dwc0201

We are ready to book our 2007 Zambia Safari but I am a bit bothered by the open air bathrooms at Chiawa. For those of you that have stayed there or at other camps with the open ceiling, has it bothered you? Lack of privacy? bugs? animals? What about if you have to get up in the night? We have the option of the superior tent there that would have closed bathrooms but of course there is the price difference.

Thanks for confirming or putting to rest my fears.

Debbie

santharamhari

Although, i havent been to Chiawa....i wouldn't be concerned about any of those concerns....you will have plenty of privacy with adequate cover. Only no roof. Going at night, there should be a lantern or torch or something, so you will be ok.

Hari

Kavey

An enclosed bathroom where only the roof is missing doesn't bother me at all - it's kind of charming actually though there is always a minor concern about mosquitos.

But I am not keen on those bathrooms that have no enclosing walls such as some of the tents at Savuti. Here one walks down a short walkway, all part of one's tent "complex" and reaches the bathroom area, which is completely open on one side. For me, who uses the toilet during the night, that's a step too far! But some visitors love it!

I do love camps that offer me an enclosed bathroom (with or without roof) AND an outdoor shower as well. Because of the cold mornings and evenings in June, when we've travelled, I change my routine to shower during the warmer early afternoon break and I love to take my shower out in the open, enjoying the view, sun on my skin, animals or landscape before me...

Africa

Hi Debbie

I was at Chiawa earlier this year. The superior rooms (there are 2) have enclosed bathrooms with roofs. The luxury rooms also have enclosed bathrooms, but are slightly open to the elements from above. I can't quite remember, but I don't think that they are completely roofless.

KayeN

Hi Debbie,

I had an outside shower at Sandibe in Botswana with walls, but no roof, and I did not take to it at all. It was in July and I shower first thing before gamedrive and last thing before leaping into bed and I hated showering in the dark, it was lit but not well enough for me, and if it was then you feel like a shining beacon in the African bush. I was mainly concerned with snakes and spiders, as tree branches were just above my head. But it really was not an enjoyable experience to me. It wasn't about people watching, that would be their problem, but about not seeing a danger before I put my foot on it! Give me a shower inside the room, I would prefer to pay the price difference.

Kind regards,

Kaye

matnikstym

I enjoyed the outdoor bathrooms with no roof. During the day we've had elephants come and peek over, at night heard hippos grazing and peeked over the "wall" at them. at night just wear slippers or thongs to the loo.

matnikstym

forgot to say, i've never been to Chiawa but had outdoor bathrooms at Chongwe and Tafika camps.

dwc0201

Thanks to those that have responded so far. I can't really tell by your names but I know Kaye is a woman and maybe that makes a difference??? I also get eaten alive by mosquitoes for some reason when nobody else is being bothered so I have a little mosquito issue.

Debbie

cooncat3

Debbie - I am a woman who has been at Chiawa. What time of year are you going? I loved the loos at Chiawa. I showered during afternoon siesta. The only company I had were some vervet monkeys in a tree above my tent. I was there in late May/early June. Bugs were not an issue at all.

Maybe I am just grumpy tonight, but honestly if you want to be all enclosed, then stay in a lodge. For me, bush camps are the way to go, and Chiawa is really on the luxurious end of that spectrum.

Yes, I know, different strokes for different folks....

Kavey

I'm a woman too - generally the open bathrooms I've been in haven't been directly under dense trees - I'm sure I'd dislike that for the same spider and insect dropping down fear mentioned above.

As for showering in the dark - I tend to switch my routine around from home anyway because of how cooooold it is at night when I tend to travel so that's not an issue for me.

Going to the loo during the early morning/ late evening/ night isn't a problem.

cooncat3

Just to clarify - the loos at Chiawa have roofs. (And walls.) The trees are outside the tent - the branches are not directly overhead.

sundowner

I love the outdoor showers. I've had them at a couple of camps and want to put one in my backyard. Like Kavey, I had to change my habit and shower mid day instead of in the morning because it was so cold. (Except last Oct in Bots)

sundowner

Forgot to say I'm female.

Cindy

cooncat3

Debbie - I just wanted to add this: You will absolutely love Chiawa. They get everything totally right. Please don't change it based on the shower situation. Seriously it's a fabulous camp and you won't want to leave.

jasher

Hello,

Normally I prefer to shower at night, but like Kavey I tend to switch to midday while on safari since I tend to travel during the colder months (June and July).

I did a lot of outdoor showering on my last trip to Botswana, and aside from a brief encounter with a curious (and absolutely enormous) bumblebee at Lagoon it was fine -- no bugs or snakes. There weren't any branches overhead in any of my outdoor showers except at Mombo, where they were very high up.

Cheers,
Julian

Africa

I always shower before my early morning gamedrives (usually at around 5am). At Chiawa, this wasn't a problem as me had one of the posh tents with a completely enclosed bathroom.

At Sausage Tree Camp (Lower Zambezi), they have roof-less bathrooms. It was very dark at 5am in the morning, so all of the usual suspects were having a party in my bathroom. Lots of frogs, lizards, moths, caterpillars, some beautiful praying mantis, stick insects, bats and some other bugs. As soon as the shower was on, most of the creatures tried to avoid the water, apart from the frogs who liked the water. The following night we turned off all of the lanterns in the bathroom before going to bed, and this helped to reduce the number of party goers.

I wasn't really bothered but my wife was terrified, which is why I had to go first to "clear the way". I only thing I made a serious point of checking was for any snakes hanging from low branches - but there were none, but it is a possibility.

Kavey

Oh, when I said no bug problems, I wasn't counting frogs or lizards which I've found on occasion in both completely enclosed as well as roofless bathrooms!

I don't mind those... they're just extra decoration to my mind!

dwc0201

I hope I am not being too much of a wimp, I can deal with lizards and such but bats and bugs when I am in the bathroom, ugh. Anyway, one quick question, everyone is focusing on the shower but isn't the entire bathroom open at the ceiling?

cooncat3

No! There is a roof over the entire tent. The only open areas are the upper walls of the loo. The walls go up - I would guess - at least 6 feet or more, so it's not like you're exposed.

Just out of curiosity, whatcha gonna do on safari? There might be bugs out there, too! ;-)

cooncat3

If you look at the honeymoon tent on the Chiawa web site you can see the bathroom. I guess I may have exaggerated at 6 feet, but you have a roof and walls. You can see the roof in the larger photo on the left.

Debbie - what other options have you considered? I think most Lower Zambezi camps are similar in terms of open air loos. I think you are worrying for nothing - but again I don't know what time of year you're going.