Naankuse Lodge

I spent three days here after a two-day journey from the United States. I cannot imagine a better introduction to Namibia! i was greeted at the airport by a staff member. At the Lodge, I was offered a beverage and help with my bags. The Lodge and Wildlife Sanctuary offers a variety of game drives and other activities. I enjoyed the "sundowner" and the "feeding" drives where a guide fed meat to the predators unable to hunt for their food. No review of Na'ankuse would be complete without commenting on the food--utterly delicious. the lodge offers vegetarian menu. the staff, many of whom have been there for years, were gracious and helpful! the mission of Na'ankuse was evident in the main lodge. the Lodge and Sanctuary grew out of a need to help the local population by providing a health clinic (free of charge) and a school. Of course, if offers care and freedom for the wildlife, which includes lions, cheetahs, elephants, rhinos, and so on!

In a chalet or a villa, overnighting at Naankuse Lodge is worth the trip! It is a very unique and exclusive way to approach nature and the local wild like and the staff's enthusiasm is just an extra gift given to us. The food is really good, the villas are just amazing and the activities are both interesting and very reasonable.

We visited early September for 1 night. The first impression was that the room had not been cleaned properly (or for a while). During the evening there was a strong sweage smell coming from the outside. Lots of faeces on the patio and inside the room. Feaces came from rats, we actually saw one running around the room. Called the management - a member of staff came in with a broomstick (!) to lead the rat out. After insisting, we got moved to the next room where immediately saw rat faeces again, however, when pointed out, staff did not find it important and just left the room. Looking the roof of the room you could see that it had holes which they tried to close with expanding foam-this indicates that they know the issue and choose to host their guests at those standards whilst charging prenium prices. Needless to say that we slept with all our clothes on including jackets and left next morning without even having coffee as we could only imagine what was going on in that kitchen. Management did not apologise or mentioned anything at all about the stay. Would not recommend. Vibes are grim, cleanliness is below poor.

Excellent stay in a sanctuary close to the airport and Windhoek. If you want to spend the first or last night close to Windhoek, this is the place to stay. I would suggest to stay at least two nights to have time to participate in the many wildlife experiences the lodge has to offer. Corne met us with a welcome drink at arrival and gave us all the necessary information we needed for our stay. He and the rest of the staff have been very helpful and responsive. If you read my review you probably have read as well some other recent reviews as I did and I almost cancelled my stay here. I’m so glad I didn’t, because we had a wonderful time here, one night was way too short. The recent very negative reviews definitely don’t do justice to this great place that has been created with a much deeper purpose than just being a lodge. Don’t expect a luxury lodge at the top end, but the price is totally reasonable for what you are offered. We stayed in the bush chalet number one, very convenient next to the main building with the restaurant, reception and common reading area. Our room was super clean and nothing was missing, everything well stocked, towels, coffee, tea and minibar. There are definitely no rats in the room, my guess is that some guests might have mistaken the rock hyrax for rats. It could happen, if you leave the sliding windows to the deck open, that some curious animals enter the room. Also baboons roam around, they could really make a mess in your room. But aren’t the animals one of the reasons we come to Namibia? Just don’t let them enter your room. We had a wonderful sunset horse ride with Cindy, the caretaker of the horses. She is very calm and did a great job. Her colleague prepared us a sundowner for our last sunset in Namibia out in the wilderness, it was magical. The 4 course diner was delicious and so was the breakfast.

You have to remember this is a nature reserve, a wildlife sanctuary. Its not meant to be a luxury resort. Having said that our party of three couples absolutely enjoyed the large villa overlooking hundred of acres of land with animals walking right past our picture windows. We had a massive lounge and dining room, lovely sun lounge and modern kitchen. Bedrooms and bathrooms were good. But the whole house needs a bit of renovation and TLC. The dining area of the main lodge is airy with great views and a decent swimming pool. Staff are all smiles. Food was OK buffet at breakfast & dinner while theres a small a la carte lunch menu.

We spent a couple of nights here after volunteering on the sanctity for a week. It is a luxury location with beautiful 1,2,3 and 4 bed lodges excellent food and service and a great selection of trips you can do from carnivore feeding and game drives to meeting the local bushman.