Ntemwa Busanga Camp

AREA & ACTIVITIES

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
Whilst is may be possible to do an incidental walk here, the core activity at Ntemwa Busanga is game drives in order to explore the stunning open plains of the northern Kafue.

Seasons
Ntemwa Busanga is open from July to October when the Busanga Plains are accessible. The conditions can still be quite wet in July.

Families

This is not typically a camp for young children though if taken exclusively, all ages can be catered for. On normal terms children 14 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.

CONSERVATION & COMMUNITY

Musekese Conservation 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.