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Chiawa Camp, Zambezi River
This small boutique resort lodge experience on the Zambezi River provides world-class African safari adventures.
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Jodi Pratt |
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Jodi was great and always felt like she was truly interested in our satisfaction. No questions that she was unable to answer. Book This Trip  |
- Overview
Chiawa is located on the banks of the Zambezi River in a remote wilderness area that offers perhaps the finest combination of game viewing and fly fishing on the African continent. The region is famous for African wildlife - lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, hippos, and more - and the remote location limits the number of visitors. It's never crowded and there are countless animals to see. The Zambezi there is a wide, braided river with complex channels and wide open vistas, and, best of all, home to large numbers of Tiger fish, a colorful, bass-like fish that is exciting to catch on a fly rod. The comfortable lodge has been operated by the Cummins family for decades and they understand fly fishing as well game viewing. This is an important consideration if you want to include fishing on your agenda, although Chiawa is well worth a visit whether you fish or not.
"I first went to been to Lower Zambezi National Park in the mid-1980's, and have returned four or five times since. It just keeps getting better with each visit. Chiawa not only has an excellent location on the river, but it's one of the best managed camps anywhere in Africa."
- Dave Parker, Managing Director - Orvis Travel.
A visit to Chiawa can stand alone, or be added to a longer itinerary in Africa, and it is accessible from Lusaka, Zambia, plus Kariba and Livingstone.
Old Mondoro Camp
The Shona word for lion is Mondoro and the name Old Mondoro derives from the local legend of an old, white lion that used to frequent the area. Although the old white lion has long gone, Old Mondoro Bush Camp reflects the wild spirit that lives on in his descendants that still roam free in this unique part of Africa. The concept of Old Mondoro is simple – to step back from the ultra-luxurious lodges seemingly springing up everywhere, and rather provide guests with an authentic remote safari that concentrates on the wildlife and bush experience. Where the call of the hyena replaces the hum of a generator, where harsh electric light is replaced by the soft glow of a lantern, where some of the best guides in Africa will help guests experience a closer look at one of Africa’s finest wildlife sanctuaries.
The staff, setting and the amazing animals made the trip wonderful, beyond words.
- Orvis Travel customer Candace Dugan, Michigan
Orvis International Travel 178 Conservation Way Sunderland, Vermont 05250
800-547-4322/802-362-8790 fax: 802-362-8795 e-mail: OrvisTravel@orvis.com- Itinerary
African Fly Fishing and Safari Vacation Package Itinerary
Day 1: Chiawa Camp
Arrive in Chiawa Camp on the Zambezi River in time for lunch. After lunch, you can begin fly fishing or take an afternoon safari game drive. Return late in the afternoon and either join the non-anglers for a sunset gamedrive or relax around the fire and watch the African sunset. Lunch and dinner at the lodge.
Day 2-5: On the Zambezi
Awaken to the sounds of African wildlife and enjoy breakfast before meeting your guide at the waterfront. Daily guided tigerfishing. The fishing barges are large & comfortable and will easily accommodate 2 anglers with comfortable chairs for spectators if the rest of the family decides to join you. If you prefer may split any of these days between fishing and game-viewing activities. Non-fishers can choose from guided game-viewing drives (day or night) canoe trips, bush walks, or river safaris.
Day 6: Transfer to Old Mondoro
After breakfast you will fish until lunch and then depart Chiawa for Old Mondoro Camp. Arrive at Old Mondoro in the early afternoon in time for a game drive.
Day 7: Old Mondoro - Full Day at a Classic Safari Camp
Old Mondoro is a unique safari experience where the emphasis is on non-motorized activities that concentrate on wildlife and bush experiences.
Day 8: Departure
After breakfast today you will be transferred to Jeki or Royal Air Strip to meet your charter flight out.
