Ngoma Safari Lodge - Machaba Safaris

Ngoma Safari Lodge, Chobe Forest Reserve, Botswana My husband and I stayed at the beautiful Ngoma Safari Lodge for 3 nights in late January 2025 in Chobe Forest Reserve, Botswana, right outside Chobe National Park. We had a wonderful time. The lodge was simply amazing. Everywhere you looked the lodge décor was beautiful. The view from the lodge, the main building and our unit, was a million dollar view over the grassy plains below. Animals could be seen grazing and roaming below. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We had 2 safari drives a day, given by our expert safari guide Jo. The food was topnotch served with great care by Zita. We were taken such good care of the entire time. I wish we could have stayed longer. We would recommend Ngoma to anyone visiting the Chobe National Park in Botswana, it was definitely 5 star all the way.

This lodge is masquerading as a 5-star lodge, when it is not and not worth the price at all. ||I have stayed at many lodges across east and Southern Africa, and this lodge was below the standard experienced in those lodges.||Hospitality from the staff was not genuine at all and it was extremely obvious.||||Food was OK, but nothing outstanding. It was also very uncomfortable that dinner on one night was at a set time for all guests and we were made to all sit together on one table without even asking if we were OK with that.||||The phone in the room wasn’t working, which is an absolute necessity at an unfenced lodge as you can’t walk out alone. However, I appreciate the effort of the team to fix it. Although this is something that should have been checked before I checked in.||||I had terrible food poisoning on the last night and was in excruciating pain, vomiting all night. The manager had to take me to the hospital the next morning. It was clear that I got it from the lodge but the immediate reaction from the front desk lady was that I was dehydrated, immediately shifting blame. I had to miss the game drive the next morning and the other guests on the drive also missed it. Staff were quick to say that they “weren’t feeling well”, but I’m pretty sure one of them also has food poisoning. ||||This lodge is absolutely NOT worth the price and I would not recommend it. The only positive is that the room was big and the bed comfortable, although found the way the bathroom was right behind the bed odd in an open concept.

This was our first stop in Botswana. The lodge offers fantastic views onto the immense planes bordering Namibia, along which there s always something to watch. The rooms are very spacious and clean and the highlight of our stay was that we had elefants visiting our pool every night !! It was wonderful to hear them approaching and then observing them drink from it. The lodge offers game drives into Chobe Ntl park - I had never seen soooo many elefants ! - and cruises along the river which I highly recommend - eg we saw elefants playing in the water , crocs, hipos and many types of birds. Althought not super enthusiastic, the guide was very knowleadgeable and super respectful with the animals and nature, which I highly appreciate compared to other cars/boats we saw around. The only drawback I found, is that you need to drive for quite a while before getting into the park/reaching the river.

We had an amazing time at Ngoma. The resort is lovely with an incredible view, beautiful/spacious/comfortable rooms, amazing staff, food, and game drives/boat rides. On top of our fantastic experience, we love that the proceeds from the lodge help support the 5 villages in the local area. Most of the staff are also local to these villages as well.||Some details below.||We arrived Thursday afternoon in time for an afternoon game drive with 2 other pairs and our guide, Sam, who was very knowledgeable. Chobe reserve closes at 7pm, So, Sam drove us around the West side of the park for a few hours, with a stop for a sundown toast. Be prepared to capture the amazing sunsets around Chobe. ||We returned to Ngoma for a lovely dinner. Chef Samson and his team were great and the food was fantastic! Throughout the visit, I sampled beef dishes (Botswana has the best beef in the world), vegetarian dishes, amazing appetizers, sides and deserts. There truly wasn’t a dish I disliked.||Friday was the best day of our trip. Ngoma arranged an all-day trip. We started after breakfast with about a 40-minute drive to the Western side of Chobe where we started our morning with a boat ride down the river. The animals along the river are fantastic. We saw elephants, crocodiles, hippos, giraffes, and so much more. In fact, we saw so many animals that our guide decided we should eat lunch on the boat instead of driving to the planned lunch spot. This was a beautiful place to eat the fantastic lunch provided for us. After lunch, we began the drive across the park back to the West gate. Sam was incredibly knowledgeable and knew exactly where to look to find the hidden lions and cubs under the brush as well as the more obvious animals. We saw so many animals in one day it was amazing. One note for those like me who are fatigue easily and are sensitive to heat like, the full day is really long and - at least in November- extremely hot. ||Saturday, we woke up really early for a 5:30am game drive back in the West side of the park. It was peaceful and quiet but we didn’t see a lot of animals. We returned to Ngoma for breakfast and watching the baboons try and sneak into the main house to steal food and an outing to our guide’s local village where we had the opportunity to visit the school (but not see the kids bc it was Saturday) and purchase some local wares (mostly baskets) from vendors. After lunch, we relaxed for a while- I highly recommend a soak in your personal plunge pool while looking out over the park. Followed by another afternoon game drive and a surprise communal dinner in the boma with all the guests (including bonfire, music and more delicious food).||We had a great stay and would definitely return.||Special shoutouts to our guide, Sam, our butler, Ishmael, and the manager, Neo, who all went above and beyond to take care of us.||A few things it might be helpful for others to know:|1) the staff are incredibly accommodating and can help with almost any request||2) The AC and fan keep the rooms really comfortable even in the very hot weather.||3) there is both an indoor and outdoor shower for each room.||4) after dark, guests must be accompanied by a guard to/from their rooms. We saw Lion tracks one morning on the way to breakfast. It seems a wise precaution although we never felt unsafe even as 2 women traveling alone.||5) WiFi works in the main lodge but poorly in our room (we were one of the farthest rooms from main lodge). Not a big deal for us, but it meant we called home from the main lodge.||6)the jeeps are the perfect vehicle for the game drives, but the ride is rough. Dress for comfort.||7)my only critique- and it’s minor- the lighting is very poor in the rooms. So much so, that it’s hard to see at night but even in the daylight, there is not enough light for women to do makeup (personally, not a huge concern for this type of trip)||I hope you all have as wonderful a visit as we did.

