HOW TO
BUILD
A BUSH
CAMP
The birth of a Fig Tree Bush Camp
in Kafue National Park
Edjan Van Der Heidie
B
uilding a camp deep in the bush is a dream
for many safari operators. Although it may
be very attractive, it is a big challenge that
needs proper planning and preparations.
In this article Mukambi Safaris highlights
a brief background on the ‘birth’ of its
latest bush camp, ‘The Fig Tree’.
Deep in the Kafue National Park lays a
beautiful lagoon with permanent water on
the Shishamba River.
The river flows in the rainy season but dries up after the
rainy season, leaving a 1.7-kilometre long lagoon with a big
26
TRAVEL & LEISURE ZAMBIA
white sandy beach on
the Northern part.
We discovered the
location 12 years ago
during long walks
while exploring the
area. It had everything
a bush camp needed,
very scenic with a
breathtaking beauty,
a different eco system
than the main lodge,
and the main reason
for life, water!!!!
Although we
immediately fell in
love with the place,
we were not ready for
the construction of the
bush camp.
At that particular
time, we were still
working on the
establishment of
the Mukambi Safari Lodge to make it a good tourism
destination.
We just started our bush camp in the Busanga Plains and
the game numbers were still relatively low in that area due
to the poaching.
Over the years we kept visiting and monitoring the area
and the Shishamba loop became the most productive game
viewing coil in Kafue National Park.
We hoped that the area would one day come back to life
and it so happened that hippos came back in the lagoon.
In 2013 we decided to go ahead and start the preparation
of building our new bush camp. But, of course, not