Ngoma Safari Lodge - Machaba Safaris

We stayed for 3 nights in November 2025. It was a great stay! The lodge was clean and inviting, our room spacious and private, and the food and service top notch. Ziti and the rest of the staff made our stay very special.||Our safari guide, MK, was very knowledgeable and helped us find many animals. Highlights included 3 close encounters with elephants, 3 lions with a fresh zebra kill, and 20 or so giraffe in all 3 states(tower, journey, and stride!) ||We paired this with a 3 day stay at Hwange in Zimbabwe and 2 days in Victoria Falls for a truly memorable trip!

A lovely lodge with great views. |We stayed there three nights which is about right. Our guide Sam, was great and really knowledgeable and patient. He found things that other people could not. |The staff were really friendly and the food was great.|The boat trip down the Chobe river was a highlight, having lunch moored next to several hundred elephants will stay with us for a long time.|For those wanting a “traditional” safari experience I can recommend Ngoma. |Unfortunately, I did have a big disappointment there. I love walking safari’s and one of the reasons that I booked Ngoma was the prominence they gave to walking on their website. When I arrived I was told that walking was not possible because the rains had arrived, the grasses were long and it was not safe to walk. I entirely get the guest and staff safety is paramount, but there was nothing on the website warning you that walking is not possible at certain times of the year. Other guests staying at nearby lodges had enjoyed walks with similar vegetation.|This was a shame as it did really disappoint me and the lodge is a really good one with many things to recommend it.

Views over the Chobe area into Namibia were expansive and beautiful! Our full day experience was delightful and we enjoyed every game drive with MK, our guide. We saw so many animals during our time here! Staff was exceptional - so kind and responsive! Food was very good and we especially liked our Boma experience and taking home one of Chef Samson’s yummy recipes. A lovely spot!

The absolute best staff! Attention to every detail and constantly go out of their way to make you feel comfortable and share their culture and stories with you. Amazing game drives. Even more incredible food. Views from the lobby and the suites are stunning.

This is an exceptional lodge - the service was outstanding (largely driven by our waiter Mascom who was incredibly atentative and made some amazing cocktails). The food was also delicious (the chef Samson was very enthusiastic and charismatic). Only thing to note is you do have to drive down some roads to get into Chobe park and it can be 30 minutes before you are in the “action” area. However the views are absolutely stunning so it is worth being set back from the national park. Overall I would thoroughly recommend staying here - it was the highlight of our trip and probably the best of the 4 lodges we stayed at across Zimbabwe and Botswana

The best place to stay to get away from the Chobe crowds. Set up on the hill it overlooks the floodplain, and we could have sat there all day enjoying the vew. Brilliant food, great service, wonderful guides - all in all a faultless experience.|It is an hour drive to do the boat experience, but coupled with an all-day in the park - its a win.

From pickup at Kasane to the lodge is about 45 minutes and Phil our driver pointed out various animals on the way. We were in room 3 which was excellent (see photo taken from bed) . Our personal guide was MK who took us on all our game drives and boat trip. We saw so many animals including lions, but no leopard unfortunately. MK is an amazing guide we learnt so much about every animal we saw, his knowledge of the animals and the park is incredible as each drive we took a different route to see different environments.|The lodge is very comfortable and the service we received was excellent. Mascom, who looked after us, remembered which drinks we preferred and was always attentive. The food was excellent carefully prepared by Sansom and his team and on Saturday night we had a Bomma outside around an open fire and were entertained by the staff and had some amazing local dishes. It was a fabulous experience to lie in bed listening to the sounds of the jungle outside at night. Waking up in the morning to see what animals were drinking at the waterhole was really special. Thank you to all of you for a wonderful time.

I just returned from an Africa trip which included 2 nights in Botswana at Ngoma Safari Lodge. The only complaint is I should have had 3 nights planned for this gem!. The view, rooms, food, service and activities are top notch. Tebby, our guide, is a delight with a true passion for the animals. Cynthia the chef was personable and a phenomenal cook. Mascom, our waiter, was always a step ahead! If you are on the fence on visiting Botswana and staying at a lodge, DO IT.