Our Eco-friendly Safari Camps Open in Busanga Plains & South Luangwa

In May and June 2021, we will be opening the doors of our two brand new eco-friendly safari properties in Zambia, Chisa Busanga Camp in the Busanga Plains and Shawa Luangwa Camp in the South Luangwa National Park.

While Chisa and Shawa are entirely special in their own way from design to location, both run completely off the main electricity grid, instead using solar power to ‘keep the lights on’. They also both offer our sustainable Silent Safari experience on one of our signature electric game vehicles – a first in these two destinations. Another way of getting around at Chisa is by electric mountain bike that allows you to explore the plains softly and gently, while Shawa’s motorised boat navigates the Luangwa River with ease. 

Shawa Luangwa Camp: An eco-safari experience inspired by a Zambian legend 

Jacob Shawa might just be a ‘walking encyclopedia’ of the Luangwa wilderness, which when coupled with a personality as bright and warm as the African sun, makes him one of Zambia’s top safari guides. From picking the camp’s location to soon leading our first guests on Silent Safaris through the South Luangwa, Jacob was and continues to be at the very centre of the Shawa Luangwa Camp story. 

The South Luangwa National Park is part of the Luangwa Valley, which is known for its dramatic seasonal changes, remarkable bird diversity, and having one of the highest densities of leopard in Africa. After all, it is called The Valley of Leopard! South Luangwa is the birthplace of the walking safari and it is one of the best ways to explore this wilderness, particularly with Jacob leading you. Shawa is situated along the meandering Luangwa River in the heart of the Lupanda Game Management Area, with close access to both the park and Nsefu Sector. 

The five en-suite canvas tents at Shawa have been erected around magnificent trees that have stood alongside the Luangwa River for many decades. Each tent is mounted on a wooden deck to form an A-frame structure that allows natural light and air to flow through it, while the surrounding trees provide privacy, shade and birdsong. Like all our other eco-friendly safari camps and lodges, Shawa was built with sustainability front of mind and is powered completely by solar energy.

Chisa Busanga Camp: A green celebration of nature

You don’t have to be an architect to marvel at the structural design of a bird’s nest. You may have even wondered what it would be like looking out from your thatched home built into a tree bough or swaying from a branch with just woven grass holding you above the ground. While exploring the Busanga Plains, it was the weaver bird’s nest in particular that caught the eye of Green Safaris’ founder, Vincent, and inspired the four human-sized bird’s nests at Chisa Busanga Camp. 

Busanga Plains is a remote wilderness secreted away in the northern region of Kafue National Park. There, on a tiny grassy island surrounded by seasonal floodplains and dotted with date palms sits Chisa Busanga Camp or simply ‘The Nest’. Each nest is raised on a wooden deck built from sustainably sourced wood and, once on your private deck, you will get to experience a special bird’s eye view of the plains below.   

Nesting and resting like a bird have never been quite this luxurious though. Canvas tenting lines the inside, where you will find a king size bed and modern en-suite bathroom with indoor/outdoor shower. Environmentally-conscious travellers will appreciate that Chisa is a true eco-friendly safari camp, as it minimises its footprint on its natural surrounds by running completely off-grid. During our camp eco-walk, you can check out our solar power system, composting and recycling process, and how the lodge was built sustainably. 

We hope you will join us on our journey of caring for the wild spaces we call home and the local communities we share them with. You may even become some of the very first to experience these beautiful new properties.  

Interested? Chat to us for more information about these or any of our other camps and lodges. Or grab a cuppa and enjoy Luxury Travel Advisor’s ‘anatomy of a green safari‘.