Reviews of Pioneer Camp
(76%) From 62 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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ok for 1 night
Simple and ok for 1 night.
Chalet has been upgraded and now has enough light to read by. Paul is friendly enough but invisible in the morning. Get the Land cruiser not the Hilux for the transfer if possible as the road is awful. Limited food choice and very ordinary quality.
Happy campers making extraordinary trips means interesting chats over a drink.
Weird experience
No information whatsoever; on arrival we where given our keys and that's it.
What a poor way to finish such a great holidays.
may be it would be wise to find another place.
Expert Africa comments
Pioneer Camp are very sorry to hear that these travellers have rated their stay as poor. The owner remembers meeting them on arrival and checking them in himself. He was certain that things had been explained clearly, and that these guests were happy and enjoying their stay.
He commented that travellers arriving in the morning or early afternoon, are offered activities. However, travellers arriving in the late afternoon or at night are left to relax as they're just using Pioneer Camp for an overnight stop.
Dinner orders are always taken on arrival - so the kitchen can start preparing in advance. Guests are driven to their rooms where they can rest until they wish to come back to the chitenge (main area). Travellers are also offered the chance to check-in online for their flights, and this is usually done by the owner whilst they are having dinner. Guests are then briefed, before they go to bed, the program for the morning, and place their breakfast orders to allow a swift departure to the airport in the early morning.
Pioneer Camp is a rustic little camp that is conveniently located about half an hour from Lusaka airport. It does not offer the same experience as some of the more intimate bush camps that you'll find in the national parks, and it's accommodation is much simpler than if you stayed at the Taj Pamodzi Hotel in downtown Lusaka.
Pioneer Camp review
Fine as an overnight stop but would not want to spend longer there.
Room dark, shower broken, dividing wall with next door paper thin.
Pioneer Camp
I know the options are limited near Lusaka airport but this was disappointing. We were only there in the dark & most of the journey was along a very bumpy dirt track. I guess it was worse as following Royal Livingstone than if straight from another camp. Perhaps a hotel would have suited us better.
They were not there to meet us at sirport - someone phoned for us & they arrived about 10 mins later. They did not comment about it.
Comfortable stay at Pioneer camp
We just overnighted here before our flight back home. For this the camp is great.
The rooms are spacious and comfortable. The food is great.
The management helped us check in for our flights after dinner which saved us some time at the airport the next morning.
Pioneer Camp review
Very noisy, but not the hippos/elephants/hyenas/lions this time. Dogs barking! Cockerels crowing.
Read more about the whole tripWeird
We complained about this camp after our first visit and the path to the huts has been improved but the lighting of the paths is worse and there are no sign posts or hut numbers, so after dark it is very difficult. The owner of the camp is extremely charming and does his best and in fact he offered to do our BA check-in online for us which we had not thought about.
His main assistant, Alfred, is incredible and seems to do 3 or 4 different jobs. But in the morning, when it was still pitch black, there was no electricity in the hut until 5.30 and the portable lamp to be used as a standby worked when it felt like. Even in the evening when the lights were on they were poor.
There is an absence of anywhere to put anything in the bathroom. The road to the camp is even worse than 2 years ago which is why we have put the location as poor and we are unlikely to want to stay there again.
Pioneer Camp review
A good place for the last night.
Nice and comfortable rooms but the restaurant service was minimal/non existent.
The management did very well in booking us online with BA, the person who picked us from the airport and took us back the following morning was reliable and whereas spending a night in Lusaka waiting for a morning flight is not the most fantastic thing, Pioneer Camp certainly manages to make it a comfortable and stress-free experience.
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
