Beks Ndlovu

Founder & CEO, African Bush Camps

Tell us about you and your company.

African Bush Camps (ABC) is a nature-based safari company, whose tourism focus is African wildlife combined with a positive impact on local communities that coexist with wildlife in remote places. We operate 16 camps in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana. ABC emphasizes treading lightly with our safari operations and playing a pivotal role in conserving Africa’s wildlife and spaces. 

Growing up in Lupane on the outskirts of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, I was always an avid lover of the great outdoors and became a professional safari guide in the mid-1990s. After a few years of guiding, I evolved into a camp and operations manager for various outfitters. I enjoyed the success, but soon longed to return to my real passion: guiding safaris. Fast forward to 2006, I opened Somalisa Camp in the heart of Hwange National Park.  

I’ve always understood African Bush Camps’ operation as a two-pronged approach: sustainable tourism has to impact Africa’s wilderness and its people. By running camps in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, I took on the custodianship for vast tracts of land and developed tourism in remote parts of Southern Africa.

What’s the entry level to stay with you?

Depending on the time of the year, rates for our camps start at $450 and go up to $1,150. We do not charge a planning fee, but request a 20% commitment fee once a journey has been planned and booked.

What is the sweet spot of your expertise?

I genuinely believe in the training of my team, in particular our safari guides. I never want our staff to perform as efficient shadows in the background. Our culture is to be all-inclusive and provide opportunity and freedom for all staff to be storytellers. I believe in the richness of our diversity and in celebrating it with people from around the world. Through this dialogue and interaction, the warmth of the people of Africa is what our guests take back as their soulful journey and experience. Our sweet spots are the interactions and learnings from our professional safari guides and camp hosts.

A favorite experience or trip you’ve helped shape that best represents your travel philosophy…

Few things are better than starting the day walking and traversing wild places in remote Mana Pools in Zimbabwe. There you can track wild dogs or lions on foot and return to camp where you take life slowly. Maybe you sit on your deck overlooking a waterhole and experience what we call the “armchair safari,” where the wildlife comes to you. The region is utterly untouched, a wilderness paradise. Kanga Pan is the sole water source in the dry season, making it an absolute haven for wildlife.  

A not-to-be-missed favorite experience in your region…

Canoeing and walking along the Zambezi River.  

What is a place we should consider traveling to that could really use our dollars, and what is a place we should put on pause because, even though we love it, it sees too many tourists?

A region that could use tourism dollars is Bumi Hills, located on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe. The communities alongside the area are impoverished, and they need to see more benefits from tourism dollars to transform their lives and change their ideas of human-wildlife coexistence. Since 2019, African Parks manages Matusadona National Park, a stunningly beautiful mountainous area close to Bumi Hills. The creation of Lake Kariba in the late 1950s is responsible for the wonderful grazing opportunities along the lakeshore and consequently increased the population of large mammals, particularly elephants and Cape buffalo. African Parks is reintroducing the endangered black rhino. The resulting tourism opportunities around Bumi Hills will transform the lives of the nearby communities. 

Places of lesser priority are urban regions. However, I feel that even in cities, tourism done right with the inclusion of impoverished communities builds nations and connects us as humans.

Underrated location, overrated location, personal favorite, recent discovery?

Underrated: Nxai Pan in Botswana in pursuit of the zebra migration from January until February, one of the world’s great natural phenomena.

Overrated Location: Table Mountain in Cape Town is an example of over-tourism. During the high season, tourism to the area is a threat to an ecologically fragile site. 

Personal favorite: Our newest camp on the banks of the Khwai river across from the Moremi Game Reserve, where hippos, elephants and even lions cross. Khwai Leadwood is my personal dream that took five years to make a reality. 

Recent discovery: Congo Odzala National Park, possibly the wildest in Africa.

How, as a company, do you encourage your clients to be better travelers? 

I believe in sensitizing travelers before they leave their home country to Africa’s challenges. It’s the time of planning where we are open to receiving some information about the complexities of the destination we are about to experience. Once travelers understand, they are much more interested in opportunities to visit, experience and possibly give towards a community-focused project. African Bush Camps always offers day trips to community projects where our travelers learn about the progress and challenges that communities around our camps face. We can even customize longer village visits should guests wish to connect with locals on a more personal level. My point is that travelers who are made aware of Africa’s challenges may want to participate in them positively.

How do you want people to reach out to you?Email is always the best and can be sent through here.