Mushara Bush Camp Test Drive
Packing for a safari is easy because unlike the strict dress code of the cruise set or the trendy city break folks, this is all about simplicity and the wilderness experience. Less is definitely more and if you forget something, like your shoes perhaps, there isn’t a decent safari camp in Africa that won’t accept flip flops at the dining room table. So I was in my comfort zone as I checked down the list of over stuffed camera bag, 2 pairs of battered cargo shorts, un-ironed nosquito shirt, travel plug, freshly oiled leatherman, trusty Persol shades, Charlie and Lola cd, extra juice beaker, A4 animal sticker book, crayons, 70+ SPF sun cream…hey! this isn’t my packing list? The answer to all the added complication is sitting inside my open duffel bag with a pair of my shorts on her head.
Somewhere in between that perfect misty sunrise over the Rwenzoris and the epic sunset leopard stalk in the Olare Orok, the safari loving couple became a trio. Richard Estes has no useful information on the behaviour of this particular species and the Leatherman doesn’t have an attachment suitable for dealing with the situation. OK, so this is all a bit over the top but after 18 months of parenting, we thought it was about time to take junior on her first trip to Africa. A client pow-wow in Namibia was a good excuse and so we tacked on a few days to Etosha and the new family friendly Mushara Bush Camp for our trial run.
I’ll be honest, I was feeling pretty capable by the time we reached Heathrow, Beatle was asleep and dozed through the entire check-in process, piece of cake. The short flight to Frankfurt was a cruise, lots to look at on the plane and the flight was half empty. Progress 4 hours and the noisy cabin, bright lights and irregular meal times are starting to have an impact on mini-Indiana and our closest neighbours. The only trump card we have is the sky cot and 8 hours of sleep. Smiling airline lady brings sky cot, smiling lady retreats, sleepy baby gets dropped into sky cot and…doesn’t fit. Hmmm, didn’t see that coming and no matter how we try and position the semi-conscious aviator, she still doesn’t fit (later we find out that sky cots are only suitable up to a year). So we spend the next 8 hours with a pyjama clad and thankfully largely inert body draped over us. We are more than happy to see the ground approaching as we turn for final approach into Windhoek International. Things get even better when the immigration official waves us away from the snaking line for passport control which is great in length and short in temper. ‘Babies are VIP’s’ she says as she sends us through the empty ‘Diplomats’ counter and I am tempted to high-5 her!
Reaching Windhoek is easy and 25 minutes later we are in the plunge pool at the Olive Grove Garden Suite and the flight is a thing of the past. Bea is so exposed to new experiences she gets sensory overload – sun cream? sun?! warm water that isn’t heated by the boiler! The curious connection between room service and her parent’s good mood…
The drive to Etosha is broken with a few nights at Okonjima Villa where Bea gets to meet her first real lion and better yet, warthogs. Then the business is done and Mushara beckons. The 5 hour drive to Eastern Etosha is a breeze as there really isn’t any traffic in Namibia and every 30 km’s there is a graded picnic area. We stop and play with ant lions long enough for the lunch to start melting. Otavi and a chance meeting with a giraffe and an ostrich are a highlight for junior and the biltong shop provides adult motivation.
Mushara Bush Camp is a collection of 16 timber framed tents on the doorstep of Etosha. As you turn off the tar road into the Mushara Reserve you can just about see the trees marking the national park gate. Like everything at the Mushara Collection, the check-in is calm and hassle free and our bags are at the tent before we get there. The point of the camp is to provide superb (close to unbeatable actually) rates for self drive tourists in a comfortable and stylish setting. The main lapa has everything you need including a good curio shop that sells useful things like toothpaste and shaving cream alongside the wooden giraffes. There is an internet connected computer slightly away from the main area and stacks of toys and books for kids of all ages. This is really a camp for adults which has thoughtfully considered the needs of the children that visit rather than try and exclude them.
The family tent is furnished with a serious double bed for adults and a mossie net covered cot for Bea which she insists on investigating inside and out. There is also a welcome pack waiting for her with colouring book and crayons which help her settle in even faster. I prefer red wine but each to their own. Now the first real test is washing off the road grime, the bathrooms have large walk-in showers with a small tin washtub for the grubbiest clan member. That chore taken care of we toddle the 45 seconds to the lapa and the early dinner we requested for 6pm. Less sophisticated kids can opt for homemade pizza, fish cakes or bolognese. Our culinary adventurer has crayfish with white wine sauce…actually I think it was peas and fish fingers. We have eaten, enjoyed the campfire and returned to our tent before the first adult couple even started to dine. The following morning we watch the local hornbills waking up and Bea marvels open mouthed at their superbly childlike design. Although the Bush Camp is really a self-drive destination, we arrange for a game drive with one of Mushara’s guides from the Outpost. Etosha is an easy park to dip into with endless opportunities to stop and enjoy the sounds and sights of the wildlife. We don’t drive very far and we don’t stay very long but we see enough to fill half a notepad with abstract crayon depictions of giraffes, lizards and pink Land Rovers. We retreat in the face of a monumental rainstorm and spend the rest of the day test driving the camp facilities. There is a small outside play area with sandpit, swings and a lovingly crafted mini tractor. The staff are as keen to entertain and assist as we are to let them. The childminding service is free which is a great bonus for slightly older kids, as is the kids drive on the property. Our two days disappear and it is obvious that the Bush Camp can handle families just as well as it does couples. The tent is more than adequate for our simple needs with multiple small touches (like the tiny bathtub) that remove a lot of the additional hassle from packing small infants for a safari.
The drive back to Windhoek is broken by a comedy tour of the woodcarving market in Okahandja. You try and tell the ecstatic artist that just because your young companion has collected 30 carvings from around his shack that you will be buying them. We leave with the smallest mask they have which is now hanging up in the garden shed…
If you have a family interested in visiting Namibia, they will not be disappointed by the price or the service at Mushara Bush Camp.