Gondwana Hakusembe River Lodge

I give it 5 stars because with it being out in the middle of nowhere, it was great. Wonderful staff, very clean room and good buffet style food. Lodge is situated right on the Chobe River with Angola across the river. Separate shower and toilet area in each cassita. Coffee is left on your porch each morning at 5:30 so you can enjoy the view.

An ideal spot for a night to split up the journey between Etosha and the Caprivi Strip. We stayed there as a family of 4 including 2 teenage boys. The food was tasty and most of the staff were friendly and nice. We stayed in a large cabin overlooking the river and it slept 7 so we had ample space. I don’t think I’d stay there more than one night, but for that one night, it’s great.

Below expectations, the lodge is very noisy from the chickens and cows from the local communities, also had dogs running around the campsite in the evening. Campsite had neat private ablutions with hot and cold water. Outside was also a washing up area available with a single plug box available. Sunset cruise was enjoyable with drinks and a small platter included, after the cruise was met with staff singing and drums playing adding to the experience. Staff can be more helpful with buying wood. Wifi was supplied at the restaurant and reception but quality was not good.

Hakusembe is mostly used as a night-stop by tour groups going from Etosha to Divundu. It‘s an adequate place for this purpose, although neither the lodge nor the area would justify an extended stay. We were told that there is no wifi in the rooms. Surprisingly, there was a strong signal, so all the way back to the lobby to get the password. Pity that the password is not stated in the room directory. The heating function of the air conditioner is not evident either, it took us several attempts before it was properly running. Sitting on the main deck over the Okavango with a sundowner was a lovely experience, unfortunately followed by a crowded dinner, overrun by tour groups. There were lines at the buffet section - not for the food, but for dinner plates. It‘s a complete mystery to me how a place like this can repeatedly run out of tableware.

Our room had been painted with creosote recently so we couldn’t sleep there the smell was so bad… they found us another one probably a guides room but was perfectly fine! A very good spread for dinner and breakfast… after all it’s just a stopover en route to better places.

This was our first stop enroute from Etosha across into the Caprivi and the first of three Gondwana Collection hotels of the trip. We arrived after a good 4.5hr drive from eastern Etosha via Grootfontein and were particularly tired from the journey on what was a very hot day. Check in was a bit strange. We weren’t greeted in a personal manner at all, just handed a welcome drink and given a quick introduction to the hotel along with a French couple who had also just arrived and were looking equally frazzled. We were also told the wifi wasn’t working (which about an hour later it was). Initially the lady couldn’t find my booking so I had produce all my paperwork showing full payment for the stay. We were then taken to the room by the porters who were, as always, very helpful with all our luggage. Nobody showed us around the room though and we were just left there. Breakfast was OK with cold selections laid out and a good selection of yogurts and cereals. Eggs are cooked to order and the usual other hot stuff is in the hot lockers. Dinner is never included at Gondwana properties and they seem to price them all very similar - the buffet here was 483NAD$ per person which is OK if you are going to load your plates to bulging and go back for many courses, which we did see people doing. But we don’t eat like that and so we felt it was a little over-priced compared to other buffets we had had in other parts of Namibia. The wine and beer prices were also the most expensive we had come across on our trip, even compared to those lodges near Etosha. Thankfully you are only about a 15min drive from Rundu so a quick pop to the shops is possible, although there is no fridge in the room. There is no turndown service and in fact, the way they had laid the sheets and blankets on the bed, you have to make your own on the first night! I thought I was just turning the sheet down to hop in only to discover they had simply laid it folded up across the bed. Fabian was the best guy in the restaurant, very helpful and friendly and a good sense of humour. Our house-keeping lady was also very good especially on our last day when my husband was suffering from serious tummy troubles. On the last day the manager was exceptionally helpful with regard to my husband’s tummy issues - he provided us with rehydrates, a full bottle of water and called ahead to our next stop (another Gondwana hotel) to let them know. The sunset cruise was absolutely fantastic with drinks and nibbles included and was a lovely end to the day. We were due to do the bird watching trip the following morning but hubby’s upset tummy meant we had to cancel last minute, but that was done without any problem. We stayed for 3 nights and in hindsight should have only done a maximum of 2; it is a handy location to stop enroute into the Caprivi, but it is not a ‘destination’