April 2010 Newsletter

Important AFRICA Information for Tour Operators

Botswana - Ker & Downey

• New specialist guide joins the team.

• The re-opening of Kaya Mawa - 1st April 2010. Come and see for yourself!

• Jaci's Lodges celebrate their 10th Anniversary and introduce World Cup transfers.

• April Educational and Bulago Island opening December.

• A new look for the lodge & camp interiors and Abraham shortlisted for the Guide Awards.

• Opens for the new season - camp updates.

• Refurbishment & Livingstone Island updates.

Indaba 2010

• Ker & Downey Botswana
  Chobe Holdings Stand A012 in the ICC Hall 2 - Nicky Brandon
  Botswana Tourism Stand DEC - Paul Molesang
  Please contact nicky@kerdowney.bw for an appointment.
  

• Jaci's Lodges
  Classic Safari Camps of Africa Stand B001 Hall SADC - Jan, Jaci & Lizette. Contact lizette@madikwe.com for an appointment.

• The Uganda Safari Company
  ATTA Tent ODG002 Outdoor - Jonathan Wright - Contact zara@safariuganda.com for an appointment.

• Norman Carr Safaris
  Zambian Tourism Board Hall SADC Stand B028 - Christina Carr - Contact kapani@normancarrsafaris.com for an appointment.

• Sausage Tree Camp
  Classic Safari Camps of Africa Stand B001 Hall SADC - Jan, Jaci & Lizette. Contact lizette@madikwe.com for an appointment.

• Tongabezi Lodge
  Classic Safari Camps of Africa Stand B001 SADC Hall - Ben Parker - Contact ben@tongabezi.com and ros@tongabezi.com for appointments.

• Honour Way
  Honour will attend Indaba on behalf of Kaya Mawa and Tongabezi in the ATTA Tent ODG002 Outdoor.
  For appointments contact honour@honourway.com.

Educational Trips 2010

• Ker & Downey pre-ndaba Botswana trip - 3rd to 7th May
  Malawi post-Indaba educational trip - 12th to 16th May
• Jaci's - Pre and post Indaba - please contact Honour or Lizette for details
• Zambia / Malawi educational trips are planned for October
• South Africa / Botswana / Zambia - 03rd Oct for 8 nights, combining Jaci's Lodges, Ker & Downey Botswana & Tongabezi.
• Uganda - May / October trips planned.
• Malawi - Kaya Mawa opened 1st April. OPEN HOUSE. All welcome.

Honour Way News

It's so refreshing to move into spring and a new African season. But saying that, I know most of you have experienced huge challenges recently with the British Airways strike, followed by the volcanic ash crisis. We certainly hope it's a slightly easier year ahead for everyone!

Ahead of schedule and with much excitement, Kaya Mawa re-opened on the 1st April, after extensive renovations. Kaya now represents island luxury and has retained its unique charm. They have since enjoyed almost full house and even celebrated their first guest wedding! I'm visiting Kaya after Indaba and will provide a firsthand report in the next newsletter.

The Uganda educational was another very successful trip, as you'll see from the feedback below - a destination outstanding certainly not only for its gorilla trekking, but also for its diverse wildlife, activities, breathtaking landscapes and wonderful people.

Tongabezi’s refurbishments continue and the Honeymoon House & Bird House upgrades are now completed and photos can be viewed at Indaba. We are thrilled that Abraham from Norman Carr Safaris has been nominated for the prestigious Wanderlust World Guide Awards. Jaci's Lodges have introduced enticing transfers to the soccer matches to allow guests to enjoy a safari destination together with the Soccer World Cup. Sausage Tree Camp and Ker & Downey Botswana have reopened their camps and enjoyed a great start to the season with fabulous wildlife sightings.

I'm very happy to be back in Zambia prior to Indaba and will soon be visiting Botswana and Malawi. If you would like an appointment with any of our clients or myself, please do contact me anytime or our clients directly.

