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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"Chiawa Camp review"
"Another great time at Chiawa"
The bath was badly positioned in the room- you couldn't get past it from that side of the bed. The outside shower not easy to get to – because the netting of the tent needed to be secured at all times and that was also difficult to open." See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia
"5-Star Safari"
The accommodation (to call it a 'tent' redefines the meaning of the word) was luxurious beyond expectation; the staff, service and food outstanding.
A wide range of water and land-based activities were available. We particularly enjoyed the walks, with elephant encounters, guided by Paul who has a truly encyclopaedic knowledge and the ability to impart that knowledge in an accessible and interesting way.
This was a truly memorable, luxurious and relaxing way to end our holiday in Africa." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia
""Simply messing about in boats""
We spent most of our time on canoe trips and river cruises. There are two very different canoe trips which bring the river to life and give a different perspective on hippo in particular! The so called "river cruises" were the highlight for us. We had a boat to ourselves with very obliging guides (Clement and Ruben) and were able to get very close to photograph birds, reptiles and mammals. While not specialist birders, close up views of beeeaters with food for their chicks and malachite and giant kingfishers with their catches provide some of our best memories.
Steve and Lynn are great camp managers, who show constant enthusiasm and try their hardest to meet individual needs. This is very important as Chiawa is a relatively large camp that might lose intimacy, while it has been upgraded to a luxurious level which erodes some of its bush feel. It's also a hotspot for anglers in Sept/Oct and this can be an issue - we saw several couples who were trapped on a fishing table listening to the merits of a blue fly etc.
We very much enjoyed our time there, but the camp needs the strong management it currently has." See all these reviews: 19n in Zambia
"Wonderful Warblers"
Although we are not into fishing we did try it and would recommend that other guests do too, as this is something at which Chiawa clearly excells. We also enjoyed three excellent walks and some interesting drives. All of these activities were greatly enriched by the quality of the guides, expertly led by Paul Grobler who is right up there with the very best.
Our stay was at the end of the camp's 2010 season and we understand that the two "aspects" where we had some reservations - service and food - are being addressed for the 2011 season." See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia
"Chiawa - luxury by the Zambezi"
The guiding was superb and highly professional, and we had excellent sightings of lions. The camp managers Steve and Lynn took great pride in making our stay in Chiawa a very special experience and together with the whole camp team they delivered a truly unique experience. We were bowled over by a very special dinner on a sandbank in the middle of the Zambezi - a very memorable evening.
The camp is relatively large with 9 tents and up to 18 guests, but game drives, bush walks, boat excursions etc were never crowded." See all these reviews: 14n in Zambia
"Chiawa Camp review"
the camp was extremely well run but compared to the other two camps we stayed at did seem much larger, but we could do the water activities which we could not in South Luagana" See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia
"Chiawa Camp review"
The tents are much larger than that at Tena Tena with both indoor and outdoor showers, a bath plus his/her washbasins. Again ample hot water all through the day. As with the other camps the standard of food was extremely good, down to having a choice of two main courses for the evening meal.
The wildlife have free run of the camp which can make for some interesting journeys between the main camp area back to the rooms, especially in the evenings !! Certainly the game viewing was very good and the two pairs of mating lions of the last morning was quite an experience.
A wide variety of activities were on offer, fishing, canoeing, walking as well as the normal game drives, and our only criticism would be that as result of this wide variety we ended up with different guides over the three days which was different to what we have been used to in the past.
A nice touch from the camp team was an e-mail on our return home hoping that we had enjoyed our stay and had a safe trip home." See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia
"A beautiful riverside camp"
The guiding as always was first class and this time we fell in love with six lion cubs which we were fortunate to spend many an hour watching.
Thanks to Grant whilst we wrer there he was kind enough to arrange for us to spend 24 hours at Old Mondoro. This camp is our favourite bush camp with its own unique kharma.This was arranged so that we could see the changes that have been made there to the individual hut facilities.
These have been so well done that while they greatly improve one's creature comforts they in no change its appearance and the atmosphere at this camp is more than maintained." See all these reviews: 17n in Zambia
"Chiawa Camp review"
Again, as in Tafika, although the food was always excellent, we were overwhelmed with the amount of food and really didn't feel the need for a full four-course meal in the evening. We seem to remember that before we had a quick cup of tea/coffee with some small snack before morning activities, back for a brunch, afternoon activities and/or evening activities followed by an evening meal. Have all the camps changed that they provide three main meals a day, plus cake with afternoon tea, plus many other snacks in between?? Are they trying to fatten us up?!" See all these reviews: 9n in Zambia
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