Nunda River Lodge’s campsite in northeastern Namibia

27/1/2016

By Roxanne Reid
After a long day of driving in the heat of the African sun, it was hard not to fall in love with Nunda River Lodge’s campsite near Divundu in the Kavango region of northeastern Namibia. Part of Open Africa’s Four Rivers Route (Kavango, Kwando, Zambezi and Chobe) this was one of the nicest campsites of our two-month, 11 000-kilometre roadtrip in Namibia.

Nunda in the language of the Hambukushu people means the fruit of the jackalberry tree (which I discovered smells and tastes like fig but has a very dry, powdery aftertaste). Friendly owner Cameron Wilson gave us a personal welcome and showed us to our site to make sure we were happy with our choice – a service not readily found at campsites elsewhere.

Shade and green grass - a luxury in Namibia

We chose a site with green grass, a shady knob thorn tree and privacy thanks to a reed enclosure. It also had a built-in braai, a tap and bin. We were seduced by shade and grass just a few metres from the river, close enough to hear the tuba music of hippos as if we were in the royal circle of a concert hall. Although there were riverfront campsites they had less shade and more sand.

One of the riverfront campsites

The campsite’s ablutions were very clean, brick to waist height then reed walls above that, with reed doors. The shower cubicles were huge and hot water came from a donkey boiler that was lit for us at 4:30pm. There were plenty hooks to hang things on (lack of such simple things being one of my biggest gripes about campsite ablutions in general), even a bench. Someone really understands what campers need. Interesting touches were the traditional conical fishing baskets that had been turned into light fittings and the narrow courtyard garden between the showers and the loos.

The lounge area, with the bar on the far right

The wooden deck on the river's edge, a great place for sundowners

The lodge also had chalets and Meru tents on wooden decks along the riverfront, a swimming pool to cool off in, and bright gardens of bottlebrush and bougainvilla. The reception and dining area was a huge wooden deck under thatch and we enjoyed a cold drink and a nice meal in the bar area at lunch time.

The lodge's swimming pool and gardens

We had lunch on this deck near the bar; it had wifi too

Things to do in the area
We’d been to the Kavango-Zambezi area before and I was recovering from a stomach bug so not keen to go running around being busy, but there’s lots to do here:

mokoro or boat trips on the river
game drives to Mahango Game Reserve or the buffalo core area of Bwabwata National Park

Baobab tree, Mahango Game Reserve, Namibia

A baobab tree in the Mahango Game Reserve

a visit to Popa Falls about 1.5km away
birding – there are some 430 bird species in the area, from babblers to bee-eaters and ‘specials’ like rock pratincole, yellow wagtail, wattled crane and African skimmer
guided nature walks
a cultural walk through a traditional village
fishing for tilapia, catfish or tiger fish in the river.

Above and below: the main reception/dining area at Nunda River Lodge

For me, a ‘joy diary’ moment from Nunda to carry away with us – something I can keep in my memory bank to come back to in my mind’s eye when I want inspiration or need to de-stress – was the river that turned golden orange from the reflection of the sky just after the sun set. Namibian magic.