Baines River Camp

The camp is a true colonial style safari lodge with a tranquil setting and magnificent views of the Zambezi River.

Suites

Baines' River Camp offers a choice of eight suites with either king or twin beds. Each of these individual colonial-style safari suites, named after different African explorers, commands its own view of the Zambezi River from a comfortably furnished veranda.

Each room comes with air conditioning, a ceiling fan, cotton percale linen, pure down pillows and duvets, complimentary mini-bar with coffee and tea making facilities, a personal safe for valuables, and a hairdryer. The rich décor creates an ambiance of luxury with classical fabrics, colorful kelims, natural hardwood timbers, and leather.

Every suite has an en suite bathroom and a walk-in shower with a spacious dressing area. Two of the suites offer an additional outdoor shower.

Cuisine

At Baines' River Camp you'll find a great variety of interesting dishes prepared by experienced chefs Crispin and Titus. There are no set meal times, with breakfasts, brunches, and lunches prepared and served to suit the activities and personal preferences of guests. Delicious picnic meals and snacks can be ordered and packed for bush enthusiasts who are spending part of the day away from camp.

Dinner is a relaxed affair enjoyed with other guests on the veranda-style dining area or under the stars. Alternatively, an intimate dinner for two can be prepared on request, served on your own private veranda. Dinner consists of a choice of two starters, the main course, and desserts. Special arrangements can be made for guests who have their own individual preferences.

Facilities

The lodge has an open plan area built in a colonial style that boasts a lounge and dining area, the Selous Bar and an 11-meter swimming pool. An outdoor boma-style fireplace is lit every evening and on cold winter evenings, the fireplaces in the bar and in the dining room offer extra comfort.

A library collection is available in the boardroom, two workstations in one of the lounges offering a quiet and private spot to comfortably catch up with emails.

Baines' River Camp offers an extensive wellness menu with a range of treatments that can be conducted from the comfort of your veranda. Treatments include specialized massages, Gatineau facials, manicures, and pedicures.

Communication

Although cellular telephone reception is intermittent and only available in certain areas of the camp, a V-SAT system ensures that guests can enjoy wireless internet connectivity anywhere in the main lodge area. The main lodge also offers two private workstations with leather swivel chairs in quiet surrounds.

The Baines' River Camp suites have the following facilities:

• Bathroom amenities such as conditioning shampoo, shower gel and more
• Coffee and tea making facilities
• Complimentary mini-bar
• Hand wash and powder for ladies'
• Laundry
• Personal insect repellent spray and cream
• Personal safe
• Room insect spray

Directions by road – Chirundu – Baines’ River Camp

• When you get to Chirundu, drive towards the Zambia/Zimbabwe border post and turn left at the Chirundu shopping mall (please, reset your vehicle’s odometer to zero) onto the dirt road. (Shoprite & Hungry Lion will be on your left-hand side) and stay on that road).
• From Chirundu turn off you will go over a short section of tared road bridge/check point (Kafue River).
• Short distance from the bridge there will be a fork in the road (12.5km from the turn at Chirundu). Keep right at the fork towards Chiawa Village.
• At 22.8km mark, you will drive past a banana farm that will be located on your right
• At 34.5km mark, turn right at the sign board for the lodges at Chiawa Village, follow Mvuu Lodge (they are still waiting for Baines’ Camp sign board to come from South)
• From there, always stay on the main road – mountains on your left, river on your right
• The road will bend to the left and you will drive through a gate when entering the GMA, your landmark will be a hippo scull at the foot of a structure at the gate (51.6km mark)
• Follow the sign boards toward Mvuu Lodge, when you drive past Mvuu lodge on your right, they are the second turning to the right AFTER Mvuu Lodge
• There is a Baines’ River Camp sign on the right-hand side of the road at their turn off to the camp, turn RIGHT at the sign – (60.9km)
• If you reach the white Eco Residents’ sign board you have gone 50m too far, please turn around and take the first left.
• It will take approximately 2 – 2.5 hours to get from Chirundu to Baines’ and between 4 to 4.5 hours for the trip Lusaka to Baines’
• For your info, you should have signal in Chirundu and again around Chiawa Village

For assistance

Ben - + 260 97 226 3719

Email – logistics@bainesrivercamp.com

Stephan - +27 64 243 1580

Email – camp@bainesrivercamp.com

River cruises

An experienced guide accompanies guests on a cruise of the Zambezi River in search of wildlife such as a breeding herd of elephants bathing, the ever-curious buffalo in the reeds or the elusive African Skimmer. Game viewing from the river adds a different dimension to a safari as most wildlife is more at ease with boats in the water than with vehicles on land. With the added flexibility to move around the boat, a river cruise offers spectacular photographic and viewing opportunities. Guests can enjoy sundowners as they sit down and relax at the end of the day, watching the sunset over the mighty Zambezi River.

