Reviews of Musekese Camp

"Musekese is a very interesting bush camp and is only three years old. The setting close to the Kafue River is very beautiful. The owners Tyrone McKeith and Phil Jeffrey are passionate about the Kafue National Park and freely share their very detailed knowledge of this stunning area.

We enjoyed boating on the river, plus walking and drives. Being early in the season the game was very dispersed but if you want to get more detailed information about the flora and fauna of the African bush, alongside hearing about some of the conservation and land management challenges; then this is a good place to come to.

The other staff were all very friendly and helpful, and the accommodation was good and very comfortable. Kolo the camp manager worked hard to ensure that our stay was very comfortable.

The negatives we experienced were two fold:

One was the challenge of being in a high Tsetse fly area, which we did not appreciate before our visit. This may not be a problem for some but unfortunately one of us suffered an allergic reaction to the many bites. We understand that the incidence of Tsetse's should lessen as the season progresses given the trapping in process, our visit was very early in May and the rains were continuing which may account for the high incidence.

The second challenge was the duration of the road transfer which in reality is a 7 hour transfer not 5. The length of the transfer relates to the manic traffic in Lusaka and the fact that the latter portion of the drive is on a very rough bush road. The roughness of the road may have been compounded by the on-going late rains and could therefore be better later in the season. If it were possible to fly to the airstrip near to the camp this would certainly be our recommendation. We felt that this arduous road transfer meant that in essence we lost two full days out of our holiday time." See all these reviews: 13n in Zambia

"PLEASE SEE PREVIOUS FEEDBACK [Ed: See below]" See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia

"Extremely good camp and the knowledge of the owners/guides was probably the best we have ever experienced in all of our travels.

The staff are friendly and will do anything to make your stay memorable. The food was superb and plentiful.

The accommodation was very spacious and looked out onto an area where there were always animals grazing." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia

"The drive into Musekese is daunting. Once you turn off the tarmac road there seems to just forest with no signs of any wildlife except for the millions of tetse flies clinging to the outside of the (thankfully) closed vehicle. However as you get nearer camp the scenery opens up and the tetse traps start to take effect. The camp itself is lovely by an open area with a lagoon which still had water and so had a constant flow of animals and birds coming down to drink. It is a small bush camp but the rooms are very comfortable and the staff are friendly and helpful.

There was plenty of evidence (tracks) of all the carnivores around lion, leopard, wild dogs and cheetah but unfortunately despite the best efforts of Tyrone they proved largely elusive - although we did have a lioness precede us into camp one night temporarily clearing everyone out of the car-park, and we did get a brief sighting of a magnificent leopard who was waiting near the boat docking site on our transfer out on the last morning. Possibly as a result of all this activity the other game was a bit quiet and skittish but we did see some unusual things like a clawless otter, a very relaxed wild cat, and a bush pig. It is also an excellent place to see birds -finfoot, blackbacked barbet, Schawlow' s turaco, nightjars and many others.

We spent most evenings on the river which was lovely as a change from driving. One evening a large group of nearly 30 elephants crossed the river just in front of us as we had our sundowners and another evening we saw two malachite kingfishers doing a display dance to each other in the most amazing evening light.

Phil and Tyrone have built a lovely camp with top quality staff and guides. They are entertaining hosts who are very committed to the business of conservation and I hope ther long term plans for rhino are successful making Musekese and even more attractive place to visit." See all these reviews: 15n in Zambia

"I think Expert Africa needs to revisit the camp as their write up is clearly woefully out of date. The location is truly great, overlooking a lagoon which is fed annually from the Kafue and which still had lots of water, hence game and will do so into the dry months. The tents/habitents, are set along the tree line, each with a view across the lagoon to the tree line that is the river bank. Sunsets are spectacular! Occasionally we could hear boats on the river, sometimes a loud one, driven by some person who clearly does not know the park rules about speed on the river, or who could care less, but, that is something that Musekese cannot control, it is a park issue.

Game viewing on the lagoon plain was wonderful and for birders it must be a paradise, as we identified 128 species of birds without going out of our way to see birds. Elephants are regular visitors to the area as were lions. As the dryer months come there will likely be more game as the more remote pools dry up and the game moves towards the river for water." See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia

"We loved Musekese Camp. We spent a fantastic day with Tyrone and his team.

