Chiawa Camp

Camp Site Photo #1 of 10 Chiawa Camp blends in effortlessly with its idyllic surroundings and provides a retreat which guests are invited to make their home away from home, where guests receive the friendliest of welcomes, the biggest of smiles and where guests, who leave as friends to return time and again, experience the very best in Africa. Photo copyright Chiawa Camp.

Chiawa Camp and Old Mondoro

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Overview

The family owned and operated Chiawa Camp in the incredible Lower Zambezi National Park is Zambia's premier luxury safari camp and offers unusually varied activities such as game drives, walking, canoeing, boating and angling in the company of Africa's finest guides.

Indulge in attentive yet unpretentious, personalised service, fabulous cuisine and fantastic "tents" with spectacular views of the Zambezi and its resident wildlife. All this in a beautiful setting with leopards, lions, elephants, hippos and other wildlife as your neighbours. Along with Chiawa's renowned dedication to its guests, staff, local communities and conservation, share in Chiawa's passion and experience so that you can enjoy one of Africa's very finest safari camps and the wildlife adventure of a lifetime.

On the banks of the Zambezi River, under a grove of evergreen Mahogany trees, Chiawa Camp holds the prime position in the heart of Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park.

It is at this very spot where the Cumings Family first explored this area for themselves decades ago, where David Livingstone had ventured through nearly 150 years previously, and where in 1989 they created the very first photo safari operation in the Lower Zambezi National Park - and through their efforts what has since become one of Africa's most desirable, sought after safari destinations.

Chiawa's imaginative Executive Chefs ensure meals are of the highest standard, that they are prepared with the freshest of ingredients and with the utmost of care.

Depending on the day's activities, breakfasts, brunches and lunches are served plated or hot & cold buffet, usually al-fresco, sometimes in the bush, and even on a boat in the middle of the Zambezi!"

Afternoon tea with sweet & savoury snacks is usually served upstairs on the viewing platform overlooking the Zambezi and just prior to the afternoon safari activities.

Dinners are usually 4 courses, table d'hote, always offered with a choice of main course, and served under the stars by the camp fire or, if you are visiting during the full moon, on a sand bar in the middle of the Zambezi.

At Chiawa Camp and Old Mondoro it is all about the wildlife, the bush and the river, and an impressive variety of safari activities are available, led by our award winning team of Africa-born guides with an unmatched fleet of vehicles, boats and canoes at their disposal - for all of which our safari operation has become world-renowned.

This means that guests will enjoy levels of choice & convenience not found elsewhere and where the duration of a safari activity is determined by the rhythm of the bush (& enthusiasm of our guests) rather than by the clock.

Not only that, your guides who are to differing extents products of our own in house training program, will guide sympathetically with the best interests of the wildlife, the environment and you at heart meaning that you will get the very best out of your visit to the Lower Zambezi National Park.

Safety is always a priority so all guides have recurrent Advanced first aid training and all boats and vehicles, canoe trips and walks carry first comprehensive first aid kits and are linked to both camps by our VHF radio network.

Once the sun has set night drives commence. Zambia is one of the few countries that permit night drives, perhaps the most interesting of safari activities.

Using filtered spotlights, which do not interfere with the well being and behaviour of the subject and which make it much easier on your eyes too, this is an opportunity to see nocturnal creatures such as civet, porcupine, genet, and also to see some of the larger predators on the move. It is not uncommon to see a pride of lions on a kill or a leopard stalking through the bush. These drives last as long as they need to.

Pioneered in Zambia, bush walks are essentially a "micro-safari". An armed ranger with your qualified and experienced pro guide will guide you through the wilderness on foot, interpreting spoor, identifying the various flora and fauna, and highlighting conservation issues. However elephants and buffalo are seen on most walks and sometimes the big cats so expect anything at anytime. The pace is leisurely and the duration is determined by guests' requirements – and what is seen on the walk. Typically, a few hours are sufficient.

Chiawa Camp is internationally acclaimed as one of the world's leading fishing destinations. Recommended by authoritative anglers and in publications such as The Best Fly Fishing Trips Money Can Buy and Forbes Traveler, expert guides are on hand to assist you in finding the notorious tigerfish (camp record 10.1kg, average 2kg) which are caught on fly or conventional tackle and other species that abound in the Zambezi River.

"Superlatives cannot describe the speed and power of this amazing creature. I've fished them all and I can say without reservation that the tigerfish truly is the toughest freshwater fish" Larry Dahlberg, international adventurer and host of ESPN's Hunt for Big Fish.

"Having the fuselage of a bonefish, the tail of a tarpon, the paint job of a striper, teeth like a bull shark and a compound hinged jaw that works like a turbo powered paper shredder, Hydrocynnus vittatus (Latin for striped river dog) is perhaps the most capable and impressive freshwater predator on earth."