Muchenje Safari Lodge is one of the few stand alone family owned lodges in Botswana located about one hour by tar road (running through the Chobe National Park) from Kasane airport.The pick up and drop is done by Muchenje in a comfortable A/C mini bus exclusively for its guests.
The speciality of Muchenje is its communal breakfast & dining on long tables with guides and other guests.We dined with the owner,Shaun Metcalfe, the managers,Kiddy & Toff Hill and other guests from Canada,USA ,UK & Italy.
Muchenje has a very family like atmosphere and is located on a ridge with a commanding view of the plains and the Chobe river. It can get very windy at times.My wife spent a very pleasant day chatting with Kiddy and playing with her three Jack Russel dogs and interacting with the owner,Shaun.
Muchenje is located on the western side of Chobe National Park, where there are only four lodges and hence much quieter than the eastern side around Kasane where there are many lodges which crowd Chobe National Park.Muchenje offer a motor boat ride and lunch on the boat followed by a game drive in the the eastern side of Chobe National Park - a long one day outing indeed! However, for this one has to go back to Kasane which means a one hour drive each way again on the tar road.Usually, the water level in the Chobe river on the eastern side...Muchenje Safari Lodge is one of the few stand alone family owned lodges in Botswana located about one hour by tar road (running through the Chobe National Park) from Kasane airport.The pick up and drop is done by Muchenje in a comfortable A/C mini bus exclusively for its guests.
The speciality of Muchenje is its communal breakfast & dining on long tables with guides and other guests.We dined with the owner,Shaun Metcalfe, the managers,Kiddy & Toff Hill and other guests from Canada,USA ,UK & Italy.
Muchenje has a very family like atmosphere and is located on a ridge with a commanding view of the plains and the Chobe river. It can get very windy at times.My wife spent a very pleasant day chatting with Kiddy and playing with her three Jack Russel dogs and interacting with the owner,Shaun.
Muchenje is located on the western side of Chobe National Park, where there are only four lodges and hence much quieter than the eastern side around Kasane where there are many lodges which crowd Chobe National Park.Muchenje offer a motor boat ride and lunch on the boat followed by a game drive in the the eastern side of Chobe National Park - a long one day outing indeed! However, for this one has to go back to Kasane which means a one hour drive each way again on the tar road.Usually, the water level in the Chobe river on the eastern side is much more than on the western side, though Muchenje did open a new jetty at Ihaha which is near to Muchenje, but when we visited in August,2019 it was not in operation because of the low level of water.
For those who are more inclined towards water based activities it would be better to stay at lodges at Kasane ,as you will be able to easily access the full flow of the water at Chobe river, even during drought conditions; but, these lodges are unlikely to have the personal touch of a small family lodge like Muchenje.
The other drawbacks of Muchenje are that the rooms are very small as the lodge was built many years ago when the concept of large rooms were not in demand; and availability of WiFi only in the reception and dining areas and not in the rooms.
Manju & Ashok MahindraMore
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