The design and set-up is out of this beautiful and feels very vernacular to the surroundings. The location is breathtaking, the staff and food were amazing. The rooms are fantastic and feel very private, with your own plunge pool and outdoor shower. They are really large rooms and full or everything you need.||On top of this the safari element was out of this world. We saw so many animals and the location is perfect. The main park is a short drive away but you can still see animals on the way. Being slightly outside the main park gives a true feeling of seclusion and an extra feeling of luxury.||Our guide was called MK and he was really great. He was very attentive and knowledgable about everything we saw. The team that ran the main restaurant and lounge area were all amazing, really polite, and very friendly.

First stop on a 3 country safari holiday with my partner in May /June 2024.|Efficient pickup at Kasane airport, and approx 50 min transfer to Ngoma. |Friendly greeting by several staff, given low down on the camp and escorted to our lovely accomodation for the next 3 days. ||Spacious room, with a sitting area, king sized extremely comfortable bed, and mezzanine bathroom with seperate toilet, shower, bath and double basins. Outdoor shower and plunge pool on deck with a view. ||Upon leaving our room for the first game drive we were greeted by 3 giraffe's grazing 50 meters away. Tebbe was our lovely guide for our safari's and went out of his way to accomodate our group which consisted of 4 more people from Philadelphia. Having a great group is always and added plus.||Our game viewing was exemplary, consisting of morning, evening and night drives as well as a boat cruise on the Chobe with a delicious picnic lunch. Elephants, hippos, cape buffalo, crocodiles, baboons, giraffe, zebras, lions, vast birdlife, jackal, warthogs and even an elusive leopard.||Finally the service, so friendly and always happy, accomodating and efficient! Samson the chef was amazing, as was his support staff. Beautiful food, even managed to get a couple of his recipes! The best G&T's by the bar staff and lovely wine every evening. ||We loved our stay at Ngoma and highly recommend this camp. After completing our 10 day safari holiday this would go down as the best overall camp we visited.

Out of the 5 fabulous places we stayed while traveling Zimbabwe, Botswana and Cape Town SA, Ngoma was our favorite. This really says a lot considering how amazing all our vacation accommodations were this trip. |We arrived at Ngoma by vehicle after being driven across the border from Zimbabwe to Kasane Airport. |When we drove up to the lodge we were greeted by Neo, Ishmael, Moreri, Sam (our guide) and other staff members with cool drinks, wet towels and festive singing. We were wowed but nothing prepared us for the view as we entered the main area. It was stunning. |A staff member could tell we were in awe and said wait until you see your rooms. He was correct. The rooms were spacious, beautifully decorated, comfortable and immaculate. |The housekeeping standard was exceptional!||The food at Ngoma was also our favorite of our stays. Everything was delicious and presented in a gorgeous manner. We loved the breakfast and the desserts every night were delicious!||Sam was an amazing guide. Our first game drive may be one of our most memorable as Sam took us to see a leopard right off the bat. The amount of animals in Chobe is breathtaking. We were literally in between herds of hundreds of African Buffalo, we saw so many elephants, zebras, hippos, and the abundance of birds was incredible. |Sam also took us to his village Mabele to visit the school and we appreciated the personal tour of a place he knows well and is his home. |Sam was so knowledgeable about all the wildlife in the |area which we knew was because he was from the area his in addition to his book knowledge. He took us out on a small boat on the Chobe River spotting so many birds, lizards, hippos and crocs for us. ||One day when we returned from our drive a mama and baby elephant were drinking from our plunge pool. It was thrilling to see. ||We highly recommend Ngoma for the atmosphere, welcoming staff hospitality and amazing game sightings. Hopefully one day we will be able to return.

The Ngoma Safari Lodge is one of the best places I have ever stayed- maybe the best. It’s like staying with a friend- everyone is on first name terms and the staff are exceptionally friendly and efficient. The view from all the rooms of the valley and river bed is sublime, with the watering hole which always has animals visiting. The food is extremely good and there is a selection of South African wines to accompany it.||The rooms are comfortable and well appointed- you even have a bath and there is a small plunge pool outside each room.||You are allotted a member of staff for your catering needs and for your room and laundry comes back really quickly. You are also allotted a guide for your stay. We had the amazing Jo who adjusted our safaris to suit our needs as we couldn’t do jeep safaris for medical reasons. We saw and learnt lots doing walking safaris with him and has a magical day with the elephants as we boated gently on the Chobe River.||When you leave and return from a safari you get a great welcome from the staff.||This was supposed to be my last visit to Africa but I left my heart in Botswana and Ngoma and I suspect we will be back. Thank you all.