Reviews of Chiawa Camp

"I've been longing to go back to Chiawa Camp since I stayed there in 1998, and am pleased to have finally returned. The river is still as beautiful as I remembered, but Chiawa has "grown up," with more tents, larger tents, 24-7 hot water and electricity, and 12 hours of internet.

The service is superb, and the managers (Stuart and Maddy and Van and Esmerelda) and staff are eager to please. We appreciated having great flexibility in our activities and schedule. Taking advantage of the wonderful river setting, we mostly opted for boat trips and were pleased that they could be arranged whenever we wanted them. The boatmen were also excellent guides, and our most frequent guide, Ruben, will soon sit for his guide exam.

The food is spectacular--not surprising since Van is a chef by training. He planned several special surprises, such as lunch and dinner on the barge for the two of us. These events required extra time and preparation, and we appreciated his thoughtfulness.

The tents are spacious and well equipped (with a few minor oddities such as faucets that barely clear the lip of the sink, making simple hand-washing a challenge). Some have limited views of the river because of vegetation, but we were pleased with our tent (#7) which looked out on both the Zambezi and a dry river bed where elephants, bushbuck, impala, baboons and vervet monkeys came to drink.

In truth, I missed the smaller, more intimate Chiawa Camp of 1998, but I enjoyed getting to know the new incarnation. And I'm very glad to have also visited its sister camp, Old Mondoro, which is very reminiscent of the "Old" Chiawa." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia

"We didn't even need to leave our spacious, beautifully appointed luxury tent to see game at Chiawa, as they were right outside our door! But the excellent guides showed us even more on game drives, like an unforgettable Honey Badger-Lion encounter (the Honey Badgers got away!), and lots of leopards.

Stewart was helpful when I discovered a mistake with my Zambian visa (later corrected), and the rest of the staff were delightful. The surprise dinner at Bedrock was a real treat. I can't say enough about this piece of paradise!" See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia

"Chiawa is one of the prime camps in Zambia and it was a very comfortable and pleasant place to stay. However, although there were plenty of birds to photograph on the boat trip (thanks to Douglas the boatman) we found rather less animals than expected.

The guides were very helpful and did their best but the animals were just not around for us." See all these reviews: 15n in Zambia; 4n in Malawi; 3n in Botswana

"The fact that this was my fourth visit to Chiawa says it all. Perhaps moved a little up market since my last visit!! Please leave Old M as it is, Can't wait for the 5th visit." See all these reviews: 7n in Namibia; 5n in Zambia; 1n in South Africa

"We had a great stay at Chiawa. We spend 2 nights at Chiawa and wished it has been more. The camp is lovely. Excellent food, great staff and beautiful rooms. We really enjoyed all the activities too. We split our time in the Lower Zambezi between Chiawa and it's sister camp, Old Mondoro. The two camps actually complement each other really well. Despite being fairly close together the terrain and vegetation is totally different. This means you see different birds and animals.

The game drives were excellent. Our driver asked us what we wanted to do and he would always let us know where we were going. If news came through on the radio that another group from our lodge had found something interesting he would ask us first and we would decide as a group whether to go and have a look or to stay where we were. We saw lots of different animals (Including a leopard and her almost adult daughter up a tree) and some really great birds. We did a lovely boat trip on the river as well.

Night drives here are subject to a "no flash" rule. They use red lights to spot the animals. Before we went we bought a small role of red plastic lighting gel (like they use in theatres) to put over our flashes so we could still use them. This definitely helped the cameras to focus in the low light - although it's probably only worthwhile if you have an external flash for an SLR camera. The night drives weren't as good as those at Old Mondoro, but I think this is because the area has quite thick scrub so it's much harder to spot the nocturnal animals.

On our final night we all heard lions roaring very close to camp. We searched for them as we returned from our game drive. They were eventually located on the edge of the river where a dead hippo had washed up on shore. All of the guests at the lodge got onto a boat and we went and had a look from the river. There were 4 lions eating the hippo and trying to protect it from the circling crocodile. It was a brilliant final sighting to end our stay in Zambia." See all these reviews: 21n in Zambia

"After being at camps with 4, 5, and 6 chalets, we were initially overwhelmed by the size of Chiawa Camp. Nine tents! We were prepared to not like the bustling atmosphere, but our fears were quickly allayed by the professionalism of the staff. They do an incredible job of scheduling activities that suit each guest. When we arrived, they asked what we would like to do or see. We told them that we hadn't yet had our fill of lion sightings, so after unpacking our bags they had us get in the car and we drove an hour to find a pride of sleeping lions. After a few photos, we left to have our sundowners by a lagoon and then returned to watch the lions wake and greet each other affectionately. What a marvelous start to our stay in camp.

