Aoba Lodge Etosha Namibia

Being adjacent to Etosha National Park, Aoba Lodge is the perfect starting point for game viewing in the park. The excellent infrastructure of the park invites you to venture out in your own vehicle or if you prefer to concentrate on game viewing and photography, we recommend our guided Etosha Game Drive.

Email Reservations: etosha@go.namibiabookings.com

Welcome to the Namibian Wilderness - Welcome to Etosha Aoba Lodge - situated on a 36.000 ha private game reserve adjacent to the Etosha National Park. - Nature and leisure at it's best - where you can participate in any of our memorable activities or relax in a pleasant bush atmosphere.

After an eventful day in the Etosha National Park, what nicer place to come home to than this thatched lodge with 10 bungalows tucked away in the bush.

Ulli & Georg Zimmermann and Chris & Helmut Schnaufer look forward to serving you cold drinks and an excellent dinner.
Guests elected this the second best Lodge within one year of opening.

Activities include nature walks, a sundown game-viewing drive to the edge of Fisher's pan in an open vehicle, or simply relaxing by the pool.

10 Bungalows with en-suite facilities
Open-air Thatched Dining-recreation Area
Swimming Pool

Comfort Bungalows
Our 6 thatched Comfort Bungalows are located along the dry “Omuramba Owambo” riverbed close to the Lapa. In the middle of the Namibian wilderness you will find everything for a pleasant stay. The large twin beds have separate mattresses and a large mosquito net. All bungalows have a private terrace with seating, shower / toilet, mini safe, "bush-minibar”, ceiling fan and tea / coffee facilities. For the winter season there are heating fans available.

Luxury Bungalows
Our four free standing Luxury Bungalows offer privacy and all the comforts for a pleasant stay. Enjoy the tranquillity of the African Bush from your private terrace with chairs, sun loungers and a “mini lapa”. For a quick relief from the summer heat you will find your own refreshing outside shower. A ceiling fan and an air-condition/heating unit ensure that you feel comfortable in any season with us.

The large glass sliding door is combined with a mosquito screen. Should a mosquito find his way into your bungalow, a large mosquito net protects your bed from these unwanted “guests”. All our Luxury Bungalows are equipped with a modern bathroom with shower/toilet, small safe and tea / coffee facilities. In the evening we fill up your "bush-minibar” with cold drinks.

From our swimming pool you have a view over our waterhole. Ice cold drinks and snacks are served directly at the pool.
The perfect way to relax after a long drive or a busy day.

From our open Lapa and the swimming pool you can see a waterhole where you can observe wild animals coming to have a drink. Our bar overlooks both the swimming pool as well as the waterhole. On the terrace in front of the open Lapa, dinner is served under the star filled African sky. The open Lapa is a place of gathering where guests and hosts meet to relax and chat. Here amazing stories are shared between guests while enjoying cold drinks.

Wine and Dine at Aoba
Let us pamper you with inventive German / Namibian cuisine made from the finest Namibian products. Enjoy fine game dishes by candle light and the tranquillity of the Namibian bush. Naturally we entertain a vegetarian's every wish too! Our selection of wine is extraordinary! We have the best South African wines in stock served at appropriate temperatures! Wine fundis will take much pleasure in our selection of wines. During the dinner you can watch Damara Dikdiks, Common Duiker, Warthog, Kudus and Zebra at the illuminated waterhole.

Being adjacent to Etosha National Park, Aoba Lodge is the perfect starting point for game viewing in the park. The excellent infrastructure of the park invites you to venture out in your own vehicle or if you prefer to concentrate on game viewing and photography, we recommend our guided Etosha Game Drive. Our trained guides will drive you through the National Park in our open off-road vehicle and explain to you what to look out for and supply any information that you might require.

Activities
An absolute highlight at Etosha Aoba Lodge! About two hours before sunset we drive off into the bush with an off-road vehicle. On the way to our Sundowner spot at Fishers Pan our guide will explain the miracles of nature. In the great outdoors it is not possible to say which kind of animals you will encounter. Each tour is different and brings new experiences and surprises. With a glass of gin & tonic in hand we savour an unforgettable sundowner at the edge od Fischers Pan.

Aoba Drive
Being adjacent to Etosha National Park, Aoba Lodge is the perfect starting point for game viewing in the park. The excellent infrastructure of the park invites you to venture out in your own vehicle or if you prefer to concentrate on game viewing and photography, we recommend our guided Etosha Game Drive. Our trained guides will drive you through the National Park in our open off-road vehicle and explain to you what to look out for and supply any information that you might require.

