Reviews of Mwamba Bushcamp
(99%) From 98 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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An experience of a lifetime
Everything about Mwamba Bushcamp was wonderful. Craig and Lindy were the most charming hosts that one could wish for. We had fantastic guides, with Andrew being particularly outstanding and incredibly well-informed. The quality of the food was amazing and the rooms are beautifully made out of reeds and thatch, with a wonderful bathroom area. We would not hesitate to recommend Mwamba to anybody who may be considering wanting to experience a true insight to remote Zambia, but with very welcome luxury as well. Fabulous, no complaints whatsoever.
Read more about the whole safariHeaven
Mwamba means "heaven", and heaven it is... if you like a small, intimate bush camp that is both rustic (bucket showers only) and luxurious (a hot shower in the bush!), with a wonderful hide offering front-row seats for all the action at "the last watering hole", charming managers in Craig and Lindy and excellent guides, Mwamba is all you need. It was my fourth visit in five years and I can't think of a better place to stay at in South Luangwa, far away from the bustle around the park gates and in one of the most productive areas of South Luangwa.
The food was excellent, too, with fresh, tasty offerings including plenty of salads and fruit (perfect for hot October days). Although lion prides were somewhat quiet, I had exceptional leopard sightings every single day. One killed an impala at the watering hole and we were able to watch him on consecutive days, feeding in a tree and later dragging his prize off.
At this time of the year, the high concentration of elephants and giraffes was notable as well. In short, when I go back to South Luangwa, it'll be straight back to heaven.
Mwamba was brilliant - just want to go back
It was difficult to fault Kaingo but Mwamba was just a little bit better.
We started with a bush walk between the two camps which was really good.
Mwamba has everything that is good about Kaingo but also benefits from the proximity of the hide where there was always something going on and the fact that rather than being in the trees, it is more open so you are always aware of animals and birds moving to/from the hide.
We could have done with more time here - two nights wasn't really enough we could quite happily have done 4.
Mwamba really is a slice of heaven
On arriving at Mwamba Lindy told us Mwamba means "Heaven" And it certainly was that. Was a luxurious bush camp. There is something very grounding about having a bucket shower in the open air! We also loved the hide - what a position, and so much activity.
We kept Andrew our guide for our stay in Mwamba too. That is a very good touch as we really got to know each other over the 6 days we were together and therefore he got to know what we liked, where we had already been and where we had already had sundowners - very important not to go to the same place twice! Again too much food for the evening meal, but other than that couldn't fault it.
Have rated everything excellent taking into consideration the remote location - you'd never know it!
Wonderful Wilderness Experience at Mwamba
We loved the remote, part-of-the-bush feel of Mwamba - thanks to the wilderness setting and the size, open-air style, and materials of the camp.
We saw an extraordinary number and range of animals on our game drives and night drives. And we had a great guide - deeply familiar and knowledgable about the area and the animals and very lively in sharing it all with us and a very good companion.
One of the most spectacular animal experiences we've ever had was in the hide - sitting 3 feet from animals one is otherwise never able to get (and stay!) near and watching them for long periods in perfectly natural behaviour: elephants, various antelope, baboons, wart hogs, flocks of birds. I
Amazing visit to Mwamba camp.
We arrived here with our guide Patrick on foot, having walked from the previous camp, Kaingo.
It is a very special place.
I would put it in one of my top 10 places to visit anywhere in the world!
The camp hosts were very helpful, Craig and Lindy.
The room was lovely, despite it being a bush camp.
The bucket shower worked extremely well.
It has the added bonus a a waterhole hide just by the camp.
This gave us close up sightings of many animals and birds coming to drink there.
Elephants came to wash and drink, which felt very special.
We again had our wonderful guide , Patrick to take us on drives.
We saw Leopard every day, and many Lion prides.
We had a very special walk stalking a large herd of Eland.
Then we had a very special end on the last morning of 3 lionesses with their 8 cubs, 3 of which were tiny!
All in all a very special end to the trip. We will return!!
Mwamba Camp July 16
I chose the option of walking to Mwamba from my last camp - Kaingo - and was glad that I did. Whilst the guide was explaining how leopards roll in impala dung to camouflage their scent right on cue a leopard walked out right in front of us! So much else to see on foot too.
Met at the camp by hosts Craig and Lindy who were absolutely wonderful throughout my stay - nothing was too much trouble for them - even when they didn't get much sleep because a wandering elephant was trying to 'move' their hut all night.
The rooms are basic 'bush' rooms of the type often found on safaris, but I would say 1 up on the 'luxury' tents some camps use. Comfortable bedroom area and outside flushing loo and shower. Food was excellent - plenty of it and all to a high standard.
The camp has a hide within its ambit which is well worth a visit to watch the birds and animals who 'drop in' for a drink.
My guide was Patrick - alias Dr Doolittle - I witnessed him 'talking' to a herd of wildebeest which he made turn towards us for good photos, and holding a 5 minute conversation / singing contest with a coucal which I would not have believed if I had not seen it. Very informative and knew just where to go for the best game sightings - on the last morning we followed a hunting pack of wild dogs and then saw them calling to compatriots on the other side of the river, at which point on the far bank 15 appeared and raced across the beach towards us - sensible enough not to try to cross because of the crocs - but it was an incredible hour or so which I won't ever forget.
Can't recommend the place highly enough.
Mwamba Bushcamp review
We waked here from Kaingo which was itself a wonderful experience and again were greeted and sent almost immediately off to explore the new domain - more leopards, a lion kill, more painted dogs plus the by now usual elephants, antelope etc.
The Camp is sufficiently different to be with a stay there, as is the slightly more inland approach to the drives (though the Hippo Hide was not neglected).
Amazing experience at Mwamba Bushcamp
We spent 7 nights between Mwamba Bushcamp and its sister camo, Kaingo.
We were guided by Sylvester, who was excellent. As we had an extended period with him, Sylvester chose to take us to different areas (for example, the Boabab Forest and Kapanda Lagoon). We did both walks and drives with Sylvester and were equally impressed on both. His ability to mimic bird sounds was truly amazing - he was able to call an owl back and forth between 2 trees (numerous flights back and forth) so we could photograph it in flight. He also found some of the more rare animals for us - notably a serval.
The staff at Mwamba were lovely. Craig and Lindy, camp managers, clearly love their job and love the property. Hopefully they will be with Shenton Safaris for years! We loved the rustic feel of the thatch chalets - Mwamba was our favorite camp for its accommodations. The food was excellent and varying food preferences were easily and graciously accommodated. After leaving, Lindy was kind enough to forward the recipes to us.
We chose Mwamba (and its sister camp Kaingo) for the focus on photography. The bean bag rests and dustcovers were appreciated. The guides are keen photographers as well, and passed along many helpful hints.
We highly recommend Mwamba Bushcamp, particularly to photography enthusiasts.
Mwamba Bushcamp - 3 nights
This was the most basic camp we visited, but it stands out as a favourite because of the guiding and sightings.
I wanted a camp that went back to basics - especially the bucket shower - and Mwamba delivered this excellently. The rooms are 'basic' but very comfortable and the service was very good indeed (for example: specific requests about our mosquito net were very well executed).
The guiding here was excellent and Andrew deserves a rating in our 'top ten' guides over fifteen years of visiting Africa. His method of waiting and listening to the environment was an amazing experience.
We really enjoyed this camp because it was simple (which we wanted) and had superb staff and viewings.
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.
