Revamped and Intimate: Bushcamp Company’s Chindeni Camp, Zambia.

October 3, 2025/Angus Begg/

So you know by now, after seeing my previous posts that all of the Bushcamp Co. camps are utterly different in design, in their safari ‘look ‘n feel’. I shouldn’t assume anything really, but as the safari enthusiast visitors to this site are, will want to read all my reviews and posts.

About the Lodge:

Chindeni is the standout luxurious offering in the six bushcamps strung out along the Luangwa river (four reviewed alongside this under ‘Posts’). The kayas have wifi and finer luxurious touches (although kaya and wifi in the same sentence don’t seem to belong), and the views are…again, superlatives fail me. So I’ll share, below, the sunrise that appeared at 06h10 on the early September day we left for the airport.

Afternoon tea on the deck, or a drink, maybe with a book, is sublime.

The edge of the deck, left, is taken late afternoon. The same applies to the image of the fish eagles and puku (cut off by the WP design) on a nearby riverbank. Just to the left is the lagoon, still full of water at the stage, so likely to become increasingly popular as the water in the park dries up.

Buffalo herd, having left the lagoon next to Chindeni camp, on the walk between Chamilandu and Kapamba camps.

USP’s

It’s hard to nail down a single USP (unique selling point) about Chindeni, as with any of its sister camps and – on a broader level – the whole Park. But its contemporary design stands out within the Bushcamp Company offerings. I’d suggest this is where you end your Luangwa safari, maybe sharing those images via the available wifi and having a bath.

Unable to access the river and look up at the nests they make in the riverbank, I crawl closer from the side. Still a special moment.

Carmine Bee-eaters & Lions

But how can I forget the carmine bee-eater colony? And the three male lions we see just after our farewell, leaving camp, a new coalition looking for their own area. It’s good to see lions for a change, instead of yet another magnificent leopard (South Luangwa boasts arguably the highest concentration of the cat in Africa, followed by the Sabi-Sands section of South Africa’s Kruger Park and Botswana’s Moremi).

My favourite wildlife sightings are inevitably when they speak to the species’ behaviour, its story. These elements were provided by this sighting of the three ‘wannabes’, the aspirant emerging coalition that will soon clash with the existing dominant large and experienced males.

I’ve heard them every night, sometimes while walking between camps. But with the early, soft and reddish-yellow light adding another textured layer – and the sound of those large, furry feet crunching the mopane leaves below – this type of experience is truly theatre of the mind and eye.