo of dinner! But we got the dessert...
On that note, we have to give a special thanks to head chef Sakky. He was absolutely the best at accommodating our gluten free eating habits. No, we didn't have the above dessert, however they always made sure we got some ice cream or fruit.
Instead of dinner, we had a late lunch the next day. Kudu steak and chips and a salad. It was great! And, I remembered to get a photo!
Kudu steak is delicious!
Beautiful view from our table at lunch.
They do two activities at Namushasha. The boat tour and the game drive. We did both, and the boat tour was so good that it deserved a write up of it's own! You can read about it here...
This is "Monster", an old retired military truck that is about to be retired a second time. Why?
Because they have four brand new Toyota LandCruisers to take you on safari now!
Gondwana only took over this property about a year ago. They've done a lot of renovations and upgrades during that time, and it's certainly up to Gondwana standards now. Not much we could suggest in the way of improvements. Oh, maybe one thing...
This is sub tropical Africa. And there are bugs. Sometimes, large bugs! So we found that there was a gap under the front door of our room. When the light is on in your room, and it's dark outside, the bugs will find any way to get in. When we were at Etosha, they use a narrow tubular bag filled with sand that acts as a stop gap at the bottom of the door. You just make sure it's in place when you close the door at night and it works really well.
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Namushasha River Lodge. When we do our "Best of Gondwana Collection" post at the end of this month, Namushasha is sure to win at least one category!
Managers Brigitte Sr. and Otto were off the property on lodge business when we wanted their photo. But Co-assistant Managers Brigitte Jr. and DeVries were always helpful and smiling. They make it so you don't want to leave. And we didn't want to leave!
Good food! I like the "caution" warning of elephant movement at night!
ReplyDeleteYep, defiantly looks like a place for those wanting to see Africa without "roughing it" any more than is necessary.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the typo. Should be "definitely", not "defiantly". Darn spell checkers are supposed to know what I mean too.
DeleteAll these interesting sights to see and excellent meals, just keep enjoying.
ReplyDeleteCool stuff. We discovered the lack of thresholds when we lived in Puerto Rico. *Things* would just crawl in. Not an option if my wife is around, so we had to come up with towels or whatever to stuff under the doors.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteReally a beautiful place. But the elephant/hippo warning really brings home the fact that you are in Africa.
ReplyDeleteI hope those African tourist trinkets were actually made in Africa and not China like you see in so many places... :c)
ReplyDeleteHa! I shall try and remember to check into that!
DeleteThat dessert was a creme caramel right? That's gluten free and VERY tasty :)
ReplyDeleteLooks nice and relaxing :)