Accommodation Feature – Images Courtesy of: Anyadwe House
Accommodation Feature – Images Courtesy of: Anyadwe House
Since 2020, the waters of Lake Victoria have risen to submerge thousands of acres of shoreline, along with the homes and hotels that stand on them, before surging down the Nile to cause further mayhem downstream. One notable casualty in this latter category was Baker’s Lodge, the most luxurious and exclusive of the riverside properties serving Murchison Falls NP. As its cottages slumped into the rising river, the owners salvaged the furniture and conceived of a new vision above the new waterline.
The result is the even more luxurious and exclusive Anyadwe House, which, like Baker’s before it, stands on the southern bank on the River Nile facing the wilds of Murchison Falls National Park, just a little further uphill.
As my most recent companion and I discovered, a weekend spent at Anyadwe House pendulums between two extremes. Having come all this way, it does make sense to get out and about to explore the national park. All well and good, but do take time to simply relax and do nothing as well. You’ll find that these apparently conflicting demands on your time are not mutually exclusive. Though Anyadwe lies outside the park, animals don’t know this and you may be lucky enough to see elephant, buffalo and antelope in the grounds and you’ll certainly hear hippo grazing the lawns during the night.
Architecturally, Anyadwe House is a bold break with the gum pole and thatch safari style used by every other lodge in the vicinity. Having assembled these materials, it is standard practice to scatter distinctive cushions around the public areas to (a) briefly enliven your companion’s day (as in ‘Ooh, look at that lovely fabric!’) and (b) help you to tell one lodge from the next. Anyadwe is above such a laboured ploy, however, for it is already completely different to everywhere else. As one of our party opined, it employs an ‘unusually modern approach with evident cubist influences.’ Doesn’t ‘cubist’ mean the same as ‘box’?’ asked my companion with a perception that briefly added an unexpectedly cerebral depth to our relationship.
So, in a nutshell (or in a large box if you prefer), Anyadwe House comprises four spacious and luxurious en suite rooms, all with river views, two on each side of a storied lounge-dining building. Guests can relax, eat, enjoy a drink, browse the excellent library and enjoy the river views from the terrace: or go upstairs to do exactly the same things but 4m higher, like a giraffe. The shady ground floor veranda leads to a lovely stone swimming pool where you can do all the aforementioned things and swim as well. It can get hot so if you use the stuff, don’t forget your sunscreen!
With only 4 double/twin rooms, Anyadwe is more of a home from home than a lodge. To be specific, it’s the home by the Nile you always dreamt of, though perhaps with more concrete. Perhaps in your dreams, the nearest decent supermarket isn’t 300km away either but that difficulty is taken care of. Justus, Winnie, Precious and Irene are there on site to make sure that you are pampered and fed three times a day, and to exacting standards too. The house is completely off grid and is solar powered by the fierce Murchison sun. With 25 x 200Ah batteries on site, there is sufficient electricity to drive powerful ceiling fans that keep the place cool, along with fridge-freezers that ensure that the cold drink of your choice is always available. In this latter respect, let moderation be your watchword if you will be getting up at 6am for a game drive. Come the dawn, and having ignored this advice, my companion was not at her sunniest as we drove across the Nile on a large bridge. Our driver explained to her that things could be worse, and had Chinese engineers not recently built the bridge, she would be standing impatiently on the south bank queuing to cross the river on a diesel-belching vehicle ferry. Shuddering at this prospect, I mentally added Paraa Bridge to the list of wonderful things China has given the world, like fireworks and noodles.
We were in luck on our game drive. After spotting giraffe, buffalo, and a host of antelopes my companion, momentarily and inexplicably distracted from her phone, cried ‘Look, a tiger!’ Sure enough, a lithe feline form was running elegantly down the trunk of a tree, its beautiful, spotted coat shining in the morning sun. Just as quickly, it vanished as the animal merged into the tall grass. Excited by her sighting, my companion sought to tick off her cat on the wildlife checklist kindly provided by Anyadwe House, a futile task that occupied her to the banks of the Nile at Hippo Point where a herd of watering elephants provided a memorable backdrop to coffee and breakfast biting’s.
Thus revived, we now took to the water, boarding a swift 8-seater boat that returned us upriver to Anyadwe via an expanse of swamp where we were privileged to sight the rare Shoebill. Our boatman explained that this is known as the Holy Grail of Birdwatching and that people come all the way from the USA to see it. Though I was impressed myself by this strikingly bizarre creature, my companion muttered that coming from Kampala to see a bird was more than far enough and that she was tired and bored.
Back at Anyadwe, and exhausted by her excursion, my paramour was further disappointed to find that there is no massage with hot stones at Anyadwe, particularly since every companion in an Eye review has enjoyed one since 1998. She sulked until Winnie, by now alert to her fluctuating moods, produced a glass of chilled rose. This, and a couple of refills, got us through a three-course lunch to another mandatory activity. From our private jetty, our 8-seat craft cruised past hippos, crocodiles and elephants (as well as double-decker pleasure boats crammed with tourists) to see the fabulous Murchison Falls explode through a gap in the rift valley cliffs. From the number of selfies taken, I concluded that my companion was also happy. And so, for the time being, was I.
Anyadwe House is hired by the night so to get full value for money, it’s best, as we did, to fill it with a party of four couples. Plan for three nights to get a decent balance of park activities and down-time.
Located immediately outside MFNP’s Mubako Gate (park fees apply when entering the park for game drives and boat trips), Anyadwe House is 6 hours’ drive from Kampala via Hoima and, except for the last 6km, is tarmac all the way! Rates are full board and include beer and selected wines. If it becomes suddenly necessary for your companion to return urgently to Kampala, Link Bus departs twice-daily from Bulisa, 25km away. Winnie will call a boda (Ush20k) to take her there.