Nature Drive
Hundreds of Questions…

What is that small mound in the road?... Why is the little vulture alone in the nest?.... Why can’t we see termites but only the mounds?.... Why are there mud on the trees?... To answer all your questions and to bring you closer to the wonderful and fantastic Namibian wildlife we have created our own Nature Drive. To reach the most beautiful areas of our private game reserve we have buildt a private track through the bush.

We do morning and afternoon drives. The afternoon drive ends with a "Sundowner" in the open plains.The drive is approximately 3 1/2 hours.

Botanical Trails
There is a short nature trail along the dry river bed leading from the Lodge to a nearby watering hole. We have marked all interesting trees and bushes with numbers along this 2km long route and you can read all about the special characteristics of these plants in a specialized list. If you prefer, one of our tour guides can accompany you. At the watering hole there is a small hide where you can hide a while and watch the activities - particularly in the early morning or late afternoon.

Game Watching
The diverse vegetation types on the ranch supports a variety of game. After the removal of the internal fences, game has become more abundant in the reserve as the animals can now move around more freely. Participating in different nature conservation projects has led to custodianship of rhinos in our reserve. Elephant are not found on this reserve.

Bird Watching
There are wonderful bird watching opportunities all around Etosha Aoba Lodge. In addition to the resident bird population, the various migratory and predatory birds enhance the variety. The bird bath next to the the Lapa attracts many small birds.

These are some points of interest in our area. Depending on your route, you may wish to visit some of these destinations on your way to us or when you travelling to your next destination.

Other activities: Hoba Meteorite
The Hoba Meteorite is the largest known meteorite and likewise the largest known single mass of native iron known on earth. There are some other large iron meteorites around, the most prominent of which are summarized in the table below.However, all these other irons are not nearly as large as the Hoba Meteorite.

The Hoba meteorite was discovered in 1920 by the farmer of the Farm Hoba West near Grootfontein in northern Namibia (at that time called "South West Africa). As the story goes, the farmer was ploughing through one of his fields, when he heard an odd metallic screetch and the ox-driven plough suddenly came to a full stop. Upon closer investigation the farmer discovered a huge boulder of iron, measuring roughly 3 by 3 meter.

Due to its immense weight of roughly 60 tons it was never seriously attempted to remove the boulder nor was it feasible to cut the iron into smaller pieces.

More activities in our area include:
- Baobab Tree
- Olukonda
- Ombili Fondation
- Otjikoto Lake
- Tsumeb Museum

History Of Aoba Lodge
A O B A …is a word from the San (Bushman) languages and means: „when the sun goes down“
„If our dream comes true, I will give this name to our lodge “, said Georg Zimmermann to his wife Uli and his partners as they watched the magnificent sundown in 1993 on Fischers Pan. The dream came true and Zimmermanns managed the lodge with their former partners Chris and Helmut until 2002 and put their hart and soul into it. At that time it was only the third lodge in the north of Namibia. In spite of considerable logistical problems to get building material into the bush, the construction period was only 6 months.

After an absence of 5 years, Uli and Georg decided to do the job themselves again as Chris and Helmut retired from the business. It was not difficult to get the former team together again, because the Aoba Lodge is a paradise for all of us.

Our private nature reserve increased to an enormous 36.000 ha and we have removed more than 200km of internal fences creating a natural environment for the wild animals.

Farm and Nature
The Etosha Aoba Lodge is located on the Farm Vergenoeg. In May 1998 the Farm was officially proclaimed Fischer's Pan Private Nature Reserve. At the same time we removed all the internal fences which were necessary to demarcate grazing for cattle farming. The 7000ha could now be freely roamed by the game.

The boundary fences remained for many years but eventually in 2007 after a close partnership developed between Fischers Pan Private Game Reserve and the owners of the neighbouring farms the common boundary fences were removed. The result is a private nature reserve with the gigantic size of 36.000ha. In the same year all the fences in the new private reserve were removed. A big step forward for the animal welfare in the north of Namibia.

Location
Etosha Aoba Lodge is adjacent to Etosha National Park. As soon as you drive through our gate you will find yourself in the middle of the African wilderness. After barely 13km you will reach our small paradise - pure peace and tranquillity.

It's easy to find us:
Coming from the east, follow the B1 direction North/Etosha, turn left onto C38 and you will reach the Lodge after 25 km directly to the right hand side of the Etosha Gate. Then just follow the signs for 13 km along a natural bush road and you will find the lodge.
Coming from the west you will leave Etosha at von Lindequist Gate. You immediately turn left and follow the signs. You will find the lodge after 13 km of natural bush road.

The common boundary with the Etosha National Park makes this location very special.