Reviews of Chiawa Camp

"Chiawa was exceptional. We had a fabulous time from the moment we landed in the Cessna light aircraft at Jeki Airstrip to the time we climbed into the helicopter to take us from Jeki back to Lusaka (for our onward flight to Livingstone).

The short drive from Jeki to the river was packed with excitement. The guide heard and then found a lion which we tracked and watched for over an hour before he took us to the river for our boat trip up the Zambezi to the camp. What a wonderful way to travel and arrive – a safari in its own right.

The accommodation was spectacular in every sense. The food was excellent and the service exceptional. Chaiwa had a real touch of class/style beyond the other 2 camps. Simple things like the table, white tablecloth, candle etc for sundowners when on a drive (and/or on canoe and river cruises) were such a nice touch. Likewise, our surprise lunch banquet floating down the river on our arrival day with a bottle of bubbly. This made it all feel so special. The communal BBQ in the bush was another nice touch and gave us the opportunity to meet other guests.

The guides at Chiawa were exceptional – and were especially good company. Their judgement about what, where, when, how etc was terrific. We were – and remain – in awe at their knowledge and skills, their gentle and kind hospitality and the way they built relationships with us.

We saw the most amazing game whilst at Chiawa – we don’t know if that was the norm or if we were particularly lucky – especially cats. The canoe safari was great fun and was concluded in great style with a transfer to a boat for smart G&Ts on the river at sunset. Very cool.

We really liked the feel of Chiawa. There was far more of a truly local feel to the camp and there was a clear and obvious happy and professional atmosphere.

Our one critical comment relates to the General Manager. Whilst he clearly ran an extremely efficient business and a professional and happy team, we felt that his own people skills were rather lacking. His interaction with us seemed mechanical rather than empathetic. Again, we stress that this was our perception and how we felt - rather than anything concrete." See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia

"Transfer from Busanga Plains to Jeki airstrip via Lusaka delayed so late into Chiawa Camp. Transfer by boat on the Zambezi to Chiawa Camp which is always magical.

Watching the elephants crossing the river feeding on the islands. This is my second visit to Chiawa and it did not disappoint.

Hosted by By Simon and Juliet .I was in room 7 which has great views of the river. The camp has a great atmosphere with communal dining.

Elephants are possibly the main attraction at Chiawa camp, Lots of them ! The food is top notch with an early breakfast before the game drive and Bruch after at 11.30. Lots of choices. Evening meal is a communal affair. Generally on the first morning you have a Bruch boat cruise with bubbly.

I loved the afternoon canoeing on the channels avoiding the aggressive hippos." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia

"Beautiful position on the bank of the Zambesi.

Very good facilities and excellent staff.

Amazing barbecue supper with all the trimmings on an island in the Zambezi !

Excellent walking safari and game drives." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia

"An amazing start to our Zambia/Malawi holiday.

Chiawa is even more luxurious than when we last visited in 2016. The tents are beautifully appointed, really comfortable and with large deck. Food and guiding were fantastic.

We particularly enjoyed having a dip in the pool as the daytimes were so very hot. What made it so special were the different dining experiences and activities, we were constantly being surprised and delighted." See all these reviews: 7n in Zambia; 4n in Malawi

"It was our 50th wedding anniversary and we had several special surprise meals (including being anchored on our own in the middle of the Zambesi and having to radio for each course to be brought out to the boat!) and a cake at the barbeque.

The food was excellent but we would have preferred more communal eating rather than separate tables. There was little encouragement to interact with other guests.

Derrick was an excellent guide and we enjoyed our interactions with him.

We prefer smaller camps and overall felt that Chiawa with 9 rooms was a little too big." See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia

"Very high flexibility with activities. Excellent food with nice surprises for lunch and diner locations.

Looks like guest do usually not get a fixed guide throughout their stay and guides get assigned when you decide about you activity. All guests (and guides) we talked to about this did not like it since guide and guests need to re-familiarize again and again.

Fortunately enough, we insisted to keep the same guide for all our activities." See all these reviews: 13n in Zambia

"After a very pleasant 30 minute boat ride from the Royal Zambezi lodge we arrived at Chiawa Camp's jetty to be enthusiastically met by Simon, the General manager and Juliet, the guest relations Manager.

The camp's open plan lounge, bar and dining area was only a few meters from the river bank and provided wonderful views across the Zambezi river. Our welcome chat with Juliet regarding the layout of the lodge, its facilities and daily schedule was delivered most professionally as was her tour of our room later. For the benefit of travellers thinking of staying at Chiawa, the camp was unfenced and as a result had frequent visitors, such as elephants and sometimes leopards (not when we were there). walking through it. As such, you had to be escorted back and forth from your room both during the day and at night. A walkie talkie was in your room to call a member of staff. We found this a little restrictive but on the whole it wasn't an issue for us as safety of the guests was paramount. The main camp and rooms were positioned under a canopy of trees and so it was relatively dark and cool - in the summer months it might offer some relief from the heat.

Our tent, a little like a rustic cabin, was comfortable but with no air con or fan - again, not a real problem for the winter months. It had both indoor and outdoor showers.

