Shawa Luangwa Camp

Nestled amongst the verdant surroundings, the Luxury Couples Tents are a sanctuary for guests looking for a peaceful space to rest and relax. The fort-like tents offer plenty of space and their tall height provides ample headroom. The rooms are elevated on wooden decks, offering incredible bush and river views and a private retreat from the rest of the camp. The rooms consist of your choice of twin beds or a double – fitted with soft linen, a small seating area overlooking the Luangwa River, and an en-suite bathroom with a sunken bathtub.

For families or small groups travelling together, two tents can be converted into a Family Tent, separated by a five-metre wooden deck area. One tent has a king-size bed, and the other has two twins. This set-up is ideal as it offers both a space to spend time together as a group, with the option for both parties to enjoy some privacy.

Guests can enjoy dining in the communal dining area, a formal yet comfortable space where you can exchange exciting safari stories and get to know fellow explorers. You can also choose to enjoy lunch and dinner in private on your room’s deck with the sounds of chirping insects and barking impalas to serenade you. Romantic, lantern-lit dinners for two are also available, as well as a lazy breakfast in bed. Guests can look forward to three delicious meals each day, all freshly prepared by the expert team of chefs.

Enjoy twice-daily game drives in Shawa Luangwa Camp’s solar-powered electronic safari vehicles. Guests can look out for incredible animals including zebras, wildebeest, hippos, elephants, buffalo, leopards, lions, hyenas and elusive wild dogs. Game drives in the morning allow visitors to see predators returning from hunts while the other animals graze in the cooler climate before the heat of the day. The late afternoon drives see animals flocking to the water sources where they can be easily seen through the thinned-out vegetation of the dry season. The silent electric vehicles cause minimal disruption, enabling guests to go unnoticed and watch the candid animals go about their normal routines.

Explore at your own pace with an armed scout and knowledgeable guide, and discover the secrets of the Zambian wilderness as you follow clues such as tracks and dens that lead to amazing wildlife viewing opportunities. Immerse yourself in the rich flora and fauna of South Luangwa National Park and learn about the area from the legendary guide Jacob Shawa, who grew up in Luangwa Valley and the camp was named after.

Search for the amazing birdlife of Luangwa such as yellow-billed storks, herons, egrets, geese, storks and colourful carmine bee-eaters. The valley’s rich plant life and the shallow lakes and salt springs provide the perfect haven for around 400 species of birds, and guests can enjoy listening to their gentle songs and watching them flit between the leafy treetops.

Enjoy a tranquil cruise along the beautiful waters of the Luangwa River as the exotic birds search for seafood meals and hippos and crocodiles lounge in the water. Guests can enjoy watching the game from a totally different perspective where the boat gently rocks and soothes you, and giant elephants spray water at each other.

Shawa Luangwa is a Green Safaris camp. Green Safaris operates with a focus on making a sustainable impact on the surrounding areas of their camps and lodges. An example of this is the Likoma Reforestation Project which works to replant and build up forests that have been cut down to support the growing island’s constant demand for firewood and materials. By repopulating the forests, the project is helping ‘to reduce the negative impacts of deforestation such as erosion and soil runoff, through community-managed tree nurseries.’

There are six established nurseries, each aiming to plant around 2,000 indigenous hardwood and fruit trees. This will transform the arid land, provide local villages with the firewood they need for cooking and heating, and provide fresh fruit which can be eaten and used to plant more trees.

Tongabezi Lodge has also established a reforestation project to educate and raise awareness about the importance of trees for a clean and healthy environment. The project has been introducing eco-friendly grass stoves to village homesteads in order to reduce the number of trees cut down for firewood.

The Clean Up Likoma Project is working to raise awareness of pollution, waste management infrastructure support and village clean-ups. Green Safari’s Clean Team visits local schools and churches to educate community members and help find community-led solutions. One of these initiatives was using waste plastic bottles and creating ecobricks to build new structures. The team is also working with the local government council to implant new laws regarding plastic use and pollution, with the aim of reducing both.

The Green Safaris Foundation are working with Panthera Zambia to address factors that threaten big cat populations such as lions, leopards and cheetahs. The locally-based biologists and experts in law enforcement of Panthera work to develop strategies with government departments and local communities in order to protect big cats living in Kafue National Park.

Ila Safari Lodge and Chisa Busanga Camp both host Panthera’s conservation experts to give insightful talks to guests about the park’s conservation projects, and Green Safaris supports Panthera through the co-sponsorship of the development of a digital radio system and dedicated anti-poaching unit to help stamp out poachers on the remote Busanaga Plains.

The Zambian Carnivore Program works to protect large carnivores and their habitats through research, conservation, education and capacity building. The project invites researchers and experts to Ila Safari Lodge, and both Chisa Busanga Camp and Shawa Luangwa Camp where they host talks to educate guests about carnivore conservation within Kafue National Park and South Luangwa National Park.

