Reviews of Kaingo Camp
(95%) From 89 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
| 
Photographer's paradise at Kaingo Camp
A great start to our safari - a good balance between comfort and the bush and the night out in the elephant hide was an unforgettable experience - everyone should try this.
The hides were great for photographers and the site right on the river meant there was always something to watch.
Excellent guides, location & huts
We enjoyed ourselves at Kaingo very much. We felt the owners should have been more "visible" eg introduced themselves. We appreciate that they had a new baby and that Mrs Shenton senr was present and was very sociable.
The game viewing was well organised and Mwila was an excellent guide, positive, helpful and knowledgeable.
The food was good but no as good as at Kuyenda.
Kaingo Camp still great
Our second visit and the Camp still reaches all our Expectations.
The improvements to The huts with the inclusion of an outside Bath is a great enhancement.
It a very peaceful site, excluding the animal noises, being set on the river bank.
Fantastic camp, fabulous game, lovely people
Once again, the Shentons provided an outstanding experience (they are a really charming family and Derek's sister, Ali, has a funky craft shop and vegetarian restaurant in Livingstone, which is worth a visit).
The camp is in a lovely location and is simply, but elegantly appointed, with great river views. The staff, both domestic and guides were welcoming, helpful and knowledgeable. The wildlife was abundant and varied and the camp's hides provided an interesting alternative to the usual drives.
A particular highlight of the stay was spending a night in the elephant hide, half-way up a tree, with nothing but a mosquito net and some branches between us and the stars. Fabulous!
Kaingo Camp - great walking and night drives
South Luangwa's marvellous and this is a very well run place with great guides.
It's possible to walk and the guides are extraordinarily knowledgeable. Animals and birds galore. Perhaps too much food (early breakfast, breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner) but it's very good and who's complaining about that?
Amongst many other things we saw lions at very close quarters.
Kaingo Camp review
A long but interesting transfer from Mfuwe airport, passing many villages, markets and bicycles galore - a wonderful opportunity to glimpse Zambians going about their daily activities.
The game at South Luangua, both here and at Kaingo was amazing - just so many lions and leopards, we couldn't believe it! Also, far more variety of animals that at Lower Zambeze. We had a really fantastic guide, who stayed with us throughout our stay, including at the Bush Camp. This continuity worked well, compared to the previous camps we stayed at.
The camp was well located, but not as picturesque as on Lower Zambeze, hence good not excellent. The staff were all delightful, although the manageress maybe lacked some confidence and could have been more proactive in being a 'hostess'.
We preferred the timing and arrangement of meals at the previous camps - the late breakfast and lunch meant there was little 'downtime' and we ate far too much at the Shenton camps. Breakfast could be speeded up with more self-service eg for tea/coffee - if you are getting up at the crack of dawn, you want to get on with it!
Another good lodge
We were well looked after. Great bush breakfast!
Kaingo and Mwamba are also nicely positioned nicely away from the crowds.
Kaingo Camp review
Our three-night stay at Kaingo provided probably the best game-viewing we have ever seen (two lion kills for instance). The facilities - particularly the hippo hide - were fantastic and the quality of guiding (Mwila and Patrick) excellent. Hostess Gail was also both efficient and charming.
There was a contrast, however, with the distinctive "family" atmosphere of our previous camp, Tafika. The owners of Kaingo - though very pleasant from our limited contact with them - were pretty much absent. Our room - although very comfortably furnished indeed - was not cleaned once in three days - which I found rather surprising.
These criticisms though are minor points that did not detract from what was a superb overall experience.
Expert Africa comments
It’s great that these travellers had good game-viewing at Kaingo, the hides there are often particularly good!
We passed these comments to Juliet and Derek Shenton, who own and run Kaingo. Juliet replied, and apologised for the lack of room servicing during their stay. She observed that whilst these travellers were at Kaingo, a room attendant was on leave. Apparently this left only one person to service all the rooms in camp. To stop something like this happening again, she has now implemented a new system, whereby a senior member of staff checks each room after the morning cleaning service. We hope that this will stop such an issue reoccurring.
In terms of the owners not being present … the truth is that Jules and Derek now have a three-month old baby. The baby, Saphire, has taken up a lot more of Jules’ time than she had expected. Thus, both her and Derek are concentrating on keeping the camp running to a high standard… but they’re not ‘hosting’ their guests as much as they used to. Jules expects this to be a relatively temporary arrangement, and within the year she’s hoping to get back the time that she used to spend with guests – as it’s very important to her.
Excellent safari at Kaingo Camp
We were very happy with our guide, Meyem, who has apparently replaced Ian. He was very personable and a skilled guide. In a night drive, he pulled up and stopped in exactly the place where a leopard was about to make a kill. It was great to sleep along the river and listen to the "laughing" hippos. The hippo hide was terrific. Elephants wandering through the camp at dinner were a bonus.
Wild time at Kaingo!
Geat camp in ideal location. Liked the deck overlooking the water. Food was plentiful and excellent. Staff were friendly and helpful and all the guides, Freya, Patrick and Innocent were excellent and knowledgeable. The hides are excellent for photography which is one of my interests although I was only there for 2 nights so only got to visit the hippo hide.
Read more about the whole safari
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.
