Chaminuka Lodge — Hotel in Lusaka Province

Positives:||- The main lodge is beautiful with gorgeous views over the reserve and lake. The lodge is full of wonderful art and sculptures, and there is a lovely bar on the upper level.|- Fantastic game drive. On the short 2 hour game drive we managed to see elephants, giraffe, zebra, buffalo’s, wildebeest, warthog, ostrich, monkeys, a whole range of birds and antelopes. |- Good food, locally sourced. The lunch buffet in particular was delicious|- Good service, the staff and activity guides were great|- Great range of activities|- Wonderful evening entertainment, we really enjoyed the two singers and guitar player, some of the best live music I’ve ever heard.|- Family friendly - we were offered a baby travel cot upon check in, high chairs at meal times, and all the staff were very sweet with our two young children |- Rooms were fine - nothing special but clean, spacious, and well equipped ||Negatives:||- We found the big cat enclosures and the activities involving the big cats depressing, unnecessary and completely unethical. The cheetahs are kept in a very small enclosure and every time we saw them were wearing harnesses and leashes for the cheetah walking experience. The lions are also kept in a fenced off enclosure and are entirely hand fed, another activity that guests can pay extra for. It is clear that animal welfare is not a priority for the lodge and I would not recommend visiting if this is an issue for you. It’s a shame as the lodge and reserve would still be very worthwhile visiting without the big cats. I don’t think there is any justification for offering these activities.|- Waiting times for activities. The lodge understandably asks guests to arrive for activities ten minutes in advance. However we had to wait for the transport for each activity, with the longest wait being 35 minutes, this might not sound too bad but when you have small children or a tightly packed schedule at the lodge, it’s frustrating. |- Unreliable meal times, during our stay all the meal times ran a little late. Each time they were 15/20 minutes behind schedule. Again, this might not seem too bad but with small children and an evening meal start time of 7:30pm, it wasn’t ideal. |- We weren’t able to use the swimming pool during our stay as it hadn’t been cleaned. After we asked, it was then cleaned but this took a while and we missed the opportunity to use it during our one night stay which was a shame. ||Things to know before visiting: ||- The last 5/7km of the journey from Lusaka is on a very bumpy dirt track, not a problem if you are driving a 4x4 but our little Honda wasn’t well equipped for it! |- We were thinking of staying at the lodge for the day before heading back to Lusaka after we checked out. However, the cost of the lunch was k890 per person which seems too high. |- If you are on the full board package, you will need to pay for any extra drinks each time you have them, these can’t be charged to the room so bring cash if your card charges you for each use. I also wished I had brought more cash to tip the staff and guides.|- we visited in August and the rooms were chilly at night so bring...

The road leading to Chaminuka is gravel so be ready for that, hence 4 stars for location. We got there around 5pm on Friday. Checked into one of the newer rooms with balconies which we kept shut because of the monkeys! Had to ask for towels which were promptly brought. Load shedding is a thing in the whole country so we understood when we were told that the Gen set only powers essential items. Had dinner. The Kaposhe complimentary water is an added bonus. Enjoyed the tiramisu! Hot water aplenty in the shower. Our room had both shower and tub. Note the rooms are all named after animals and trees. Next morning, had breakfast. Loved the onion tart! Our first activity was the boat ride on the man made lake. It was calming and peaceful. Chaminuka even has a bathroom on the lake, just in case! Decided against fishing after the boat ride as earlier planned because the best time for fishing is by 6am. After that, we did the cheese tasting. Enjoyed the garlic/chili gouda most and the dry red Italian wine did justice to the cheese. The cheese tasting is held in a grotto like room, cool and dim. Check out the elephant foot inspired stools! By then it was lunch time. It was crowded so we had to wait a little for a table for two. Loved the roast potatoes and desert the most! After lunch we had the game drive, saw a Buffalo up close and personal! Then we did the Cheetah interaction. Interesting and scary at the same time. By 4:30pm, we had time left to squeeze in one last activity, horse riding! My first time ever on a horse. After the horse riding, we changed rooms just to get a feel of the older rooms with skylights. These have a tub with a shower 🚿 head in the tub. We had dinner, the rice was rasty and well cooked but this time I did not enjoy the dessert, a cheesecake of some type. Liked the topping though. This morning we had breakfast and decided to do one last activity afterwards, the elephant feeding! Sad to hear one of the males had to be put down because he was terrorizing the area and couldn't be handled by the elephant handlers. Hopefully in the next 5 years, Chaminuka won't lose the other Male elephant because of aggressive behavior.

We enjoyed our stay. Kudos to the manager Mr Mudenda and the team. Shout outs to Jeremiah, Harrison, Naphtali and Charity. Thanks to Teddy and Chipo at the Activity Center. I pray everyone gets fare wages because the passionate and dedicated team at Chaminuka works hard every single day!

Long may Chaminuka stand! Andrew Sardanis and his vision at...

Honestly, the whole experience was underwhelming. The only positive thing I could say about my stay in Chaminuka is probably the food, they were okay, and the service was good. They have a package of variety of activities. While they sound promising, the actual experiences were meh.

Horse ride: The horse ride was literally took less than 10 minutes. Not worth it at all. If this doesnt come with your activity package, dont spend 650kw on this.

Cheetah encounter/photo: I did not do this activity but I saw some people did, it was so saddening to see the cheetah being locked up in such small space. They look very thin and unhappy.

Game drive: Don't expect much. It was only a 90-minutes ride and there were not that many animals living in the area. The guides were not very informative, kinda unenthusiastic, which made the ride quite unpleasant.

Boat ride: A 30-min boat ride around the manmade lake, which was, you know, just okay.

Bush walk: Probably the most enjoyable activity for me. Nice guide, you get to learn quite a lot, especially if you are curious.

Cheese tasting: Hmm... It was a strange experience. They took us to the tasting place and everything wasn't just ready, we had to wait almost 30 mins for them to set up. The tasting itself was just okay. Standard variety of cheese.

The room that I stayed in was just okay. Could benefit from providing more basic amenities.

Overall, it was an underwhelming experience for me. Every activity was felt kind of rushed.

Location is okay, close from Lusaka. Convenient for short time visitor wanting to experience some nature. The lodge building itself was pretty, full of beautiful art. Good...