Chobe Chilwero Lodge, an A&K Sanctuary — Hotel in Chobe District

Three night stay in June at Chobe Chilwero, one of the three lodges visited in Botswana.||Pros:||- Very tasty food each day, and the chef and kitchen staff was very accommodating, making a simple meal of delicious chicken broth soup and rice one day, when one member of our party had an upset stomach. One of the best chicken soups ever tasted!||- Our private guide each day was Lets, and he was dedicated, flexible, and shared his love of nature and endless knowledge of the local environment. Thank you Lets!||- Lodges, not tents. The sleeping rooms are permanent structures, not tents or "under canvas," which means working heat and A/C as needed, spacious sleeping area, full bathroom and shower, etc.||- Convenient location. On the edge of the Chobe National Park entrance, Chobe River, and within a few minutes drive of Kasane town and airport. This means that you can fly into Kasane airport and spend the afternoon doing game drives. River location opens up the possibility of sunset cruises, which we enjoyed two days. While this is not a private concession (meaning no night drives, no walking safari, no off-roading), we encountered few other vehicles. Proximity to the river means you have drive and boat options, which we liked.||- Really nice view from the front yard down to the river. About every 4 days, the staff plans an sunset BBQ dinner in the boma.||- Victoria Falls (Mosi-Oa-Tunya – The Smoke That Thunders) is 90 minutes away, and we opted for a day trip. The lodge staff set it up for us, and enjoyed the chance to see this natural wonder.||- Elephants! Chobe National Park has many many elephants, and this was a big plus for us, personally.||- There is a swimming pool and a massage/spa option, but we were so busy on game drives that we did not use these.|||Cons:||- We had a few small miscommunications with housekeeping, but nothing that was too major.||- Wi-fi in the common areas. Suggestion: Please remove wi-fi access from the common areas and post signage. The atmosphere in the lodge bar and dining areas is lovely. It's unfortunate when it's ruined by somebody video chatting loudly (usually with no headphones) with family back home or doing a “business deal.” Nobody else wants to hear this conversation. Wish management would keep WiFi limited to the individual rooms.||Reminder to tip staff, guides, etc. They work hard and it makes...

The last stop on our 2-week African adventure brought us to the Choebe Chilwero Lodge, where we were greeted by the singing of the wonderful staff, along with a cool towel to wipe off the dust and a nice drink to settle us into the comfort zone that the lodge became.||With only a handful of lodges overlooking the Choebe river, we enjoyed beautiful sunsets in the evening and a wonderful front deck to watch the baboons play during the afternoon. The warmth of the service and the attention to detail was outstanding. The complementary foot massage introduced us to the spa which my wife and I took advantage of between safari rides.| |Chica, our guide was wonderful in making sure we got a complete and exciting experience on our safari jeep and boat rides. The lodge is located adjacent to the Chobe National Park entrance. The jeep rides provided plenty of animal sightings, in the bush and along the riverbanks. As a National Park we needed to stay on the roads which was a different experience which we had at a private reserve. Where things stood out, was once we boarded a boat for on the river safari. Again, Chica, was amazing maneuvering the boat for us to get up close and personal with all manners of wildlife, whether Elephant, Hippo, Crock, or any number of exotic birds. The perspective of slowly floating down the river as literally hoards of Elephants passed by was amazing. Watching a group of Elephants swim across the river was something I will never forget.||All in all, it was a marvelous stay. When trying to describe the luxurious and relaxed feeling with our party I compared it to the White Lotus, only without the murder. I would highly recommend...

This was the third, and final, of our three stays in Sanctuary Retreat Camps (each for three nights) and this time we were in a Pool Suite with a private plunge pool; we had a dip every afternoon and it was ‘refreshing’ and wonderful. We did, however, ‘share’ the area from time to time with the many baboons; quite hilarious antics.||Our accommodation (no. 1) was excellent with a/c and fans, huge bathroom with a deep bath, and plenty of hanging/storage options. There was a terrace overlooking the pool and huge garden area with sun loungers and seating area. Fabulous. The only downside was the power to our Pavilion went out on our first night (no a/c, fans or lights) and it took some time the next day to fix.||As we had now moved on from the Okavango Delta to the Chobe River area, everything was more green and lush, and the gardens around the Pavilions reflected this. There was a lovely two-level general pool and a winding path from our Pavilion to the general area. Again, as this is not fenced, it is necessary to be escorted after sunset to/from the room/general area.||The general areas were large with lovely wooden floors and good dining and seating options. There was also the traditional Braai area.||We went out with Tim for one Jeep safari and two boat (one included an excellent lunch) trips and it was wonderful to see so much green around the River. So many elephants, water buffalo, hippos, water birds, etc., etc.||This was a lovely stay although we felt that the standard of service and staff friendliness, was less than we had experienced in the other two...