Bilimungwe Bushcamp

a wonderfully peaceful part of the reserve

Bilimungwe Bushcamp is located in the South Luangwa South area of eastern Zambia.

The camp, ‘Bili’ as it is affectionately known, is in a remote woodland setting, deep in the southern sector of the reserve, some 40 km as the crow flies from the main Mfuwe Bridge Gate. This is an extremely quiet part of the reserve, so you really can expect to have the place largely to yourselves, even during peak season.

Although it lies only 200 metres from the main Luangwa River, the camp is instead focused on a lovely waterhole amongst the winterthorn and mahogany trees, which tends to attract a great deal of wildlife. From the vehicle turnaround we immediately enter the open-sided thatched ‘chitenge’, which contains comfortable lounge and dining areas, stepping down to a lower level which looks directly out over the waterhole. To the other side there is a lovely campfire area which looks out over an open expanse of grassland.

A particular feature of this camp is that the staff sometimes put on a little ‘show’, with traditional dancing and singing, much to the delight of the guests. There is nothing like the sound of live African music in the bush, accompanied by hippos and elephants.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Bilimungwe Bushcamp is in just four superb rooms, very large structures on raised wooden floors, with reedwork half-walls and a thatched roof. Inside the space is large and airy, with a vaulted ceiling. At one end there is a comfortable lounge area, the bed with its mosquito net is to the centre, whilst the indoor bathroom is at the other end, including conventionally plumbed basins, shower and toilet. Double doors lead out to a very large verandah immediately overlooking the waterhole.

Animals in camp

Although it lies only 200 metres from the main Luangwa River, Bilimungwe Bushcamp is instead focused on a lovely waterhole amongst the winterthorn and mahogany trees.

This water attracts a great deal of wildlife, an almost constant procession of pukus, impalas, bushbucks, giraffes and baboons, as well as less frequent sightings such as monitor lizards and banded mongooses.

The lake often also contains a number of hippos, whose noisy splashing and grunting really resonates around the clearing and can keep you up at night.

Elephants are often everywhere in camp, impeding the movement of guests and staff, even leaning on the buildings to reach high into the branches for their favourite seed pods.

This is one of those places where you can sometimes see all the wildlife you need from your verandah, or even without getting out of bed.

Activities

Bilimungwe Bushcamp provides the following guided activities …

• vehicle safari
• walking safari
• night vehicle safari

South Luangwa is a very high quality safari area that often serves as the primary location in a trip.

The stay duration tends to be 5-8 nights split between two camps, or more occasionally 3-5 nights at one camp. Three camp combinations are also possible.

Seasonality

The best time to visit South Luangwa is during the May-Oct dry season, when the wildlife is focused on the riverine areas and easy to find.

Within that period, May-Jul is pleasantly cool at night, but the animals may not yet be fully migrated back into the river.

Towards the end of that period, Oct-Nov the wildlife should be at its strongest, but the weather is likely to be uncomfortably hot, especially at night. Bear in mind that most camps do not have air-conditioning.

Getting around

South Luangwa lies to the east of the country and is usually accessed by light aircraft services from Lusaka or Livingstone.

From Mfuwe Airport it is three hours by road into camp.

usually combined with Livingstone and other safari areas