Chisa Busanga Camp: Our full report

Opened in June 2021, Chisa Busanga Camp, also known as 'The Nest', has an innovative 'bubble' design, sitting ...

... on a remote island in the north of Zambia’s Kafue National Park, surrounded by the Busanga Plains’ vast floodplains and dambo wetlands.

Chisa Busanga Camp is new, and although we haven’t had the chance to visit yet, we have seen some of the designs and it looks to be a uniquely styled camp. ‘Chisa’ means bird’s nest in the local Nyanja language, and the camp is named for the nest-like rooms which will stand in the treetops on stilts.

We understand that the camp will have four rooms, each with an ensuite bathrooms and outdoor shower. Opening up to look out over the plains from private observation decks, they look to be a perfect spot to watch the mist rising with the sun each morning and wildlife wandering by below. The current design has a central boma area to the lodge, with a plunge pool which should enjoy similar views to the rooms. The plan is also for one tent, located closer to the main area, will have a lift making it more suited for those with limited mobility.

Activities at Chisa Busanga will include game drives, walking safaris and e-biking. Similar to its sister camps in the Kafue and South Luangwa, Chisa Busanga Camp will have a strong commitment to reducing its footprint and focusing on sustainable initiatives. The game-drive vehicles here will be electric and, charged by solar power – like the rest of the camp – it will not only be greener, but it should make for a near silent and more immersive exploration of the bush. There’s also no need to turn a rumbling diesel engine on and off - a real boon for photographers.

The Busanga Plains, vast open grasslands, are in contrast to Zambia's usual bush terrain, so the area combines well with other parks in the country for a diverse safari, both in terms of wildlife and scenery.
The plains are mostly flooded for at least half the year, making the plains largely inaccessible. For this reason, Chisa Camp will be closed during the rainy season, opening between June and November.
The wetland landscape attracts masses of birdlife, including cranes (both wattled and crowned), herons and other waders. In the wetter months at the start of the season, though the area can be challenging to travel around, there is still plenty of wildlife to be seen including large herds of buffalo, puku antelope and red lechwe.
As the water dries, the grasslands then increasingly start to attract other animals, most notably herds of zebra and blue wildebeest. The other large predators found here are cheetah and wild dog. The Busanga Plains certainly offer visitors their best chance of seeing cheetah in Zambia. Similarly, northern Kafue is one of the strongholds for wild dogs in the region, and they're seen here fairly commonly. Spotted hyena also occur, but as their dens are largely restricted to areas that don't flood, around the tree-line, they're not often seen on the Busanga Plains.

Time at Chisa combines well with one or both of its sister camps, Ila Safari Lodge, located towards the centre of the Kafue, or Shawa Camp in the South Luangwa National Park.

Our view

We’re big supporters of Chisa’s sister camps’ impressive dedication to sustainability and local involvement, and we’d expect this new camp to have a similar commitment to these values. Twin this with the Busanga Plains’ opportunities for varying wildlife sightings and stunning wilderness, and it makes Chisa Busanga Camp a property we cannot wait to see when it opens in June.

Amanda Bond

Country manager: Zambia

Geographics

Location: Kafue National Park, Zambia
Accessible by: Fly-and-Transfer

Food & drink

Usual board basis: Full Board & Activities
Dining style: Individual Tables
Dining locations: Indoor and Outdoor Dining

Children

Attitude towards children
Property’s age restrictions: Chisa Busanga Camp welcomes children of 14 years and older. If families are wishing to travel with younger children then the camp must be booked on an exclusive basis.

Our travellers’ wildlife sightings from Chisa Busanga

Since mid-2018, many of our travellers who stayed at Chisa Busanga Camp have kindly recorded their wildlife sightings and shared them with us. The results are below. Click an animal to see more, and here to see more on our methodology.