Senior Bushcamp Company guide Prince Mutale told me he believes Chamilandu is owner Andy Hogg’s favourite of Bushcamp’s five or six camps. Maybe it’s because it was one of its first, dating back over 20 years. Either way, it’s a stunner.

Design and atmopshere: Chamilandu is classic rustic luxury / comfort, where barefoot won’t be frowned upon, although flip-flops or sandals are probably best advised for feet more accustomed to carpeted corridors and well-heeled shoes. And that’s the feeling that permeates all of the camps, even the recently revamped and mod Chindeni – casual and unfussy, a bit like holidays are meant to be.

A delightful thing about the Bushcamps is the unique individual design of each. No two are remotely alike. And these views from the decks of each of the three Chamilandu kayas are wide-sweeping, magnificent.

History: The commercial bushcamp concept dates back to the 1950s when park founder Norman Carr started his Nsefu Camp for Africa’s first walking safaris. He’d made a deal with the then chief Nsefu to allow him to start walking safaris from the camp – with his vision from the start to involve community in conserving the Luangwa Valley’s remarkable wildlife (my October 01 post speaks to how the Bushcamp Company has carried this vision forward https://www.facebook.com/AngusRoryOConnellBegg).

The Chamilandu site first belonged to the Save the Rhino charity (now defunct) when owner Andy Hogg took it over as one of his first two camps.

As lodge manager Meshack says in a video clip I record with him for my https://www.instagram.com/african_storybook/ page, while crooning about the antique Dover stove cooking the morning’s eggs, ‘there can be nothing better than waking up to this every day’.

WiFi: Happily there is none – that is why you chose a bushcamp after all. The guest is placed, by booking these camps, into a vintage reset, a recalibration of sorts, where reading, thinking and conversing with their partner or family becomes more important than the screen. Although, Andy is considering accessing the Starlink satellite to add the option.

Walking trails – between camps or ‘morning strolls: We walk to Chindeni, en route negotiating a situation in which we find ourselves walking between a couple of elephant breeding herds. I’m accompanied by Prince Mutale, senior Bushcamp Co. guide at the front, James, the veteran Zambian Wildlife authority scout. A tracker named James brings up the rear.

Of course, you may just wish to stay at one camp, setting into its rhythm, and breathing deeply.

*I am available for consultations, advice and designing safaris anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. My two new walking trails in Europe – Cyprus and Romania – are found under Hiking Holidays on this site. https://angusbegg.africa/blog/?int=hiking-holidayshttps://angusbegg.africa/blog/?int=hiking-holidays

*still images and other elements of my experience travelling Africa and the world are found at https://www.facebook.com/AngusRoryOConnellBegg