All meals were excellent. They were light and flavoursome. Some meals were served in the dining area, some upstairs in a viewing area looking out over the river and an incredible champagne lunch on the boat cruising up the Zambezi. One night after a game drive we were treated to a bush dinner, which was a lovely surprise. Tables and hurricane lamps all laid out, bar, camp fire and food on the BBQ or Braai (even a loo). The night was clear and the milky way visible. Nice to have a variety of locations.

The staff were very friendly, polite and efficient - nothing was too much trouble for them. Our guide on the game drives was obviously very experienced as his knowledge of the bush and wildlife was extensive He also had a great sense of humour. Game viewing was steady with usual sightings of elephant, hippos, impala and hundreds of baboons. One highlight was coming across a lioness with her two cubs. The two cubs were hidden up a tree, presumably told to stay there while mum went hunting. That plan was flawed in that the cubs kept popping their heads up through the leaves and then decided they would come down and go into play mode. This involved mum who seemed a bit reluctant at first to join in but then had no option. We spent some time at this sighting just watching this family's world playing out before us.

We opted for a canoeing activity one afternoon where we were taken out by boat to a channel off the Zambezi. Our canoes and boatmen were already there waiting for us and after a brief safety talk we each got into our canoes with the boatmen doing the paddling, leaving us to take in the calm and quiet views. Well, I say quiet, there were several snorts from the hippos around us as we glided past them. This was a fantastic experience and perspective viewing birds, hippos, crocodiles and elephants that came down to the waters edge to drink.

We enjoyed staying at this camp and recommend it to others, for the friendly and helpful staff, the boating activities and location, so close to the Zambezi river." See all these reviews: 19n in Zambia

"Arrived at camp via the Zambezi just in time for lunch. Welcomed by Simon the GM.Great location I was in room 5. Fab views.

Nobby was our guide for most of the 4 days. Moses for other trips. Spotted two male lions on our first drive. Night drives following sundowners are great at this camp. Spotted African civet twice and a Porcupine once and spotted genets many times. Leopards were also spotted several times including one chasing and capturing a baboon up a tree. One of the highlights of the stay was canoeing down the channel off the main river one afternoon. Herds of elephants coming down to the water to drink, fantastic !

Managed a bush walk one morning down to the Zambezi.

Lovely camp thanks to Simon, Nobby, Tarsi , Chris and all the team for a wonderful stay." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia

"The Chiawa Camp is like a 5 star hotel.

The service is impeccable and the food is great. Everyone is so kind and caring.

We were a bit surprised to be so cold there at this time of the year. The morning trips were freezing cold.

There are not so many animals around like in the South Luangwa Park but it is a very relaxing camp and the canoeing trip was so restful." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia

"We visited Chiawa as part of our honeymoon trip during July 2021. Our first three nights at Chiawa were luxurious. Throughout our stay, were continually treated with care by their team. We had so many special honeymoon meals – lunch on the river, private meals on their loft above the main area, private meal in our tent, bush dinner – during our three nights there, only one meal was actually held in the main, regular dining area! It felt like they were really caring for us and giving us the honeymoon 1-on-1 time we needed.

Staff had excellent adherence to masking and social distancing, and most if not all staff by the time of our visit had at least one dose of a covid vaccine. I'm not sure exactly which one they received, though.

We stayed at tent 8, and it was beautiful. The wall looking out to the river is replaced by a giant black screen and allows for the magical sights and sounds of the bush to really come through.

The landscape and wildlife via game drives at Chiawa was remarkable. Our guide was Boaz, a longtime veteran. He had a great sense tracking animals and was very easygoing. We had excellent sightings of leopards both at night and at day. The leopards there are particularly comfortable around safari vehicles. Boaz was so good at following them and anticipating their direction when the leopards would disappear into the bush. We were also lucky to see lion cubs. While there is a general diversity of landscapes throughout our game drives, most of the area immediately surrounding camp is dense with bushes and thickets. While beautiful, it was sometimes a little nervewracking when we would run into a breeding herd of elephants head to/from the river during a game drive.

In addition to the drives, we also did a canoe and a walking safari. We really enjoyed the canoe as it was mostly tranquil and an easygoing way of appreciating the banks of the park from the water, but had a brief moment of terror when we got too close to one of the hippos. Thankfully, our guides were experienced with this and handled it with poise, scaring the hippo away with the boom of the paddle against the water. Walking safari was very educational but in the area chosen there was a lot of bush and thickets. Still the guide and armed ranger were excellent at avoiding any dangers, in particular the elephant breeding herds we encountered.

In this area of the park during this pandemic, the amount of vehicle traffic was low. Many of the vehicles we saw came from outside the park. The lion cubs generated the most amount of vehicles at a sighting, routinely 2-3 but on one occasion up to 5. Almost all other sightings we had exclusively to ourselves.

The camp was operating at about half capacity – 4 or 5 tents occupied - when we were there. Hopefully the pandemic will improve in their country and that their traffic increases, they deserve it." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia