Responsible Tourism

Safeguarding the Kafue National Park

Why Do We Do It?

Responsible tourism must come from a real desire to make a difference. Since the very beginning of our journey with Mukambi, our passion for conservation and local community welfare has been ingrained in our culture and ethos. With our drive for sustainability, from ourselves, our guests and the staff community, we aim to tread gently and consciously on the earth. Below you will find dome of the ways in which we try to make a difference and promote sustainable tourism.

Support of Our Local Community

At Mukambi, our “local community” is our heartbeat: our staff and their families.

We have dedicated ourselves to building a sustainable environment where our team can flourish both personally and professionally. This includes the development of dedicated family housing, ensuring that our staff can live together as families. To support the next generation, we established a local school and community center so that children can receive an education right here without having to leave their families.

Beyond housing and education, we have invested in essential infrastructure like boreholes for clean water and sports fields for football and netball. We also prioritize internal growth through comprehensive job training programs, providing permanent employment and career paths for over 50 team members. If you would like to learn more about the projects being undertaken at Mukambi, we are happy to organise visits so you may see it in person.

Mukambi Community School

Established in 2006, the Mukambi Community School was created to provide quality education for the children of our staff. Since its inception, results have remained consistently strong. Today, the school educates more than 50 pupils and is supported by four community teachers and two government-appointed teachers.

Each year, our Grade 7 pupils complete their primary education with outstanding results. They secure placements at secondary schools across Zambia, and many continue on to university.

The school’s progress would not have been possible without Cikoko, a charity established in 2010 specifically to support Mukambi Community School. With the support of Cikoko, three students have received full sponsorship for tertiary education at leading Zambian universities and are currently pursuing their master’s degrees. Its commitment has been instrumental in ensuring long-term stability and growth. More about Cikoko and its journey with Mukambi is shared below.

Mukambi Lodge also sponsors the further education of children from our staff families. We are currently supporting six students pursuing diplomas and degrees in mechanics, electrical engineering, accounting, nursing, and tourism and hospitality at ZITHS (Zambian Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Studies).

Staff Development

Here at Mukambi we are enthusiastic when our staff want to further develop their skills and knowledge. A few examples of how we try to support them are.

Guide Training

We fully sponsor all our guides in their guiding exams to receive their certification and get to higher levels. Guides can only legally guide with these certificates.

Brian, one of our lovely guides had joined our team initially as a barman many years ago but he had a growing intrigue and passion for the bush and wanted to try his hand at becoming a guide. We were supportive of his decision and now he is a fantastic guide in our team and has unbelievable knowledge of the park.

First Aid Training

All of our heads of departments are trained in first aid as well as our guides who all have extensive first aid training.

Department Training

Continuous professional development is driven by our dedicated roving trainers, who conduct regular, cross-departmental sessions to ensure every team member is aligned with the latest industry standards.

Chefs Training

Mukambi Safaris invests in culinary excellence by sponsoring select chefs to attend specialized training at Fairview (ZITHS) in Lusaka. This targeted support allows their most promising talent to refine their skills at Zambia’s leading hospitality college, ensuring a world-class “bush gourmet” experience for guests while providing staff with professional accreditation and career growth.

Masseuse Training

When Purity came forward with an interest in learning to become a masseuse we thought it was a fantastic idea and sent her for training at a reputable spa centre in Lusaka. Soon after, Elvis (a waiter at the time) had also expressed interest in learning the same trade, and so he was also sent to undergo masseuse training in Lusaka. Since then, Elvis had also done management training, where he dedicated his time between shifts to studying, and passed with great success! You can now meet him at the reception as a front of house manager.

Mukambi Crafts

If you take a little peek into our curio shop at the Mukambi reception, you will find here that we proudly display the creations of our Mukambi talents. Mabel (scullery assistant) sews lovely bags and garments, Irene (scullery assistant) also sews clothes and bags, and Brian (Guide) weaves colourful bracelets, all sure to catch your eye. We have had wonderful communities of women’s groups, where they were taught the craft of making bags and baskets from recycled plastic bags. These can still be found in the curio shop at the Mukambi reception.

Conservation

We believe that supporting conservation is a key factor of our approach on responsible tourism in the Kafue National Park. As Mukambi, we work closely with several NGOs, the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP), the Department of National Park and Wildlife (DNPW) and African Parks (AP).

Together with DNPW and ZCP, we have a three-pronged approach to their work:

Conservation Science: Identifying and evaluating the primary threats to Zamia’s large carnivores and their ecosystems, through long-term field-based work.
Conservation Action: Addressing both immediate and future threats such as snaring, habitat loss, disease, wildlife trafficking, and other factors.
Conservation Empowerment: To ensure long-term sustainability, we strive to make our efforts as Zambian-led as possible. Developing conservation leadership though training, employing and educating aspiring conservationists, and conducting educational programmes in both primary and secondary school levels. From here students are encouraged and offered full support to enrol in international graduate degree programmes.

Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP)

ZCP has its central base positioned on a piece of our Mukambi land, where we are glad to support such an important organisation dedicated to the conservation of species critical to Kafue’s ecosystem stability. Their work focusses on the research and conservation of Zambia’s large carnivores; cheetah, leopard, lion, spotted hyena and wild dog. The field work, research and conservation action conducted by ZCP across various sites in Zambia contributes to supporting and protecting the wild populations, as well as guiding conservation policy in the country.

Growing up at Mukambi Safari Lodge, Ellen—daughter of Robyn and Edjan—developed a lifelong devotion to the wildlife of Kafue National Park. After specialising in genetics and biodiversity at Wageningen University, she first partnered with the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) in 2024 to conduct her master’s thesis research on the population genetics of spotted hyenas. Following the completion of her studies, Ellen joined the ZCP team full-time in 2025 as a field team leader and ecologist. Since then, she has worked together with the team, dedicating countless hours in the field to carnivore research and managing the collection and analysis of critical datasets. In 2026, she continues to contribute to ZCP’s conservation effort in a part-time role.

African Parks

African Parks (AP) is a non-profit NGO founded on the basis of conserving Africa’s unique wildlife and remaining untouched areas. Since June 2022, African Parks was invited by the Zambian government to join a long-term management partnership to maintain and protect the Kafue National Park. Since AP’s management take over, we have seen many positive changes in the park. The most noticeable changes being: the road grading program and the implementation of the tsetse fly blankets. However, this is what is keenly visible to the eye, there are many changes being made to ensure the safety of the animals, the management of bush fires, and many more unseen initiatives.

Supporting Other Organisations

Art for a Cause

Heinrich Filter is a South African sculptor whose keen eye for nature is accurately reproduced in his detailed works. His love for the African bush has been an enduring hallmark of his life – from his early days spent walking Southern Africa’s game trails through to adulthood working as a professional safari guide.

Heinrich creates many splendid African wildlife beauties and through his art we can drive awareness about conservation & communities and the challenges each are facing during these difficult times. Sales of each sculpture through the Mukambi platforms will generate a donation towards the Mukambi Community School. An exciting collaboration that is the essence of our story… together we are stronger.

Enquiries: info@mukambi.com Ref: Mukambi Art.

Mulberry Mongoose

“Creating Beauty from Brutality”

Located just on the outskirts of South Luangwa National Park, Mulberry Mongoose lead an inspiring team of local crafts-people; transforming the brutality of snare wire traps into powerful statements of jewelry and teamwork.
Supplying all their materials from local entrepreneurs, and using snares removed from the park, they sell their unique and tasteful jewellery and donate a portion of each sale to conservation. Till now, they have raised over $150,000 (and counting) for conservation.
We are proud to showcase select items from Mulberry Mongoose, and you can find these pieces in our Mukambi curio shop.

Umtha Jewellery

‘Umtha’ translating from Xhosa as “a ray of light”, which is certainly what this range has been for our curio shop. Carefully selected to match the colours of nature and the bush, Umtha crafts a lovely blend of elegance and style, perfect for the Zambian surroundings (and your stay with Mukambi Safaris). Designing innovative and Africa-inspired jewellery, the team also highlights empowerment, community and kindness. The members consist of marginalised women from Xhosa and French-speaking-refugee communities, who are trained and given the outlet of telling a story with each piece they create. Umtha is dedicated to ‘fair wage job opportunities in South Africa’, and so we, as Mukambi, are proud to support such creative and kind brands.

Painted Wolf Wines

“Remarkably Persistent, Persistently Remarkable”

With fewer than 6,000 African wild dogs, or ‘Painted Wolves’, left in the world today; Painted wolf wines is dedicated to the production of authentic, distinct and delicious wines. With 4% of their annual turnover being donated to conservation of the endangered African wild dog, over R4,000,000 has been donated to the cause. With ‘Painted wolf’ being Mukambi Safari’s premium wine, be sure to have a taste and know it goes to a good cause.

You may have a look or download the wine list below, or read more about the company and their story.

More Mukambi Initiatives

Mukambi Veggie Garden

The Mukambi vegetable garden has been a long-standing member of our community. However, it has faced many perils over the years. The constant barrage of baboons, monkeys, an elephant breaking down one wall, and a vehicle driving through another, we are just happy it is still there in essence. With these trials and tribulations we have been trying to fool-proof it from the furry locals, but are yet to be fully successful. Despite all of this, there is an initiative to get it up and running smoothly once more and to restore it to its former glory. So the kitchen may once again supply a delectable range of veggies home-grown on our own Mukambi soil.

Renewable Energy

Renewable by Nature.

There is no national grid in the heart of Kafue National Park. There never has been. From the beginning, if we were going to build camps here, our aim was clear: power them as responsibly as possible, using renewable energy wherever we could. Operating remotely meant we had to create our own systems, but it also gave us the opportunity to design them properly from the outset.

Today, all three of our camps operate on approximately 75 kWp of solar capacity, supported by large-scale LiFePO₄ (Lithium Iron Phosphate) battery storage. This technology forms the backbone of our energy system. We chose LiFePO₄ batteries carefully. They last significantly longer than older lead-acid systems, perform reliably in high temperatures, and offer a safer, more stable chemistry.

Their long lifespan means fewer replacements over time and a lighter environmental footprint. In a protected wilderness area, that matters.

The result is straightforward: full 24-hour electricity across our camps — powering guest suites, kitchens, refrigeration, workshops, water systems and the swimming pools at all three camps — entirely from solar energy. Our generator remains on site purely as backup and is used only in exceptional circumstances. We have also taken care to ensure that this infrastructure does not define the landscape.

Solar panels are positioned discreetly and hidden within the camps, out of sight from guest areas. They do not interrupt the skyline or compete with the wilderness that surrounds us. At night, there is no mechanical hum — only the sounds of the bush.

At Fig Tree Bush Camp and Busanga Plains Camp, solar systems provide all hot water, removing the need for firewood heating. This eliminates wood harvesting and reduces pressure on the ecosystem. At Mukambi Safari Lodge, we are now replacing gas geysers with solar water heating as well.

Our systems are upgraded regularly as technology evolves. Efficiency improves. Storage expands. Reliability strengthens. What began as the reality of being off-grid has become one of our strengths.

Being off-grid was unavoidable.
Running entirely on renewable energy is a conscious choice.