Chisa Busanga Camp

Inspired by the weaver bird nests in the area, Chisa is perhaps the first property in Africa to adopt not only its shape, style, and structure from nature but also its materials and building processes. 

This pioneering example of biomorphic design was the brainchild of Green Safaris founder Vincent Kouwenhoven. To create accommodation that would be unique and unforgettable for guests and yet nonintrusive to the local wildlife, architect Bert Meerstadt designed each Chisa room to resemble a weaver bird nest. The challenge was to create a structure that could be built in the middle of a seasonal floodplain without harming the environment. 

Four frames were painstakingly shaped in South Africa and transported to the Busanga Plains, where they were installed amongst the terminal trees. The nests were raised at least four meters off the ground to minimise the impact on the local ecology and wildlife. One was designed to incorporate a simple metal lift so that travellers with limited mobility could easily reach the Nest. Local artisans then collected fallen twigs, vines, and sticks from the immediate area and wove them around each framework, incorporating the electrical wires and water pipes and hiding them between the metal and the sticks to make anything non-natural practically invisible.

Chisa Busanga Camp is entirely solar-powered and is the only camp in the Busanga Plains to operate Silent Safaris, where electric game-drive vehicles (which are also recharged with solar power) with no intrusive engine noises enable guests to get that much closer to the wildlife.

Like its namesake, the weaver nest, each Chisa room has a large circular opening at the front that maximises its stunning view over the Busanga Plains. Everything inside each Nest is magnetised around this view, from the queen-sized bed to the indoor-outdoor shower and cosy seating nook. Each Nest is also lit from within by a large, handmade chandelier from Katundu in Malawi. Each chandelier comprises strings of seeds in another subtle nod to the weaver birds. Chisa means 'Bird's Nest' in Nyanja, and every detail of these nest rooms has been carefully crafted to bring this inspiration to life.