Eighteen
Luxury Chalets
Thatched, air-conditioned and spaced among the trees. Each has an en-suite bathroom, mosquito net, coffee station, lounge area and a private porch facing the river.
01The lodge
A bend in the river,
and the sound of Popa.
Shametu stands on the north bank of the Kavango at Divundu, where the river crosses its one band of hard rock and breaks into a kilometre of white channels. It is the last rapid the water meets before it spreads out and becomes the Okavango Delta.
Eighteen thatched chalets, four tented chalets on stilts and seven campsites are spaced along the bank under jackalberry and makalani palm. There is a pool, a coffee shop, a conference room and an African spa. The dining deck hangs far enough over the water that the hippos become part of dinner.
You are halfway to everywhere here. The Botswana border at Mohembo is thirty-two kilometres down the C48, and Bwabwata and Mahango start at the gate. Most people book one night on the way through, then rebook.
- 18Luxury chalets
- 4Tented chalets
- 7Campsites
- 400+Bird species
02Popa Falls
The one hard rock
in a river of sand.
-
The drop
Four metres, spread across roughly a kilometre of channels and islands rather than falling in a single curtain. Popa is a cataract, not a waterfall, and it is all the better for it.
-
Low water, June onward
The quartzite ledge comes back into the air and the river breaks white across it. This is when Popa looks like Popa, and when the rock-nesting birds return.
-
High water, February to April
Rain that fell on the Angolan highlands in January reaches Divundu around four months later. The channels fill, the islands shrink and the rapids quieten.
Everywhere else along this river the bed is Kalahari sand. At Divundu it is quartzite, which is the entire reason the water breaks here. A quarter of a square kilometre around it is Popa Falls Game Park, the smallest national park in Namibia, and it is a short walk from the lodge gate.
03Stay
Rooms that face the water.
Four
Tented Chalets
Permanent tents on stilts at the water's edge, with the same en-suite comforts and the best view of the rapids on the property. The coffee shop is a short walk along the bank.
Seven
Campsites
Private stands with electricity, running water and sheltered kitchenettes. Smaller sites have their own ablutions, family sites share. Shade, grass, and the river a few steps away.
One
Self-Catering House
A fully equipped house set back in the bush with a lapa and braai area, serviced daily. Five minutes on a sand path to reception and the dining deck.
04Days
Six ways to spend a morning.
- Mokoro on the channels
- Poled through the reeds in a shallow dugout, low enough that the water is at your elbow. Hippo, crocodile, and whichever herons are working the edges. Seasonal, because it depends on the water.
- Sunset cruise to the falls
- Downstream with a drink as the light goes, to sit off the head of the rapids while the sun drops behind the reeds. The boat that everyone books twice.
- Game drive, Mahango and Bwabwata
- Into the parks at the gate. Elephant, buffalo, hippo, giraffe, roan, sable and red lechwe: an antelope list you cannot easily assemble anywhere else in Namibia.
- Tiger fishing
- From the bank or from the boat, up to three rods. Tigerfish, three-spot bream, nembwe and catfish. Best once the water has dropped, roughly June onward. We fish catch and release.
- Village walk
- Half an hour on foot with a guide to the neighbouring Hambukushu village, to see how completely life here is organised around the river: the fishing, the fields, and the palm-leaf basketry.
- African spa
- Treatments in a thatched room above the water, with the rapids doing the soundtrack. Booked at reception, usually for the hour before dinner.
05Wild
More birds than
anywhere in Namibia.
Over four hundred species have been recorded on this stretch, the highest count of any site in the country. Four of them are the reason serious birders make the drive.
Pel’s Fishing Owl
Africa’s second-largest owl, a metre and a half across the wings. It hunts after dark from the big riverine trees, taking fish off the surface with its feet. Ginger, enormous, and almost never seen, which is exactly why people come.
African Skimmer
Its lower bill is longer than the upper and flattened like a scissor blade. It flies the surface at dusk with that bill ploughing the water, and nests in scrapes on exposed sandbanks, so the low-water months are its season.
Rock Pratincole
A bird that follows the rocks. It leaves when the river floods and returns as the water drops and the ledges of Popa come back into the air. When you can see the rapids, you can usually see the pratincoles.
Slaty Egret
Vulnerable, and effectively ours. The species barely occurs outside this corner of Africa, with the great majority of the world’s birds in the Okavango system. Small, dark, working the shallows.
06The region
Elephants here
carry no passports.
Bwabwata sits at the centre of KAZA, the five-country conservation landscape that lets elephants move between Namibia, Angola, Botswana and Zambia without ever meeting a fence. The park is unusual: around five and a half thousand people live inside it.
- Popa Falls Game Park
- 0.25 km², Namibia’s smallest
- Mahango core area
- 245 km², 99 mammal species
- Bwabwata National Park
- 6,274 km²
- Mohembo border post
- 32 km on the C48
- Rundu
- 200 km west on the B8
- Best game viewing
- May to September
07Gallery
The place itself.
08Guests
Three hundred and fifty-five reviews.
Amazing place, great service, great food, especially the fresh bread. It is out of this world. The Shametu team is very friendly and helpful.
rcoetzee2022
The boat tour is a must, with drinks and snacks. You see hippos, crocs, birds. Clean, spacious chalets. Beautiful views. Dinner and breakfast exceptional.
CR2015BXL
What really made this stay special was the staff. Everyone is incredibly kind and helpful. Highly recommend the sunset boat cruise.
Sam
Reviews as published on Tripadvisor.
09Come and see
Experience the tranquillity.
Reservations
+264 61 237 294 enquiries@shameturiverlodge.com
Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 16:30. Leana Marais, Exclusive Reservations.
Finding us
From Rundu, 200 km on the B8 to Divundu, right on the C48 for 7 km, then left for 1 km.
From Kongola, 190 km on the B8 to Divundu, left on the C48 for 7 km, then left for 1 km.