Somalisa Acacia Camp

The standard suites at Somalisa Acacia Camp are open plan and spacious, with gauze sliding doors, which flood the room with bright and natural light. Sat opposite these doors is a large cosy double bed, which is covered in crisp white bed linen. The room feels luxurious yet authentic, with wooden and stone features running throughout the room. At one end of the room is a wood burner fireplace, which will keep guests warm on a cold evening, surrounded by comfortable and colourful sofas.

A feature stone wall acts as a room divider between the bedroom and the bathroom. The bathroom contains a large walk in shower and a deep clawfoot copper bathtub. All suites come with expansive decking outside the front, where guests can unwind and keep look out over the endless rolling grasslands for any meandering animals. Or make use of the outdoor shower, cooling off with a unique wash in the heart of nature.

Nestled amongst Acacia trees sit the family suites of Somalisa Acacia Camp. These suites are made up of two interconnecting rooms. Both rooms come with their own ensuite and sliding gauze doors. The rooms are filled with bright, natural light and are decorated in the same style as the standard sail suites, with wooden and stone features helping to bring natural elements inside the tent.

The ensuite bathrooms include flush toilets, a large indoor shower and a unique outdoor shower, as well as a feature copper bathtub for a relaxing soak after a long day. Wood burner fireplaces offer the perfect place for families to gather around on a cold evening, or spend some family time on the expansive decking outside the front of the tent gazing out over the endless horizons and seeing if you can spot any wandering animals.

The main dining and lounge area are where meals are served. Enjoy your delicious food in the eclectically decorated tent or poolside, underneath the twisting acacia trees and wide sky. Before or after dinner enjoy a refreshing drink around the Boma fire pit, sharing stories with your fellow guests of your exciting days.

Guests have the chance to experience a traditional safari activity on a game drive. Explore vast tracks of ground driving through the Hwange National Park and seeing animals undisturbed and in their natural habitat. Follow alongside herds of elephants or stop to view some lions having a drink in one of the watering holes.

For an opportunity to immerse yourself in nature take a guided walk through the park. Although you may cover less ground than on a game drive you will receive a completely different experience, really connecting with nature on your own two feet. A friendly and knowledgeable guide will lead the way, and will impart their wisdom on the local flora and fauna, pointing out micro ecosystems such as insect life and animal prints.

Take a pair of binoculars with you on your guided walk and look to the trees to see if you can spot some of the rarer of the 420 species of bird. Your guide will be able to point out nests and identify the birds.

For guests who wish to learn more about their surrounding area and the communities which inhabit them, cultural visits are offered. This is a perfect opportunity to engage and interact with the communities, and leave feeling enlightened and with a deeper understanding.

With an activity suitable for all members of the family, children can spend some time with the Ngwana Club. With guides, children can explore around the camp, learn about local cooking, and create arts and crafts.

The African Bush Camps Foundation has established a number of projects that aim to improve education, empowerment and conservation efforts within the local communities where they operate. They work with members of the community in order to improve school facilities, provide educational textbooks and supplies for students, and support a local health centre, as well as encouraging these communities to form a peaceful relationship with the local wildlife, by finding ways to resolve human and animal conflict. African Bush Camps contribute $10 USD towards the Foundation’s running costs for every night that a single guest stays at one of their camps.

The biggest threat to African lions is conflict with humans. Livestock is vital for many people’s livelihoods, and if lions attempt to attack livestock, it can have devastating effects for both the owners, and the lions themselves if people were to retaliate. Because of this, the Lion Guardian teams are trained to empower and educate local communities about living in harmony with wildlife. By providing an income for the local members of the community that become Lion Guardians, the African Bush Camps Foundation is able to support the guardians and their families as well as protect lions and livestock.

Pack for a Purpose is an initiative that encourages travellers to benefit local communities by using spare suitcase space to bring much-needed supplies for their Conservation Education Program and Women’s Craft Groups. Supplies can be dropped off at your accommodation and will be used to aid a local project, such as craft groups, where local woman are taught skills that allow them to make traditional and non-traditional items such as traditional basketwork, hand-sewn and embroidered products and hand-beaded glass and food nets. These items can then be sold to provide incomes, start small businesses and even support the construction of homes.

The African Bush foundation runs a ‘Greener Camps’ program which means that “African Bush Camps Safari Properties are committed to operating in a sustainable manner, ensuring that we preserve the environment, culture and conservation of Africa.” Wherever possible African Bush camps use low energy lighting systems and solar power, and also have facilities to treat waste water and grey water recycling,  as well as implementing single-use plastic reduction initiatives. All these initiates mean that the impact on the environment caused by African Bush Camps is kept to a minimum.