Ongava Lodge

CEDARBERG RATING

Premier

PRICING FROM

₤ 255 (Pps)

Overview
  •  Luxurious hillside lodge with panoramic views
  •  Private game reserve bordering Etosha
  •  Open Game drives into Etosha also offered
  • Rhino tracking on foot

Ongava Lodge lies within the Ongava Game Reserve, a private 30,000ha game reserve on the south boundary of Etosha National Park. Ongava has three completely different camps to choose from - the authentic Ongava Tented Camp, the larger Ongava Lodge with its hillside setting and the ultra-luxurious Little Ongava with a price tag to match.

Ongava Lodge has a magnificent setting, perched close to the top of a koppie overlooking an active floodlit waterhole with wide-angled views of the African plains beyond. The main lodge is a massive thatched area with sitting area, dining area and bar all enjoying the impressive views. Just below is the pool deck with sun loungers around the inviting pool. Meals are either served in the main dining area under thatch or on the dining deck under the stars.

Paths and plenty of steps connect the 14 air-conditioned thatch and stone chalets which are dotted around the hillside. (This might not be the right camp for someone with mobility issues.) The chalets are stylishly furnished with a spacious bedroom with ceiling fan, comfy chair and writing desk, bathroom with separate loo and a secluded veranda/viewing deck. One chalet is a family suite with two en suite bedrooms connected by a small foyer.

Activities

Activities at Ongava Lodge include morning game drives in open 4x4 vehicles into Etosha, as well as night drives and nature walks within the Ongava private game reserve. With its resident white and black rhino, rhino tracking on foot is a popular activity at Ongava. You also have the chance to see black-faced impala, lion, leopard, cheetah and plenty of plains species. Keen birders may see various species from a pygmy falcon to some of Namibia's endemic species such as Hartlaub's francolin, the bare-cheeked babbler or Ruppel's parrot with a bird hide on offer.

Children over the age of 8 years are welcome at Ongava Lodge. Families with children under 12 years must take a private vehicle & guide as children's attention spans are not the same as adults. There would be no extra cost for a family of four but a family with 2 or 3 people may be charged extra for a private vehicle unless there is another family in camp who could share that vehicle and/or availability of vehicles at that particular time is not a problem.

Ongava Lodge can be booked on a Dinner, Bed & Breakfast basis or on a Fully Inclusive Basis.

At A Glance

  • Birding hotspot
  • Swimming pool
  • Beautiful Landscapes
  • Walking safaris

Ongava Lodge on the map

Rooms

Standard Chalet(s)

There are thirteen standard chalets, each with 2 twin three quarter beds.

Family Chalet

There is one family unit available, which consists of 2 bedrooms. Each unit / bedroom has two three quarter beds and their own en-suite bathroom with flush toilet, shower and double hand basin. The two units / bedrooms have a shared entrance and are joined by a boardwalk.

My family holiday to Namibia

My 12 day trip to Namibia in January was an unbelievable experience for all my family. We drove all the way through the country from the south (Fish River Canyon) to the north (Etosha National Park) with my two boys in our double cab 4x4. This is the ideal vehicle for travelling with children – especially because of the distances.

The following are some highlights.

We visited the Fish River Canyon at 9:00am in the morning and were the only people at the second largest canyon in the world - unbelievable!! Here we stayed at Canon Lodge with rooms built into the boulders.

The towering dunes of Sossusvlei and climbing “Big Daddy” were also an experience that we will never forget. The children charge ahead whilst the adults puffed along behind! Sossusvlei is a paradise for the keen photographer as I took hundreds of photos of the towering dunes. Our stay at the Wilderness Safaris properties (Kulala Desert Lodge & Little Kulala) was exceptional and to be recommended.

Swakopmund was the next highlight and definitely the children’s favourite town as we all did the quad biking in the dunes, tried our hand at sandboarding and even went fishing at Henties Bay (about one hour north of Swakopmund). We stayed at the Hansa Hotel which is centrally located and near all the sites to visit.

Next we headed to Etosha National Park and had a fantastic stay at Ongava Lodge, situated just outside the southern boundary of Etosha, and at Onguma Bush Lodge on the eastern side. They have an active floodlit waterhole where we saw lion, giraffe, zebra, springbok and various other antelope. Etosha National Park itself was the best overall game experience I have ever had in a national park as there was such a variety of wildlife at every waterhole – just as those classic Etosha pictures would suggest!

We drove from Etosha to Windhoek for the last days of our trip and stayed at The Windhoek Country Club Resort which was also very popular with the kids. This is the most resort-like place on our stay as they have an outdoor water play area, an 18 hole golf course (which allows children to play) and lots of space to run around.

Cedarberg : Sonja Brand