The Litterbug Campaign is an initiative at Tongabezi, where a team clean up litter on the Kazangula Road, which receives heavy traffic as it connects national parks in Botswana and Zambia. Rubbish that is discarded on the roadside poses a threat to wildlife and taints the naturally beautiful landscape. However, each month the Tongabezi team works to remove this, restoring the pristine landscape.

Conservation South Luangwa works with community and conservation partners in order to help protect wildlife and their habitats in the South Luangwa ecosystem. This involves anti-poaching patrols where snares are dismantled and wildlife rescues, rehabilitation of injured wildlife, and human-wildlife conflict management to find peaceful solutions to the problems that can arise when living alongside African wildlife. Guest speakers also visit Green Safaris’ Shawa Luangwa Camp, talking about their experiences as researchers or veterinarians in the field.

Green Safaris’ Conservation Education Club helps children and youths living beside Kafue National Park by teaching them about the incredible wildlife of Zambia, as well as arranging trips into the park so they can see these amazing creatures for themselves. A lot of local children have never seen the majority of the park’s wildlife, and this exciting opportunity encourages young minds to learn about wildlife conservation and how these creatures can be protected. Children receive a full safari experience, with informative bush walks with knowledgeable guides and talks from researchers from Panthera and officers from the Department of National Parks and wildlife.

Hack the Poacher has developed smart technology in order to help combat poaching in Kafue and South Luangwa National Park. Green Safaris has co-sponsored a pilot project to help improve the monitoring of poaching, focusing on protecting populations of rhinos and elephants in the parks. The technology helps to deter poachers and is more effective in helping to apprehend them.

The Green Safaris Foundation was established to create community project funding and establish projects designed to support local community development, wildlife conservation and ecosystem in the areas in which Green Safaris operate.

The foundation supports children through its partnership with the Tongabezi Trust School, which supports 240 local children aged 3-17 with extra-curricular activities, life skills, values building, and academic studies. The foundation also supports Lukanga Secondary School by providing funding, school furnishings and resources, as well as the construction of 3 new classrooms. The Tongabezi Trust School Team also supports the Twaabane Community Creative Centre, where people from the local Simonga Village can learn and share creative and artistic skills, helping to offer community members a creative outlet and possible source of employment.

Green Safaris helped launch the Ila Community Farm just outside the gate to Kafue National Park and the Mukuni Community Farm near Livingstone. These sustainable farms are run with people from the local areas, providing a self-sufficient source of fresh produce for nearby communities. Ila Community Farm uses a solar-powered irrigation system which was funded by Green Safaris as well as the seeds and farming tools.

10 women from the local community have been trained to run the farm which provides both a source of income and produce for the community. The locally grown food reduces the need to import produce, reducing the carbon emissions generated by transporting ingredients. Both farms also aim to create learning centres where local people can learn about organic agricultural practices, and have both recently expanded to include chickens and pigs, which will create yet more job opportunities.

Green Safaris utilise Zambia’s frequent sunny weather for their electric game drive vehicles which allows them to run silent safaris across the Busanga Plains. This clean and renewable resource means that safaris do not have a detrimental impact on the environment and the wildlife is not disturbed by the sounds of an engine.

‘Electric mountain bikes are used to explore the Busanga Plains from Chisa Busanga Camp and from Kaya Mawa on Likoma Island. Also on Likoma Island, even our quad bikes will soon harness the sun’s energy for a quiet adventure. At Shawa Luangwa Camp, we bring our signature e-Cruiser and Silent Safari experience to the South Luangwa National Park for the first time.’

Green Safaris are driven to build and run their lodges and camps in areas where eco-tourism is vital to the preservation of the ecosystem. Because of this, they ensure that properties are designed and then built in a sustainable fashion, and blend into the surrounding area without impacting the landscape.

Ila Safari Lodge, Green Safaris’ first property, was built using the sandbag method, an eco-friendly building method that provides natural insulation. The earth that was moved during levelling the land was repurposed for construction and the only cement used was for plastering. These methods were reused for Shawa Luangwa and Chisa Busanga, with each camp’s clever design maximising natural airflow, sunlight and shade. Chisa Busanga’s nests propped under on wooden legs built from locally sourced timber.

Green Safaris’ Sindabezi Island Camp, Ila, Chisa Busanga and Shawa Luangwa all run completely off the grid, powered entirely by solar energy to reduce their carbon footprint. At Sindabezi Island, a greywater system reduces water waste and water is bottled at the lodge using metal flasks to minimise the use of plastic. Food waste is also utilised to make nutrient-rich compost for the gardens at its sister lodge, Tongabezi, where fruit, vegetables and herbs are grown and then used in the lodge’s kitchen – reducing the need to import produce from external sources and further reducing carbon emissions.