Angling

Baines' provides an exciting opportunity for angling with the famous African Tiger Fish (Hydrocynus Vittatus) which is known to offer some of the best sport angling anywhere in the world. Whilst maintaining a strict catch and release policy, enthusiastic guides will introduce guests to this fierce freshwater predator, on a fly rod or with a lure. Other species to be caught are Barbel, Bream, Chessa, Cornish Jack, Nkupe and Vundu. Basic equipment and tackle are available for guests who wish to go angling. Keen anglers are encouraged to bring their own tackle.

Canoe safaris

Canoeing safaris offer visitors the privilege of viewing wildlife up-close as they glide through the Zambezi River. Visitors will have the opportunity to see sights such as birds nesting, antelope getting on with their everyday life, and baboons eating. Experienced guides will read the signs of the bush and ensure their guests maintain a safe distance whilst giving the best chance to view buffalo and elephants grazing. At the end of the day, drinks and snacks are served on one of the many sandbanks, making the perfect ending to the day as the sun sets behind the Zambezi escarpment.

Game drives

Nothing beats a sighting of a pride of lion with youngsters playfully irritating their elders, or coming across a 200-strong herd of buffalo on an open plain. The best way to encounter these sights is to join a game drive with binoculars, a camera and a bird book from the Baines' library. With over four thousand square kilometers filled with game and birds, concentrated around the waterways, visitors have a good chance of returning with some interesting stories and photographs. Game drives are available in the Lower Zambezi National Park or within the adjacent Chiawa Partnership Park.

Baines' River Camp activities include:

• Angling
• Canoe safaris
• Game drives
• River cruises

The main lodge area further offers two lounge areas to accommodate break-away sessions.

The boardroom is the venue for the various safari workshops hosted at Baines' throughout the season.

Safari workshops

Baines's River Camp is not only a peaceful location for conferences but also provides an ideal location for safari workshops. These workshops offer more information on the sights and sceneries to be explored, equipping visitors with the necessary knowledge to enjoy their safari experience to the full.

Photographic workshops

The Zambezi, Africa's fourth-largest river, is a photographer's playground. Photographic workshops give visitors the opportunity to join other keen photographers and learn how to get the most out of both their camera gear and individual creativity. Workshop sessions and image editing are done in the comfort of the boardroom.

A typical workshop with David Rogers, combining the Lower Zambezi Valley with South Luangwa National Park runs for eight days.

Birdwatch

Ornithologist David Johnson accompanies visitors through the Lower Zambezi Valley, an area that features over 370 species including the African Skimmer, Pel's Fishing Owl, Angola Pitta, and the Livingstone Flycatcher. The birdwatch begins early each morning as visitors set off by boat, by game drive vehicle or on foot, to explore the diverse habitats. All that is needed is a field guide, binoculars, a good hat, and a bird list. All enthusiasts are welcome.

Fly fishing clinics

Catching a Tigerfish on a fly is widely considered to be the pinnacle of freshwater fly fishing. The opportunity to do so in this amazing environment should not be missed! Run in conjunction with Tourette Fishing, the clinics provide information gathered by the Baines' guides over the years on how to find and catch Africa's most powerful freshwater game fish on the Zambezi. With a ratio of two anglers per specialized boat, you'll be assured of maximum attention from your guide, translating into more hook-ups!

Elephant world

Together with Johan Marais, author of 'Great Tuskers of Africa' and 'In Search of Africa's Great Tuskers', explore the intriguing world of elephants, from the comfort of a vehicle, boat or canoe. Learn about elephant matriarchs, bachelors, mock charges, herd hierarchies, tusks, grace and so much more. Still hunted across Africa in large numbers for their ivory, our continent's heritage is in danger and the focus of this workshop is not only on their physical characteristics and social behavior but also on their conservation. A typical elephant world workshop runs for five days.

Baines' conference facilities include:

• Boardroom table
• Ceiling fans and air-conditioning
• HD slide projector
• Leather upholstered Wilkhahn swivel chairs
• Projection screen
• Wireless internet connectivity
• Baines' River Camp offers the following safari workshops:
• Birdwatch
• Elephant world
• Fish flying clinics
• Photographic workshops