Ntemwa Busanga Camp
Ntemwa Busanga Camp is a simple camp located near the southern edge of the beautiful Busanga Plains in northern Kafue National Park.
Ntemwa Busanga Camp is the satellite camp of Musekese Camp and offers an exclusive bush experience with access to the wonderful Busanga Plains ecosystem. The camp itself is simple and small, perfect for more adventurous travellers who prioritise a wilderness adventure ahead of creature comforts. Having said this, Classic Zambia runs a very good operation and food, service and guiding are all excellent and the camp has a warm and personal feel. The Busanga Plains are stunning and a highlight of Kafue with some interesting game viewing and vast open scenery that is rarely found in southern Africa. A key feature of a visit to Ntemwa Busanga will be the guiding and personal hosting, and this factor combined with the exclusivity of the area make this a real attraction for anyone seeking a true bush adventure. Ntemwa Busanga is most likely to be combined with a stay at Musekese, which works brilliantly over a five to seven night period.
Rooms
Accommodation is provided for 10 guests in five thatched chalets which are all well spaced apart with expansive views over the plains. Each chalet has either twin or double beds with mosquito netting, bedside tables and space to hang and store luggage. To the side of the bedroom area is an open air en suite bathroom with flush toilet and warm bucket showers. Lighting is provided by solar while charging points and fans are provided in each tent. There is a deck to the fore of each chalet furnished with two safari chairs. During the day the chalets are open at the front, but at night a gauze is rolled down, with the option of also drawing the curtains.
Central Areas
The main central areas are under thatch on an elevated deck overlooking the floodplain and comprise a bar, lounge and dining area. Whenever possible, meals are served under the stars, close to the fire pit where guests gather for pre and post dinner drinks.
Facilities
Wi-Fi – No
Power for charging – Yes
Swimming pool – No
Habitat & Wildlife
The Kafue National Park is one of the largest parks in Africa, covering an area of nearly 22,500 sq.kms. The north-eastern and southern sectors of the park are essentially covered by miombo woodland, whereas the north-western sector contains the Busanga floodplains which become accessible from late June to November. There are three major rivers, the Kafue River itself and its perennial tributaries, the Lunga and Lufupa. Although the terrain is generally flat, the beauty of the park is evident in its diverse habitats with floodplains, miombo woodland, thick riverine vegetation and open grassy areas called dambos.
The wildlife is impressive – in the miombo woodland areas, lion, leopard, wild dog, zebra, elephant, buffalo, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, roan, sable, kudu and impala are found, whilst on the Busanga the most dominant antelope species are red lechwe, puku and the diminutive oribi, and aside from lion, cheetah and hyaena are the major predators. Hippo frequent the permanent water channels. The birdlife is fantastic, with over 490 species recorded including the endemic Chaplin’s barbet and large flocks of pelican, crowned crane and wattled crane. Tsetse fly are common.
Activities
The core activity at Ntemwa-Busanga is game drives. For most of the season these are full day game drives in order to explore the stunning open plains of the northern Kafue. In the hotter months game drives will be split with a long morning drive and then a short afternoon drive, to avoid the heat of the day.
Seasons
Ntemwa Busanga is open from July to October when the Busanga Plains are accessible. The conditions can still be quite wet in July.
This is not typically a camp for young children though if taken exclusively, all ages can be catered for. On normal terms children 12 years and older are accepted, and this makes sense given the long game drives on the Busanga Plains and the adventurous nature of the camp, where there is no family unit. However, for adventurous families with older teenage children, this camp combined with Musekese can be an incredible adventure with varied activities and very personal guiding and hosting.
Musekese Conservation, a charity founded by Classic Zambia, owners of Musekese and Ntemwa Busanga Camps, works closely with Zambia’s Department of National Parks & Wildlife, Panthera, the Zambian Carnivore Programme and Game Rangers International to build capacity for law enforcement and conservation groups in and around Kafue National Park. They work to protect the park from illegal and unsustainable purpose by paroling, recovering illegal snares, bicycles and shotguns, apprehending suspects and confiscating hundreds of kilograms of illegal bush meat. They aim to establish a permanent anti-poaching base, train wildlife police officers and community scouts, patrol teams, implement digital radio systems and the Spatial Monitoring & Reporting Tool to store and analyse collected data. The organisation also works with local communities to build a positive relationship.
