Nkasa Lupala Tented Lodge

Lovely welcome on arrival. Tent was clean, private, comfortable with fabulous views. Staff were attentive, served us with a smile and could not do enough for us. Dinner and breakfast were delicious and plentiful and tea with cookies was a nice touch at 4 pm. We had a wonderful game drive with Dusty, who is very knowledgeable, informing us about local customs in the area too. I was unfortunately not well during our stay, however the staff could not be more accommodating and kind to me.

Stayed in Tent 1. Great position for tent close to amenities and great view. Pool was refreshing plunge pool unfortunately filled with noisy children for large amounts of time. Food was fine and service was always great. Curio shop was full of unusual items, hence I gladly spent a fair bit of money there. Excellent views over the waterhole.

We did a night drive with poor lights which broke down so we could hardly see anything. The only game on offer was game that could be viewed during the day we were hoping for nocturnal animals. We did a combo boat and game drive and drove all the way to the Linyati River which is a long way from the lodge only for there to be no keys to drive the boat. Supposedly they had been stolen by Botswanans - if this is a problem why would you leave your keys in the boat? We were given a complimentary combo trip the next day to make up for it which we appreciated but this time the landrover broke down and we had to sit and wait for over an hour and ended up with a 20 minute boat trip instead of the 2 hour trip we should have. The management is therefore rather amateurish and I got the feeling that it is concentrating on expansion rather than making sure what they do right now is to a high standard. The location is nice but the channel in front of the lodge is gradually drying up so is not the lure for wildlife that you might hope but sometimes the elephants do come in. You have to get a long way from the lodge to usually see wildlife unless you are lucky and some of the wildlife possibilities are overstated in the brochure. The food is not very exciting for the price and you have to buy wine by the bottle rather than the glass which doesn't suit people who are travelling for wildlife rather than alcohol.

Were travelling for 4 weeks and consider this lodge to have been the worst value for money. If it had not been for the very friendly manageress Erika, and some very nice fellow guests,we would have felt somewhat fleeced. There was no wildlife around the lodge, i.e. sitting on the terrace offered no viewings, even very little birdlife. Food was at best 3 star and not overly generous. Took 5 hour combo drive and had to pay for all the extras, including water. Not good value for money.

Wunderschön gelegene und liebevoll gepflegte Lodge fast im Nkasa Rupara Nationalpark. Sehr gutes Essen, nette Hosts und sehr idyllisch gelegen. Die Anfahrt ist etwas abenteuerlich, aber es lohnt sich.