Botswana

We are pleased to introduce Andrew Harkness, a specialist guide who will be joining Paul Moleseng on our Footsteps Across the Delta, Kanana Mokoro Trails and unique Young Explorers programmes.

Andrew was born and educated in England. At the age 18 he was drawn to the African bush and has been involved and associated with safaris ever since. For the past five years he has lived in the Okavango Delta, Botswana and has made this wetland paradise his base for exploring and adventures in the bush. Andrew has trekked the Seronga, Khwai, Linyanti and Maun areas and has a deep connection to the bush, its wildlife and wilderness and it is his passion to inspire that sense of adventure in others.

Staff at Ker & Downey Botswana had a busy closed season. Along with essential maintenance and camp upgrades, staff have taken part in the company's innovative training programme. Particular emphasis was placed on guide and chef training, developing and reinforcing the skills that contribute to the excellent personalised service for which Ker & Downey Botswana is known.

www.kerdowneybotswana.com

Malawi

We did it! Kaya is open and has been taken far beyond our expectations, but as always intended her charm has been retained. From the outside, Kaya really has changed very little, it is not until you step into the new rooms where you can feel cocooned in a beautiful space, with stunning views, beautifully fitted out and with all the comforts you need. The new beach bar and restaurant have worked beautifully creating a central area which is spacious and airy enjoying the fabulous views down the lake making the most of what is undoubtedly, the best sunset bar on the lake.

In the weeks prior to the opening on 1st April, with the building finished it was time for myself, and our four managers to step aside as all the beautiful antiques from around Africa, new furnishings and fittings all came out of their boxes for the first time since arriving and let Abi, our interiors guru, work her magic to complete the job.

What was to be a soft opening turned out to be an almost full lodge with families, honeymooners and a wedding. Admittedly we had a few teething troubles, which have now been sorted, and to be honest in terms of how much has been accomplished, it is a credit to all involved. The guests are blown away with the new look, comfort and service and loving their private pools and sense of being truly spoilt.

The cherry on the cake is we have two new managers at Kaya. Michelle joins us having been an Upper Class Stewardess on Virgin but also a patisserie, whilst Rich has been working for Jamie Oliver teaching in one of his cookery schools. They have excelled - Michelle has proved to be the embodiment of the perfect hostess, whilst Rich has turned out superb food time after time. With the final tweaks being put in place over this quiet month there is genuine excitement from staff (and owners) that we have a truly competitive product on the world stage.

For more details and images, view the new website: www.kayamawa.com, or email us on info@honourway.com for the updated Kaya Mawa Fact file.

MALAWI POST-INDABA AGENTS EDUCATIONAL
12 May - 16 May 2010

Overnight Stays
Huntingdon House (Satemwa Estate, Shire Highlands)
Mvuu Lodge (Liwonde National Park)
Pumulani (Cape Maclear)
Kaya Mawa (Likoma Island)

Site Inspections
Ku Chawe Inn (Zomba Plateau)
Conforzi Lake House (Southern Lake Malawi)
Danforth Yachting (Cape Maclear)

www.kayamawa.com

South Africa

Jaci's Lodges' celebrate their 10th Anniversary this year - they have given the Safari Lodge a whole new upgrade and style. Look out for their anniversary special rates!

Soccer World Cup - Jaci's Lodges has arranged exclusive transport for our guests from the lodge to Soccer World Cup matches in Johannesburg (Soccer City, Ellis Park), Rustenburg (Royal Bafokeng) and Pretoria (Loftus Versfeld).

Guests will be transferred to the stadiums for each game- the driver and vehicle will be waiting until the game is over to take them back to the lodge that same night.

Book you accommodation now to avoid disappointment!
Rate for June: R3395-00 per person per day
Rate for July: R4095-00 per person per day

The Mmasebudule Waste Management scheme for Madikwe has just finished crushing and packing 30 tons of glass, which is now ready for distribution back to Console for recycling. Three weeks ago a baling machine on loan from Collect-a-Can arrived to help us take control of a mountain of tins and other metal products. The baling machine is a hydraulic compacter which eats up about two crates of cans and expels a tin brick at the opposite end. This was the first of a number of activities to occur, the rest should happen in the not too far future.

www.madikwe.com

Zambia

We re-opened on 1st April after completing camp building and adding outside showers to our amazing Honeymoon Suites, plus we made a few minor improvements throughout the camp, including a new entrance and undercover loading bay/steps for our guests to easily climb on and off the game viewing vehicles. We will have photos in the next newsletter, but in the meantime here are some great pictures highlighting the fun and friendly staff of Sausage Tree Camp at our recent staff party. The other pics were taken in Zambia's last 4x4 Elephant Challenge. Though we did not quite finish the event, we did win the trophy for raising the most sponsorship, of which all proceeds went to Children in the Wilderness.

Reservations: Aida Chimfwembe recently left the office on her 3 month maternity leave. She is expecting any day now, so we will keep you posted, very exciting! In the meantime, Jill Mulenga, who has been Assistant Manager in camp for the past two seasons, and also offers the massages and treatments in camp, will be filling in for Aida. I am sure many of you have already been working with Jill over the past couple of weeks.

Please remember to book our Special Offers: Stay 4 nights pay for 3 AND Stay 6 nights pay for 4. You can contact Jill on Reservations@sausagetreecamp.com

www.sausagetreecamp.com

Time for our refurb update! The Birdhouse and Honeymoon house upgrades have been completed and the houses are shining with a bevy of fresh additions including beautiful bathroom fittings and new floors. Tongabezi housekeeping is looking forward to the arrival of US$ 100 000's worth of soft furnishings including new sofa's, mirrors and artwork.

The brand new swimming pool will finally re-open during the first week of May. Guests will be able to enjoy the new little lounging deck amidst the re-sculptured rockery, waterfall and rain forest plants. During the month of May the long awaited Boat House is set to become the most popular space at the main lodge.

This week the famous Californian photography whizz, Dana Allen, will be doing a photo shoot at all our properties. Having taught photography in the USA and Zimbabwe, he continued to establish Photo Safari Africa and we can't wait to see how his creative genius combines with the groundbreaking design at Tongabezi Lodge and Sindabezi Island.

Livingstone Island has now closed due to the normal high season water levels making transfers to the island a little too interesting for comfort. National Heritage have increased the entry fee into Victoria Falls on the Zambia side from US $10.00 to $20.00 per person, with immediate effect.

Tongabezi is thrilled to announce that we have been nominated in two categories (Zambia's leading Hotel and Zambia's leading Safari Lodge) for the World Travel Awards. Have your say and make your opinion count at http://www.worldtravelawards.com/vote.

www.tongabezi.com

It's with much excitement that Norman Carr Safaris has welcomed Abi James, interior designer, back to the Luangwa. Abi will be with us for while as she helps us with the soft furnishings at Kapani Lodge, followed by the bush camps. Her many years of textile design experience in both the U.K. and Africa, including Zambia and Cape Town, allows her to bring a unique and natural style to our lodge & camps. We are using natural materials, including "bushy" canvases teamed with bark cloth from western Zambia and we have found a hoard of old photos from Norman's early days which will be gracing Kapani and the camps.

Wanderlust Awards - You may recall that our very own Abraham Banda was awarded Guide of the Year in the inaugural Best of Zambia awards in 2009? Thrilling news! He has now been shortlisted for the important and prestigious Wanderlust World Guide Awards. Each year, the top 3 winning guides are awarded a Paul Morrison bursary to be spent on community projects, further education or overseas travel.

We are so proud of Abraham and all his achievements and that goes for the rest of the guiding team too. We still believe that the most important feature of a safari is the guiding so being shortlisted for this fantastic award is a bit like making it to the Oscar nominations!

