Extraordinary Africa>Namibia>Etosha>Mushara Outpost
For guests who want an alternative to the simple rest camps within Etosha National Park, Mushara Outpost is a fantastic option. It’s really comfortable, a short distance from the park gates and gives visitors the chance to either self drive or join on game drives from the lodge.
What’s Mushara Outpost really like?
Arriving at the main lodge you come to a sprawling ranch-style building. It’s a chic, almost glamorous farmhouse, spread long and low with bleached white stone and a tin roof. Outside, there’s a lovely verandah, and inside you’ll find fans spinning under the rafters, planters chairs to lounge in and cow hides on the floor. It’s really rather stylish and could as easily be a fashionable Capetonian hideout as a lodge in the Namibian bush. If you wander out into the gardens from here, there’s a pool and a small waterhole overlooked by a hide. Food here is generally good, and we’d especially like to mention that all of the lodges on Mushara are run with a tremendous amount of heart. It’s clear to see here how much love goes in from both the owners, but also the staff, many of whom have been here for well over a decade. Brick pathways lead from the main areas to the 8 guest rooms. We’re not sure if “room” is really the right term as they have canvas walls, but these are most definitely not a standard tent. They’re raised up on polished wooden decking, have comfortable double or twin beds, and large windows onto the bush outside.
What can I do at Mushara Outpost?
Our guests who come to Mushara Outpost either self-drive on their own game drives in Etosha (the park gate is 10km from the lodge) or use the vehicles and guides at Mushara to join guided drives. The latter gives you the benefit of your guide’s expert knowledge, on the ground information and the seemingly superhuman ability to spot wildlife where it seems invisible to everyone else. With the former, finding your own sightings from your own vehicle is hugely exciting and there’s a real sense of triumph if you spot something spectacular yourself. It’s also possible to mix and match and do some drives with the lodge and others yourself. The one thing we’d just stress is that it’s pretty essential to book any drives you want to do with a lodge guide in advance.
We think Mushara Outpost is incredibly good value for the level of comfort you get. It’s worth being aware that, unlike some of the super high-end lodges elsewhere in the park, Mushara only conducts game drives in Etosha and not on its own reserve.
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