The variety of experiences available makes it possible for each guest to find a suitable activity. We did one walking trek with guide Paul, and it was a highlight of our trip. Seeing elephants and lions while on foot is a thrill not to be missed. The canoe excursion one afternoon was likewise exciting. And even the pontoon boat got us very close to elephants and crocs. And we both tried our hand at fishing, succeeding in getting a few nibbles but no catches.

The food was delicious, and we enjoyed the communal dining in this camp as we did at all the smaller camps we had visited. A large bull elephant invited himself to dinner one evening, approaching the dining area and standing a couple of meters away from us while we sat holding our breath and not moving. If only there had been a way to take pictures (without sending him into a panic), but the memory of watching that huge dark shape in the night will always remain. A surprise "bush dinner" on our last night gave us the opportunity to try a few Zambian dishes as well as the regular fare.

When our friends ask if we were frightened by those "up close and personal" encounters with elephants, lions and leopards, we assure them that while it is exhilarating, we always felt that our safety was the first priority of the staff and that they were very capable of keeping us from harm.

The regular camp manager was away while we visited, but Acting Manager Samantha did a wonderful job of keeping things running smoothly. She was ably assisted by Joshua and Daniel and all the other staff." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia

"Our first sight of the mighty Zambezi from the air was breathtaking: a vast river dotted with tree-covered islands, backed by the Zambezi Escarpment. It was hard to believe that we were actually on the Zambezi: the stuff of geography lessons and crossword puzzles!

A larger camp with 9 thatched tents, so lots more guests and more names to remember: sticky name labels would have been useful! Very sociable atmosphere: mostly British and Americans, who came for the fishing.

A bird watcher's paradise: on one "cruise" down the river we saw 30 different species. Canoeing down one of the beautiful and peaceful canals proved to be an adrenalin experience with elephant, hippo and crocodiles at close quarters: not for the faint hearted although we were of course in capable hands (Paul). Fascinating to watch the elephants crossing the river to the islands." See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia; 9n in Botswana

"No details from me. I will write Ellie about some other Zambia-stuff." See all these reviews: 3n in Zambia

"Having not been down to the Lower Zambezi area before we thought we'd sample this area combining it with a trip to the S Luangwa Valley and this combination went very well. Old Mondoro and Ciawa Camp are a very good experience for a 5/6 night combination stay with Old Mondoro being slightly less plush than Ciawa but only marginally when you look at the fine touches at Chiwa Camp.

The camp is in a very good location fairly far away from other camps leading to a good safari experiences for those at camp. Very nice and sumptuous rooms with some nice touches of good views, nice large baths with good views across the surrounding area while you clean yourself. The camp well run run by the husband and wife team and offers a good range of driving, walking, boat, both motor lunch and canoe trips. Good touches include a nice location for lunch/dinner, white table service set-up when you are out on a game drive/walk/boat ride for your drinks or sun downer is a very nice touch, even a lunch time cruise/float down the Zambezi with fully set table and personal waiter service over a glass of wine of two.

Certainly try the canoe trip, this is very nice floating down one of the side channels of the Zambezi and viewing game/birds as you float along. My wife went on the motor boat cruise down the Zambezi and it was like "African Queen" with her floating along the Zambezi and being the only guest in a camp chair in the center of the boat spotting all the birds etc at her leisure.

Good game viewing but some places in this area of the park are more bushy than at Old Mondoro down river so their are more places for the animals to hide and harder to see/track some of the game. That said we had good sightings of most of the game species in the area. Also close viewing of game in camp with a resident elephant or two who appear to regularly walk through camp at any time of the day.

The walking guide Paul Grobler is an excellent walking guide and very passionate and enthusiastic. He's a good birder and even though this was at the end of our 2 week safari trip we managed to increase our bird count quite a bit in just one walk with him and as he spots the birds well it gives you just that bit more time to spot them and get your eye on them before they fly off, as they usually invariably do. Also Paul is very knowledgeable on most of the wildlife and game information so we leaned quite a bit from him.

Very nice and pleasant stay in a pleasant environment I challenge anyone not to enjoy a stay with a combination of Ciawa Camp and Old Mondoro." See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia

"Another excellent camp with great accommodations and staff.

The camp managers were very cooperative in arranging our activities and early morning departure.

The canoe ride through the lagoon cutoff with guide Paul was a definite highlight.." See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia