Honour Way News
Zambia
Warm congratulations go to Jason and
Kelly who are pregnant with their second “bushbaby” due
at the end of January 2008.
A rather belated but nevertheless warm welcome to Daniel
who joined Sausage Tree Camp just before the season
started as General Manager of Chifungulu Limited, based
in Lusaka. After a fantastic holiday last November, I
decided to leave the corporate rat race in the UK and
after a number of telephone calls, made the move to
Zambia where he juggles his time between the camp and
the city. His role covers the buying of all the supplies
(“and I mean everything.................!!!”) to
overseeing the administration side of the business
(reservations, accounts, personnel) and anything else
that pops up out of the blue. He is having a wonderful
time and thoroughly enjoying his new challenge in
Zambia.
Daniel has worked in the hotel industry internationally
and brings a wealth of experience with him having worked
at Ascot and Epsom Downs Racecourses as well as various
other hotels around the UK and internationally.
The Season is moving along smoothly with amazing
experiences and sightings in the Valley and many a happy
guests promising to visit again soon. Canoeing trips are
as popular as ever. One group of guests were enjoying a
quiet cuppa along the way but had to suddenly drop
everything and jump back into the canoes as their quiet
time had been interrupted by a pride of lions strolling
right up to where they had been standing not a minute
before. As they then paddled a little further down for a
new tea spot, they saw 2 Leopards on the way (a pair).
Great stuff. Makes for some amazing holiday stories.
As the bush is slowly starting to die back, more ellies
are popping up around camp so staying in camp one
afternoon can also prove quite exciting and the Sausage
Trees are all starting to come into flower, as are the
Mahogany’s about to start their abundant flowering.
For those bird lovers out there – sightings have been
brilliant including: Osprey, Purple-crested Lourie (Turacao),
Wattled Flycatcher, African Skimmer, small flocks of
Red-winged Pratincole, A giant Eagle Owl with the
remains of another adult that it had killed by
decapitation!!!! Nature and its ways continue to amaze
us every day.
www.sausagetreecamp.com
Tongabezi Dhows
After being built in
Malawi and traveled down to Livingstone by truck the new
Tongabezi DHOWS have arrived!!!!
“Never a ship sails out of bay but
carries my heart as a stowaway”
Roselle Mercier Montgomery
…. And as Tongabezi sets the first
sails on the Zambezi River the hearts of all onlookers
are captured instantaneously. The delightful daintily
painted dhows have been imported from Malawi and hand
delivered by their builder Alfred who kindly unfurled
the special *** cotton and took me for a quiet sail.
That certain satisfying sound that only the stiffening
of cotton on the breeze can make precedes the intense
silence that follows. Even the determined African sun
must bow and soften as it shines through these sails. It
takes 7 craftsmen 2 months to hew a Malawi dhow. They
are marvelously stable and can travel the distance of
12 rowing hours in 45 minutes with a good Malawi wind.
For Alfred these are working boats and I suspect that he
is slightly frustrated by our insistence at leisure! He
has three children, a patient wife and several more dhow
orders waiting in Malawi… but we know that his legacy
will be legendary on the Zambezi long after he leaves
for home.
Welcome Kingsley
Most of our agents know
that Tongabezi has become a tad difficult to book - to
say the least! Our properties have to grow in order to
keep up with demand, whilst exclusivity will always be
our fundamental inspiration. Innovation was the spark
that first put Tonga on the map, but let’s be brutally
honest; those grand designs can be a touch frustrating
to translate practically in the middle of Africa. Every
structure has to answer to a specific idea
architecturally and functionally – there is little room
for compromise and no chance of bowing to convention!
To keep it all together
therefore one simply needs someone who is a master of
engineering, style, endurance, wisdom, and personality.
On this note we are thrilled to introduce our new Back
of House Wizard: Kingsley Strachan. With a strong
background in engineering and an international
reputation Kingsley will be in charge of all our
improvements and maintenance including various
environmental upgrades.
He will also oversee the entire Sindabezi refurbishment
(starting on 1 November 2008), the Garden Cottage revamp
and will complete Little Tangala …
We all look forward to thanking Kingsley for making it
that bit easier to find space at your favourite lodge in
Zambia.
Livingstone Island Swimming
NOW OPEN!!!!
www.tongabezi.com
Uganda
CLOUDS IS OPEN!!!!!!
Nkuringo – Bwindi – Clouds
Clouds is located on the Nkuringo
side and opened in time for its first guests on the 31st
July… The new addition to the Wild Places collection is
located high up in the hills, surrounded by rainforest
on land provided by the Nkuringo community, who are the
major stakeholder in the venture. The venture was
supported by USAID’s ‘Prime West’ project in a deal put
together between the African Wildlife Foundation, USAID,
the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Nkuringo Community
Development Trust Fund in a ground breaking agreement
aimed to empower communities living near protected areas
in exchange for good will, conservation participation
and a sustainable income plus employment opportunities.
The views over the rain forest are spectacular and it is
a 2 minute drive from the lodge to the start of the
track.
The lodge is providing access to both
the Nkuringo gorillas as well as to a nearby group of
chimpanzees in a rare combination of tracking both
primates from one place. Clouds joins the sister
operations Semliki Safari Lodge, Apoka Safari Lodge and
of course the 5 star boutique hotel Emin Pasha in
Kampala’s fashionable Nakasero suburb.
Welcome Gary Segal to our clan! Gary
is joining us as General Manager of Clouds. Gary brings
in a wealth of experience both in 5 Star kitchens of the
Michelangelo in Johannesburg to Game and Management
experience in South Africa and Botswana.
Apoka
Safari Lodge
Welcome Rebecca Goldstone and Michael
Stern as the new management couple at Clouds. They were
born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love,
Philadelphia, USA and first came to Uganda in the year
2000, as undergraduates studying the leaping habits of
monkeys in Kibale National Park. That work filled them
with a great love for the country and its wildlife, and
since 2001 they have directed community based
conservation initiatives in and around Kibale. (Details
on their most recent project at at
http://www.chimp-n-sea.org/projects/kibale-community-fuel-wood-project).
They are both thrilled to be working for a company that
has such a strong commitment toward conservation, and
look forward to continuing to do their part in helping
protect Uganda's most wild places.
www.safariuganda.com
www.wildplacesafrica.com
Fact of the Day –
Animal groupings
May newsletter answer - A JOURNEY of Giraffe OR if
stationary a TOWER of giraffe. – Well done and thank you
to those who sent in their answers…
Baboons in Chobe NP
Next month - What do we call a
group of Baboons?
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