Orvis International Travel 178 Conservation Way Sunderland, Vermont 05250
800-547-4322/802-362-8790 fax: 802-362-8795 e-mail: OrvisTravel@orvis.com- Activities
The Fly Fishing
The Zambezi River meanders beneath the Zambezi escarpment, creating numerous channels and bars in Lower Zambezi National Park. It’s over a mile wide at Chiawa camp and there are countless pools and cutbanks where tigerfish are found, as well as hundreds of crocodiles, hippos, and buffalo. This is a wide shallow river lined with deep, riparian forest, not at all like the deep gorges and whitewater one sees at Victoria Falls. There’s a strong current throughout the dry season, as water makes its way from the highlands of Angola a thousand river miles away.
Fishing is just one of the many activities available for guests to choose from at Chiawa Camp. Whether light tackle or fly fishing it is done from either a flat pontoon boat or smaller outboards, rarely from the shore since the threat of crocodiles is real. Your guide will position you near a pool where the bank drops off sharply and large tigerfish like to hang out. Many of the pools are off small islands and sandbars midstream, so there’s plenty of room to cast and maneuver.
Nothing prepares you for your first tigerfish. The tigerfish is a strikingly beautiful predator found only in Africa. It takes the fly with incredible speed and savagery, and is arguably the world’s hardest-fighting freshwater game fish. It can weigh up to 30 pounds. Even a 10-pound tigerfish is an astonishingly powerful fighter, jumping repeatedly in an explosion of furious power. The best angling months are September, October, and November.
Fishing is included for all guests staying at Chiawa Camp. However the fishing included in the standard package is limited, based on availability, and you may find yourself sharing a boat with several other camp guests that may or may not be as
serious about the angling as you are.Those anglers seeking an authentic guided fishing experience should request a private boat upgrade for your group.Availability is limited so be sure to let us know when you book.
Non-fishing Activities
Gamedrives by 4x4 vehicles and on foot are conducted by expert naturalists daily. There are also sunset drives that frequently turn up leopard and other nocturnal wildlife. There are canoes for paddling on the river and when not used for anglers, the boats are used for river excursions. The park is home to lions, elephant, leopard, wild dog, and a vast array of animals and birds.
Orvis International Travel 178 Conservation Way Sunderland, Vermont 05250
800-547-4322/802-362-8790 fax: 802-362-8795 e-mail: OrvisTravel@orvis.com- Accommodations
Lodge accomodations at Chiawa Camp on the Zambezi
Chiawa Camp is an exquisite location. Located under a shady grove of mahogany trees in the heart of big game country, it features expansive views of the mighty Zambezi River.
Chiawa Camp consists of 9 spacious, well-ventilated safari tents, each set on its own elevated wooden platform under shade with a panoramic view of the Zambezi. There is a maximum of 18 guests, so it’s never crowded. The secure tents are insect-proof, have twin or double beds with spring mattresses, solar lighting, solar/electric fans & battery charging, and private baths with flush toilets and hot & cold showers.
There’s an open-air dining room with thatched roof, a bar with views of the river, and a campfire area for swapping tales over a cocktail under the moonlight. The charming, thatched lounge/bar area, with upstairs lounge/observation deck, and the dining room with al fresco veranda, overlook the river and the game that regularly drinks there.
In addition, Chiawa Camp has a carefully positioned viewing hide overlooking the confluence of the Zambezi & Chowe Rivers. This provides excellent, peaceful viewing of birds and the large mammals, often including the big cats! We have also a blind just downstream from camp overlooking a well-used waterhole.
The camp is set in a grove of Acacia trees on the banks of the Zambezi River in the Lower Zambezi National Park some 10km downstream from Jeki Airstrip, near the Chakwenga River confluence. It is a beautiful site overlooking a maze of hippo-inhabited islands and channels. Here, the Park is characterized by vast flood plains and open woodland making for ideal walking and game viewing opportunities. This is very different from the rest of the Park, which is on higher ground characterized by thicker bush and large inland lagoons. The Park offers excellent game viewing throughout.