The Wanderlust World Guide Awards Shortlist

As well as being Kapani Lodge manager, senior guide and guiding mentor, Abraham also oversees the Kapani School Project. For more information go to www.normancarrsafaris.com.

www.normancarrsafaris.com

Uganda

Last month I travelled to Uganda hosting an educational trip around the Wildplaces properties. Yet again what an amazing experience. This country has just so much to offer with huge diversity from park to park and the drives in between give us an insight into the magnificent landscapes, industry and people in their day to day life.

Gorilla Family - Photo by Wolfang Linhard

Semliki Lodge

The country is located on the East African plateau, averaging about 1,100 metres above sea level, and this slopes very steadily downwards to the Sudanese Plain to the north. However, much of the south is poorly drained, while the centre is dominated by Lake Kyoga, which is also surrounded by extensive marshy areas. Uganda lies almost completely within the Nile basin. The Victoria Nile drains from the lake into Lake Kyoga and thence into Lake Albert (where we can spot the shoebill) on the Congolese border. It then runs northwards into Sudan. One small area on the eastern edge of Uganda is drained by the Turkwel river, part of the internal drainage basin of Lake Turkana. Lake Kyoga serves as a rough boundary between Bantu speakers in the south and Nilotic and Central Sudanic language speakers in the north. Despite the division between north and south in political affairs, this linguistic boundary actually runs roughly from northwest to southeast, near the course of the Nile. However, many Ugandans live among people who speak different languages, especially in rural areas. Some sources describe regional variation in terms of physical characteristics, clothing, bodily adornment, and mannerisms, but others claim that those differences are disappearing.

Although generally equatorial, the climate is not uniform as the altitude modifies the climate. Southern Uganda is wetter with rain generally spread throughout the year. At Entebbe on the northern shore f Lake Victoria, most rain falls from March to June and the November/December period. Further to the north a dry season gradually emerges; at Gulu about 120 km from the Sudanese border, November to February is much drier than the rest of the year. The northeastern Karamoja region has the driest climate and is prone to droughts in some years. Rwenzori, in the southwest on the border with Congo (DRC) receives heavy rain all year round. The south of the country is heavily influenced by one of the world's biggest lakes, Lake Victoria, which contains many islands. It prevents temperatures from varying significantly and increases cloudiness and rainfall.

Most important cities are located in the south, near Lake Victoria, including the capital Kampala and the nearby city of Entebbe. Although landlocked, Uganda contains many large lakes, besides Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga, there are Lake Albert, Lake Edward and the smaller Lake George all seen in the area of Queen Elizabeth National Park. (Taken from Wikapedia)

Will Jones from Journeys by Design joined us for part of the trip and sent me the following:

"I travelled with Honour to Uganda to visit Clouds and Semliki with TUSC. Coming back to Uganda after a break of ten years it was superb to see such excellent developments in its tourism infrastructure, much in part due to the investment by TUSC. The Emin Pasha is a welcome relief from the alternatives in Kampala and Clouds is, without doubt, the best lodge in the Bwindi area."

Laurence from Luxethika in Paris also joined us on this trip - "This educational trip allowed me to discover a truly authentic country that offers much more than the famous gorilla tracking. It is a lush country with magnificent lakes, splendid mountains, amazing savannah landscapes, stunning waterfalls, and so much more. It's an absolute paradise for bird lovers, enormous herds of buffalos, big elephant families, and wonderful prides of lions to name but a few of the sights we saw.

And what is Uganda without its people? Ugandans are more than friendly and I look forward to going back to this emergent country again very soon."

Bulago Island on Lake Victoria - construction is delayed and now due to open at end of 2010.

www.wildplacesafrica.com

Fact of the Day - Animal Groupings

February Newsletter - Thank you for all your answers.
The correct answer to what we call a group of bats is a colony.

Next month - What do we call a group of mongoose?