In the morning we did a walking safari with Tyrone who is an excellent guide. We enjoyed the pristine nature surrounding us; everything was so unspoilt and beautiful, the big trees, the bush, the more open terrain, and of course the big, beautiful river. We saw a lot of birds and antelopes, baboons and warthogs.

The afternoon we spent on the river, again enjoying the birds in addition to the hippoes and crocodiles. Then the marvellous sunset + sundowner on the Kafue. Tyrone is very knowledgeable and taught us so much about everything we saw.

The atmosphere at Musekese is pleasant and relaxed. We were only sorry that we lost a day there because of our delayed flight from Oslo to Amsterdam. But one day at Musekese is better than no day!" See all these reviews: 7n in Zambia; 1n in South Africa

"As ecologists, we loved the ethos of this place and the professionalism of Tyrone and Phil who are really creating a fantastic new camp in the Kafue park. They are passionate about conservation and Zambian wildlife, and it shows in the wildlife sympathetic manner in which they run the camp.

We had a superb time here, and saw some fantastic game. We loved the variety of drives, walks and river trips on offer. Having a mum & baby elephant literally outside our cabin on the last morning was a highlight....followed by seeing a sleeping leopard at about 20metres away from us on a walk was truly astonishing, and there are plenty of lions in the area too.

The food was really excellent - the best of all the camps we stayed at. It was healthy and interesting, without being excessive. What a shame we could only stay 2 nights....we would have loved to stay longer.

The cabins are new and well proportioned. They offer unrestricted views over a lush open area attractive to lots of game (puku, warthogs, elephant, cranes, etc.) in front providing lots of entertainment in down-time between activities. The lack of screens or lattice window guards (used by some) may be disconcerting to some light-sleepers but it doesn't take long to feel completely immersed in the bush. For now, at least, there were no sign of monkeys or other wildlife being interested in raiding cabins. The unrestricted reviews definitely add to the experience.

As Tyrone & Phil are considering the possibility of extending the season at Musekese, they acknowledge they would then need consider mosquito screens in addition to the night-time mosquito nets provided. When we were there, mosquitoes were no major issue, and Tyrone & Phil are also experimenting with tsetse traps. Based on our experience at Musekese versus other parts of Kafue, these seem to be having some apparent success. All things considered, not least Tyrone & Phil's enthusiasm and passion, we would return to this camp in an instant." See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia

"Surprised at the rustic open sided ‘chalet’ accommodation, as the Expert Africa web site shows tents. However, we were reasonably comfortable, although on reflection we would have slept better in twin beds as the standard double was not ideal in the heat. The guiding by Phil and Alec was excellent - being on a private concession meant the benefit of no other vehicles but of course fewer eyes looking for game meant that perhaps we didn’t see as much as we had at other camps but what we did see was rewarding, particlularly the mother lion with 4 cubs in camp . River trips were refreshing in the afternoon heat and we were rewarded with lots of African Darters, Skimmers and a Finfoot!

We had fears regarding tsetse flies but fortunately the eradication programme meant numbers had been dramatically reduced. Transfer to Lusaka far too long by road, 6 hours (we were expecting 4 hours), certainly not the recommended transfer method." See all these reviews: 15n in Zambia

"See previous entry. [Ed: See below]" See all these reviews: 12n in Zambia

"Description of the accommodation in the brochure and website is completely wrong and out of date. In addition, we met a number of people, during our trip, who had been to Musekese and all of them had seen lots of different game, rather than "not much more than antelope" mentioned on your website. We had several close encounters with lions when walking, saw them frequently around the camp, and were separated from our sundowners for over half an hour by a pride of lions.

There is more to do than at most other camps (driving, walking and the river) and because there are 3 guides to a maximum of 8 guests, you are guaranteed almost personal service - and you would never have to walk with more than 4 people.

The food was delicious and healthy - and not too much!

The guiding was excellent and Phil and Tyrone do everything to make your stay sensational. They were also very keen to hear and take on board feedback.We will definitely make a return trip - with no tsetses the stay would have been perfect!

Tsetse flies were present and just about bearable but the 5 hour transfer in an open vehicle to Busanga Bush Camp through a tsetse ridden forest was very unpleasant." See all these reviews: 18n in Zambia