Accommodating only eight guests and of traditional design, Old Mondoro is somewhat reminiscent of the mobile camps of East Africa, rebuilt from scratch and then dismantled each safari season. The “bush chalets”, resting on temporary slabs, have en-suite facilities with flush toilets, and canvas bucket showers and washbasins. Paraffin lanterns provide natural lighting. The bush chalets are left with open views during the day, and at night canvas drop-down blinds with windows are lowered to provide more privacy and security. Three have two twin beds and one has a double, all with thick foam mattresses, comfortable bedding and large mosquito nets. All bush chalets have outstanding views of the Zambezi or the Old Mondoro lagoon.
The Main Tent, which serves as a lounge and dining area, rests under a Winter Thorn tree and next to a Sausage Tree overlooking the Zambezi. A traditional bush kitchen supplies outstanding meals and fresh bread baked daily from a homemade oven. The entire experience is unpretentious and uncomplicated, but promises a unique safari that gives guests the best bush experience possible.
Orvis International Travel 178 Conservation Way Sunderland, Vermont 05250
800-547-4322/802-362-8790 fax: 802-362-8795 e-mail: OrvisTravel@orvis.com- Pricing & Dates
Pricing and Dates - 2010
Luxury Safari Tents per person/night/sharing $ 895 Emerald Season April 15 – May 31 $ 595 Shoulder Season June, October, November $ 795 SINGLE - no single supplement, limited to a maximum of 2 singles in camp at one time Takes romance and bush comfort to new levels in Zambia, extra-spacious, a king-sized bed with pure cotton linens, Molton Brown bath & shower products, in-door and out-door showers, His & Hers wash basins, and a roll top “island” bath - all overlooking the Zambezi River. ZAMBEZI DREAM HONEYMOON $ 300 add per couple Unique and most romantic, includes bubbly & roses on arrival, private picnic lunch, private candlelit dinner on pontoon boat moored on the Zambezi, and a private breakfast served whilst drifting down the Zambezi – the ultimate honeymoon surprise. Available at Chiawa Camp only. OLD MONDORO BUSH CAMP pppn (May 1 - 31) $ 500 (June 01 – Oct 31) $ 650 Combo rate (w/Chiawa) $ 575 Eight beds, on the banks of the Zambezi deep inside the Park 35 kms downstream from Chiawa Camp. Natural lighting, en-suite flush loos, and old-fashioned canvas bucket showers. Emphasis is on walks – no canoeing or fishing. We recommend 2-3 nights at Old Mondoro combined with 3-5 nights at Chiawa for the ultimate Lower Zambezi safari.
7-ULTIMATE COMBO (4 NIGHTS Chiawa + 3 NIGHTS Mondoro) $ 5305 5-ULTIMATE COMBO (3 NIGHTS CC + 2 NIGHTS OM) $ 3835 KIDS SHARING W/ PARENTS (3rd bed in tent)* $ 325 PRIVATE VEHICLE & GUIDE (PER DAY) $ 500 PRIVATE FISHING BOAT & GUIDE (PER DAY) * $ 500 N.B. Private Fishing Boat & Guide recommended for serious anglers; not necessary for casual anglers who do not mind sharing a boat with up to 6 other anglers with varying interests and skill levels. * Not available at Old Mondoro Includes Park Fees, transfers between Chiawa Camp/Old Mondoro & Jeki/Royal airstrips, accommodation, meals, beverages, professionally-guided game viewing drives (day and night), canoe trips, bush walks, boat safaris, angling and daily laundry. Does not include air/river transfers to/from the Lower Zambezi, Park Angling Permits, gratuities, visa fees, or hotels & meals in Lusaka.
Kids Policy: Families welcome – 8 years minimum but exceptions can be made so please enquire. 14+ years recommended for walks & canoeing.
AIR TRANSFERS: Lusaka to Lower Zambezi $190pp and is subject to change
Flights into the lower Zambezi (Jeki and Royal) are subcontracted and available from Lushka, Mfuwe, Livingstone and other safari areas in Zambia. Seat-rate & private charter prices available on request.
Orvis International Travel 178 Conservation Way Sunderland, Vermont 05250
800-547-4322/802-362-8790 fax: 802-362-8795 e-mail: OrvisTravel@orvis.com- Reviews
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