Reviews of Mwamba Bushcamp
(99%) From 94 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Mwamba Bushcamp review
Probably one of our favourite camps in Zambia. Intimate, with a real "in the bush" feel to it. Lovely bar and dining area, and a great hide overlooking a productive pumped waterhole. Sitting in the hide after returning from a morning drive and just watching what happens is a relaxing, and sometimes thrilling experience. Derek - I'm sure you could bill this as an "in-camp sauna" - an extra facility for guests! This was our second trip to Mwamba, and it felt like we'd never left.
Debbie and the team did a great job in looking after us, and Meyam, in his quiet way, is one of those rare guides who can truly convey the beauty of the bush and was a real pleasure to be with. Thank you Meyam. We were lucky enough to be there with an hysterically fun group of Australian artists (thank you Peta, Lyn and Judy). Leopard in a tree, hyenas whooping at night, lions in camp, you name it, we had it.
If you're staying at both Kaingo and Mwamba, do make sure you walk from one to the other - we saw leopard, elephants, a very friendly group of giraffe, zebra, wilderbeast, puku, impala, and no end of birds. Highly reccomended.
Mwamba Bushcamp review
We especially loved this camp maybe because we spent 4 nights here and because it is small taking only 6 guests. Because of this we got to know our guide Kennedy and Debbie the manager more than at the other camps. Mwamba has a real bush camp feel to it with an open bathroom. Animals wandered by and an elephant came to dinner one night.
We walked from Kaingo camp to Mwamba and saw a number of animals including hyenas. Our morning walks with Kennedy were always interesting. The drives here were great too with many lions and a lovely leopard . We would like to return to both Kaingo and Mwamba camps.
Mwamba Bushcamp review
Mwamba has been a very enjoyable, intimate bushcamp experience for us and shouldn't be missed when staying at Kaingo.
The wonderfully remote location in the middle of game-rich areas, combined with great personal service/guiding and a waterhole hide right in the camp made for days filled with plenty of excitement. The fun doesn't stop when arriving back in camp - there is plenty of rustling, grumbling, growling and hooting in and around camp to keep things interesting day and night.
Don't come here if you are after luxury with aircon and modcons - but if you are after an immersive bushcamp experience of a largely bygone era, you might just fall in love with it.
Our own, private bushcamp
We were the only guest in Mwamba so we had the entire staff and camp to ourselves. The staff was wonderful, the food great and giving us sundowners and sunsets never before seen.
We had Elliot the leopard walking right next to us as he stalked a croc with his dinner.
Mwamba Bushcamp review
Mwamba is truly away from it all giving a wonderful sense of being in the bush. We saw only one other vehicle in 5 days. The network of roads was superb and we encountered the local Mwamba lion pride on several occasions.
The outside bathroom was brilliant - loved it, despite an elephant taking a very very close look one night!
Mwamba Bushcamp review
A small camp with personal service.
We did not expect the 3 hour ride from the airport, but even though we were late landing, the camp provided the driver and a guide so that we could look for wildlife once we entered South Luangua Park. The staff held supper for us and we were able to meet the rest of the guests.
We were only there for a short time, but the staff made the arrangements for a great safari walk with guide and scout to get to the other Shenton camp in the park.
Mwamba Bushcamp review
Great bush camp experience and great personal service.
The outdoor bathroom was fun but the shower could have been better. Getting "trapped" in our tent by an elephant right outside the door of our chalet was a highlight. We also enjoyed spending time at the hide and being taken to the lagoon.
Mwamba experience
We took the opportunity to walk from Kaingo to Mwamba with Patrick and enjoyed this very much. Our luggage was taken by road.
Everything at Mwamba was excellent - like Kaingo, and we loved it. Nothing was too much trouble for the staff. The accommodation was different but just as comfortable as the sister camp. However, it was more 'bushcamp' than Kaingo which was exactly the experience we wanted. Same high standards but slightly less formal. Of the two camps we preferred Mwamba.
The game drives were terrific and Ian went beyond the call of duty to make sure that we saw what we wanted. Endless enthusiasm and patience from him and Patrick. Many leopard sightings including the beautiful Kylie who didn't seem at all perturbed by our presence. We got some fantastic photos.
We had a wonderful time and we highly recommend Shenton safaris. Everything was well thought out and ran like clockwork. Both camps are a photographer's paradise and they cater for photographers by providing dust cloths and bean bags. It's these little things that make the overall experience so enjoyable.
We plan on returning!
