Chindeni
Chindeni is a luxury tented lodge overlooking a beautiful lagoon in the southern section of South Luangwa National Park
Chindeni is a lovely small camp with a beautiful location overlooking an expansive lagoon which holds water for most of the season and attracts a wide variety of game and birdlife. The tented accommodation is spacious and comfortable, offering a decent level of luxury whilst also allowing guests to stay connected to nature. Like all the Bushcamp Company properties in the southern section of the park, Chindeni has a great location for walking, whilst from a driving perspective there are options to head south-west to the Kapamba River area or north-east towards the Mfuwe sector. This makes Chindeni a good option for guests who wish to drive as well as walk, hosted by experienced guides. Food and service in camp is of a high standard, and the camp has an upmarket, exclusive feel to it.
Rooms
The camp accommodates around 10 guests in four tented chalets, each built on to a large raised wooden platform. The tents are very spacious with a comfortable indoor sitting area. The semi-outdoor en suite bathroom includes plumbed shower, double vanity, flush loo and bathtub. Each tent has a wonderful view over the dambo and a wooden platform with relaxed seating from which to enjoy your siesta. One of the tents is a family tent which has a second en suite twin bedroom leading off the sitting area and comes with its own private guide and vehicle.
Central Areas
The central areas comprise a large raised deck, built in and around the tree trunks on the edge of the river. There are covered lounge and dining areas, plenty of space for open air dining and a fire pit area, all overlooking the water and hills beyond.
Facilities
Wi-Fi – No
Power for charging – Yes
Swimming pool – No
Habitat & Wildlife
The Luangwa Valley is one of Africa’s most scenic and game-rich National Parks. Forming part of the southern end of the Great Rift Valley, the wide valley floor is about 1,000ft lower than the surrounding plateau and through the centre flows the Luangwa River which is fed by dozens of sand rivers during the rainy season, causing it to become a raging torrent. It frequently alters its course from season to season, causing many ox-bow lakes to form. These lakes are very important to the ecology of the valley and account for the high carrying capacity of the park.
Elephant, although slightly smaller than their southern African savannah counterparts, are plentiful, as are buffalo (in huge herds), kudu, waterbuck, puku, impala, bushbuck, warthog, and reedbuck. Thornicrofts giraffe (endemic to the region) are commonly seen and the Cookson’s wildebeest can be seen in the northern sector of the park. Along the river hippo can be seen in their hundreds, in the late dry season packed into ever decreasing water pools, whilst huge crocs laze on the many sand banks. However, the park is perhaps best known for its predator populations, in particular lion and leopard, the latter of which are seen regularly by day and at night. Wild dogs have made a good comeback in the park in recent years and are often sighted. Night drives can also be very productive, with nocturnal species such as civet, genet, honey badger, white-tailed mongoose, African wild cat, spotted hyaena and porcupine regularly seen in addition to the many superb leopard sightings.
The birdlife of the Luangwa is equally exceptional, with over half of the total Zambia species (around 700) being recorded here. Commonly sighted species include crowned crane, carmine- and white-fronted bee-eaters (which nest in the banks of the river from late August onwards), Lilian’s lovebird, purple-crested turaco, paradise whydah, striped kingfisher and the impressive saddlebill storks. Pel’s fishing are also regularly seen.
Activities
Chindeni Bushcamp was originally developed as a walking camp, and there is still a strong focus on walking with morning walks being offered each day. Afternoons are often set aside for relaxed afternoon game drives which extend into a night drive after sunset drinks. However, increasingly guests have required morning game drives and these days many guests focus more on driving then walking, so it is possible to stay at Chindeni without walking at all! We suggest that Chindeni is best suited to guests who wish to mix driving and walking.
Seasons
Chindeni Bushcamp is open from May to December, though game viewing and walking conditions will be best from July onwards.
Chindeni Bushcamp is not an obvious choice for families with young children due to its bushcamp feel and wild setting. However, the family unit offers excellent accommodation all ‘under one roof’ and comes with its own private guide and vehicle so for families with older children, Chindeni could offer a really fantastic family safari adventure.
All guests of The Bushcamp Company, owners of Chindeni, contribute to conservation and community upliftment in the South Luangwa region through the payment of a nightly conservation and community levy.
All guests also pay a ‘Keyrings for Conservation’ fee (you’ll receive an elephant keyring on arrival as a token of appreciation – these are also for sale in the gift shop in camp for guests who wish to purchase gifts to take home) and these raise $100,000 per year toward the projects supported by The Bushcamp Company.
The Bushcamp Company works closely with local organisations including Conservation South Luangwa and the Zambian Carnivore Programme (to which the conservation and community levy goes towards), to support efforts such as anti-poaching and anti-snaring activities, human-wildlife conflict mitigation and training and wildlife research.
Support is also given to a number of community projects through both the conservation and community levy and Keyrings for Conservation. Such projects include Commit to Clean Water which funds the drilling of boreholes for local communities. Each borehole provides fresh drinking water to at least 300 people per day. The Meal-a-Day Programme provides school meals for 4,000 students each day, while support for local primary and secondary schools includes building classrooms, sponsoring teacher salaries and providing school equipment.
Guests who have space in their luggage can bring items to donate to local schools.
