Thamalakane River Lodge, the best lodge in Maun they say

Thamalakane River Lodge was the starting point for my adventure in Botswana.

I´ve been arranging trips for my nearest friends the last couple of years. We´d decided in 2009, after a trip to South Africa, that we wanted to see more of Africa. I did some extensive investigations before the plan was approved. Botswana was our next destination.

One thing that we have learned during our trips is that one shouldn´t hurry. That will just make you stressed so for this trip I decided that we at least should have one night’s good sleep before we started any adventures. I choose Thamalakane River Lodge because of two things, the food and the location. The food should be the best around Maun. I can´t tell you if that is true, but what I can say is that the food was good.

A nice place along the river

The location along the Thamalakane River is truly spectacular. One really marveled at the first sunset on the opposite side of the river. The frog choir started to chirp and the Hippos grunted when we ate our first dinner under the African night sky. A special treat after a long and tiresome journey.

The standard of the rooms was good even if mine was overrun by Spiders. I usually do not enjoy their company, but they act as mosquito hunters that would protect us during sleep. The swimming pool was a little disappointing. I thought they had a decent pool when I looked at the ads, but it was just a splash pool. Nothing to write home about even if we did try it.

Little Egret landing at Thamalakane River Lodge

There were many different birds on the compound and many more flew past using the river as a highway. We found a Yellow-billed Kite nest in a big tree on the compound and also a resident slender mongoose. Sometimes goats entered the compound to go down to the river to drink, but they were most often chased away by the staff.

So all in all a good starting point for what would become an epic adventure.

Photo Album: Thamalakane River Lodge 2011