Mwamba - great bushcamp
We chose to walk to Mwamba bushcamp from Kaingo (highly recommended) and were lucky to have Derek Shenton as our guide which we very much appreciated and seeing lions on foot was an added bonus.
Mwamba is a lovely small camp, with a great atmosphere and combines perfectly with Kaingo. Although a bushcamp it is very comfortable and we loved the chalets which are cleverly located, private and immersed in the bush. We saw elephant, impala, puku, baboons etc from our veranda. The open bathroom is wonderful and the view of the stars through the chalet skylight as the lions roared will live long in our memory. The camp host Debs worked tirelessly to make our stay special and our guide Mayem was excellent, extremely knowledgeable and accommodating.
Being a smaller camp with a single guide and six guests the activities need to be agreed in advance, this was not a problem, but perhaps this might be explained to guests on arrival to avoid confusion. We had wonderful game viewing, delicious food and great company. Finally, we loved being woken by the drums at Mwamba and Kaingo and the top drummer Zimba followed us to Mwamba - wish I had asked for a lesson!
Mwamba Bushcamp review
This is definitely a bush camp. The facilities are a bit primitive, but certainly “luxurious” for anybody used to a rougher sort of camping. While the chalets are reed and thatch, the beds are comfortable and the toilets flush. The showers are of the “bucket” variety and the staff is happy to fill it whenever you like given 15-20 minutes notice. I would suggest that they need to change the shower head to something that produced a bit more water and pressure than the current dribble. All the water was potable here. Tap water was completely potable.
What's nice about the chalets is that they have open skylights in the roof that are covered with mesh giving you a view of the night sky from your bed. The front porch has two chairs with a view over a channel of water (generally dry).
The common areas include a chitenge with a bar where most of the meals are taken. There are also other sitting areas, including one near the channel and another on top of a very large termite mound. All-in-all, this is a very comfortable bush camp. The camp is on solar power, and they do offer to charge your electronic devices, like camera batteries. All you have to do is leave your charger with the camp manager, and she'll take care of it for you.
When I was there, there was a resident group of baboons that commute back and forth in front of the camp every day; as well as, a number of elephants that would come by on occasion. Also, there were plenty of other wildlife – impala, puku, mongoose, etc. about camp.
The food was good. They do things a bit differently than the other camps I stayed at. They do tea at 6:00 a.m. (basically just beverages plus cookies), and then do a full breakfast (English) at 9:30 a.m., then a lunch after the noon activity, and then afternoon tea, and then a late dinner. All of the food was good and they certainly feed you enough.
The guiding was very good – and geared towards photographers. More than any other camp, the guides are sensitive to the needs of a photographer. They take care in positioning the vehicle, pay attention to the light, and have a pretty good sense of photographic opportunities. For example, we were driving around during the afternoon game drive, and the sun was setting and I was looking for a good setting for a sunset photo. Before I could say anything, the guide asked if we wanted to stop to get the setting sun behind some trees and had recognized a good spot for that. The guide was also able to recognize when a particular sighting was a bit static (e.g. a bunch of wildebeest just standing around not doing much of anything), and could tell when it was probably time to move on.
With other guides, I had to give quite a bit more guidance in terms of what I wanted photographically, but I rarely had to with the guide at Mwamba. He was also used to photographers who wanted to get our early and stay late, so he was always ready to go.
The game drive vehicles were good – standard Toyota Landcruisers with 3 rows of seats. They have a shelf in front of each seat to hold your belongings, as well as, bean bags for your camera. They also have dust covers for your lenses or camera. They also provided a step-ladder for entry or exit from the vehicle, though I tended to eschew it as I just used the standard step up points on the vehicle.
The two noon-time activities offered here were either the hide near camp or a visit to a nearby lagoon. The hide wasn't very interesting – hot, sweaty and not much action going on. I think it'll be better later in the season when animals come by for water, but nothing was happening on my visit. The lagoon was largely about birds, but again, I think June isn't the best time for this waterhole.
The camp was fairly quiet, and I basically had private game drives until the last drive where two other guests joined me in the vehicle.
The hosting was also very good. Debbie was very accommodating and was trying to anticipate any needs and checking in how my stay was going. She also was fairly good at hosting during meal times and keeping the table conversation interesting and flowing.
This was probably my favorite camp mainly due to the photographic orientation of the guiding.
Expert Africa comments
Mwamba Bushcamp have taken note of this guest's suggestion regarding the showers. The team at Mwamba informed us that it is likely to be a combination of the pipes and shower heads causing the low water pressure. They are working on improving these now, and expect have an improved situation by mid-September 2011.
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.
