Reviews of Chiawa Camp
Wildlife sightings and reviews
89 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Chiawa Camp and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
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"An excellent start to an epic holiday"
"wonderful camp"
"Great for honeymoon "
Staff especially friendly and personable. Lots of amazing activities and surprises. Great game drives and the canoeing was very special and quite unique.
We found this a good combination with its sister camp old mondoro as chiawa is less of a bush camp and more formal." See all these reviews: 5n in Zambia
"Chiawa Camp"
If they had asked, I would also have told them that Judy doesn't drink alcohol and doesn't like boats either! I understand that camps want to make things special but springing this on us without a choice felt insensitive at the very least. We terminated the boat ride as soon as we could to return to camp and the 'facilities'.
I spent the whole 3 days in camp due to my uncertain requirements but was able to enjoy the very close visits of elephants and warthogs around our 'tent'. I recovered in time to move on to Old Mondoro." See all these reviews: 16n in Zambia
"Chiawa Camp review"
Yes, it was beautifully run, but without all that "poshness" that we would have hated
It also was very laid back and had informal luxury
Food superb
We simply loved the range of activities available----unusual and "right up our street"
We felt the same on this point at Old Mondoro
Rooms were superb---we had one night in room 6 and then for the next nearly 5 days we were moved to The Honeymoon Suite---for no cost: This was unbelievably superb and can't begin to say how huge and spacious it was-----so many places to sit inside and outside
So many candles everywhere, which I used every solitary night
Our own pool
Our own loungers
Our own camp fire
I could go on and on
We even had 2 x private dinners at our Suite----the staff call it "The Palace"
We realise that we will never get it again, as next year they are going to officially start to sell it, and the rates will no doubt be exorbitant!
However, for any of your clients wanting to really splash out, then we cannot recommend highly enough this Honeymoon Suite---it is "to die for"!
We intend going back to both camps in 2019---in Sept----and would request Room 7 as our 1st choice and Room 8 as our 2nd choice
No complaints whatsoever
However, there was a camp fire at breakfast, but never in the evening----I mentioned this, and was told that I only had to ask to have one built---that was not the point---there is nowhere like a camp fire for getting clients to mingle and to discuss their day's activities---like a camp fire
Their answer in truth, was that they don;t want to wake up guests who have gone to bed at very early hours (from our point of view!) by the guides needing to walk them home, when they might be a little noisy, and wake up the sleeping guests!
I don't agree with this----one is only talking about maybe sitting at the camp fire after dinner for an hour --max!
As it is, with dinner at 8 pm, most of the time, dinner is over by 930 pm at the latest----and although one gets up at 0530, a further 45 mins chatting around a fire, is hardly late
But I doubt that they will change their minds re a camp fire every night----of course, as the nights get much warmer, it is almost too hot for a fire!
We had a wonderful dinner off-site at what they call their "Bedrock" facility----all the tables are set up completely in the open,beside a red canyon, with lamps hung everywhere all over the canyon------too magical to express----and all the hard work that goes into making these dinners so special, is unbelievable!
Again--please do not let them get any bigger!
We met and spent quite a lot of time with Grant, the owner---had lunch and dinner and many chats with him on his "2 sleeps" at Chiawa---as he calls them---a great fun, completely down to earth with a lovely sense of humour
We all discussed convservation quite a bit, as Mike is a Trustee of both Born Free, headed up by Virginia Mckenna and Will----and he is also a Trustee of The Galapagos Trust---so we all had heaps in common---and of course Grant has done a lot to encourate the other camps in the area to see the benefits of getting involved in conservation of the Lowe Zambezi---which they now do----good on him
In fact, we asked to visit the Conservation site near to Royal airport, on our way to Royal to fly to Lusaka, and we spent nearly 1 hour with them---the do a great and very necessary job
Mike is intending putting in money into this Conservation project on the Lower Zambezi
So a wonderful experience" See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia
"Chiawa Camp review"
We very much enjoyed the professional and friendly team, the management, and the guides.
To listen to the Chiawa choir before dinner was wonderful." See all these reviews: 5n in Zambia
"Chiawa Camp"
Canoe safari was definitely worth doing, and the night drives were amazing.
We tracked 2 leopards who were mating - didn't realise this was quite unusual until we got back to camp.
Had a very close encounter with Matata the bull elephant who tried to climb up our tent to reach seed pods on the roof!" See all these reviews: 8n in Zambia
"Absolutely terrific"
Chiawa is set at an absolutely beautiful spot on the Zambezi River. The camp and the "tents" are well done...the "tents" border on the luxurious. Lots of wildlife right around the camp including many elephants.
The staff - including Daniel, Joshua, Warwick, Marshall, James and Clement and others that I have forgotten did everything possible to make our stay memorable. The highlight was time spent on the river with Lynette catching a 30 pound Vundu catfish and my catching a 10 pound tiger fish. Lots of lions, elephants, etc...never a dull moment.
Much like Tafika, we hope to return to Chiawa and Old Mondoro sometime.
Again, I can highly, highly recommend Chiawa and Old Mondoro to anyone considering a Zambian safari. You will not be disappointed." See all these reviews: 13n in Zambia
"Another Great Stay at Chiawa!"
Location -- Excellent! Fabulously situated on the Zambezi River, with panoramic views over the river and offshore islands and sand bars that never grow old. Combine this with a locale that is rich in game and you have a winning combination.
Rooms -- Chiawa's tented cabins represent the best of "Africa Chic," without going over-the-top. I love the open-fronted cabins and the spacious feeling of the accommodations. They are spaced far enough apart from each other that, despite the fact that there are nine cabins in camp, one feels a sense of privacy.
Service -- Top notch, all the way. I get the feeling that staff -- from the humblest "behind-the-scenes" staff to the guides and camp managers -- truly enjoy working here. Level of service is on par with what I receive at 6-star hotels in Thailand (where I live), here in the bush of Africa! Truly amazing.
Food -- Excellent, extremely high quality. It is mind-blowing what the kitchen of Chiawa does in the bush. My favorite food experiences here are the "brunches on the boat," floating down the Zambezi.
Activities -- One of the highlights of my stay was a canoe excursion through the nearby channel, where we came face-to-face with elephants, crocs and the odd hippo. Birdlife was simply stunning. The game drives lived up to their billing with everything major making an appearance, often in mind-blowing numbers (four leopard sightings on one afternoon game drive is simply insane!)
Facilities -- everything you could ask for, including decent wifi service (I know this is a vacation and I am supposed to totally "turn-off," but I am a business owner and appreciate being able to check in with the [sad] real world once in a while.
Overall -- CAN'T WAIT TO COME BACK!" See all these reviews: 16n in Zambia
"lived up to expectations"
The staff were dying to serve the meal and go to bed but "Rayleen" went on and on and on.....In the end my husband and I just left the table and abandoned the meal,. The second niggle was that we were told the evening meal was at 8, approx. One couple did not return until 8.45 and the rest of us had to wait. This is unacceptable, far too late to eat and get up at 5.30 in the morning , one did that at university, but not now!
To be fair once we had told the camp .manager of this they accommodated us, no problem, I do not want to give the impression that we wanted exclusivity, we are perfectly happy to dine at a reasonable time with the guides and/or the staff but some of our fellow travellers have an intellectual capacity below that of the animals we are observing, we have to accept their presence on the game drives but dining with them as well is purgatory!" See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
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