February 2010 Newsletter

Important AFRICA Information for Tour Operators

Botswana - Ker & Downey

• Pre - Indaba educational 3 - 7 May. Sign up now!
• Botswana VAT increase.
• ITB Berlin 10-14 Mar 2010 - Nicky Brandon & Paul Moleseng will attend ITB on the Botswana Stand (130) in Hall 20. Please contact nicky@kerdowney.bw for an appointment.

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

• Jaci's Lodges celebrate 10 years.

• Wild Place Conservation Trust - Semliki.
• Construction planned to start on Bulago Island December 2010.

• Kukuli is enjoying the green season with the rivers and rainbows programme.

• Work at Sausage Tree Camp has started for the new season - opening 1st April 2010.

• Refurbishments at Tongabezi taking place - Watch this space for the Boat House.

Educational Trips 2010

Ker & Downey pre-Indaba Botswana trip - 3rd May until 7th May including Shinde, Okuti, Kanana and Footsteps Across the Delta (one night at each) - cost USD 350 pp.
Malawi will organise a post Indaba trip - details to be announced. Please let me know if you are interested.
Zambia / Malawi educational trips are planned for June and October .
Jaci's - Pre and post Indaba.
Combined Jaci's Lodges / Botswana / Falls trip in October.
Uganda - March / May / October trips planned.
Malawi - Kaya Mawa open 1st April. OPEN HOUSE. All welcome.

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

Honour Way News

On February 1st 2010 Honour Way celebrated its second birthday. Once again I thank you for your support in Honour Way. Times have not always been plain sailing but being part of such a fantastic industry certainly helps. My year started well with a much needed rest on a detox in Thailand but all too soon it was back to work with a bang.

It was good to hear that operators were finding January busy and I understand some are even starting to see some bookings coming in for 2011. In any case we have exciting times ahead. Kaya Mawa will re-open its doors on the 1st April and James has promised me photos and news on the refurbishment which is coming on very well. I hope to fly out in April to see the changes first hand and report back to you.

Sindabezi has been received so well we are now struggling to get the guests back to Tongabezi. However, since the completed build at Sindabezi Ben has moved Momo (the star behind the island) to Tongabezi to put his focus there. News will be reported back to you all as and when I get these along with photos. Watch out for the boat house - new lounging and dining area. As for the water levels this year - we will have to wait and see holding our fingers tightly crossed.

Sausage Tree Camp will open its doors on the 1st April and Nicky and Alan are back in camp already working hard with all the staff to make sure the camp re-opens its doors in fabulous style ready for the season ahead. Nicky from K&D is at BIT in Italy as we speak and Paul is no doubt training hard for the New York Marathon.

Norman Carr Safaris are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and currently guests are out enjoying the green season at Kukuli. I am hoping to follow suit soon. Jaci and Jan van Heteren are coming to the UK early April to celebrate 10 years of Jaci's Lodges and we hope to invite you to join us.

Finally I am off to Uganda next week for the first of the year's educational trips with 8 operators from around Europe, Africa and the US. I cannot wait to head back and will write a nice report after my trip.

So as always no rest for the wicked. Hope to see you all again soon.

Botswana

Ker & Downey Botswana strongly support Bana Ba Letsatsi, who care for over 240 vulnerable and orphaned children in Maun. In November, Paul Moleseng hosted a number of the children from Bana Ba Letsatsi on Ker & Downey Botswana's popular Young Explorer programme. Based at Shinde's Footsteps camp the children, in groups of six, were put through their paces amongst the diverse animals of the concession. Fantastic sightings of lion and wild dogs, combined with hands on practical camp skills, provided an unforgettable experience. www.banabaletsatsi.com.

Pre-Indaba Educational - we would be delighted if you could join us on our pre-Indaba educational, to be held from 3rd May & concluding 7th May 2010. The 4 night educational will include Shinde, Okuti, Kanana and Footsteps Across the Delta (one night at each) and cost USD $350.00 per participant.

VAT Update
As has been widely reported, the rate of VAT (Value Added Tax) in Botswana has been increased from 10 to 12 % effective from 1st April 2010. The increase is regrettably beyond our control. We will implement the increase as follows: -

All provisional bookings, for travel after 1st April 2010, held will be re invoiced at the new rates, in line with the increased VAT rate. All new bookings or amendments for travel, after 1st April 2010, will be invoiced at new rates, in line with the increased VAT rate.

Good Safari Guide Awards - Ker & Downey Botswana have been nominated. You can vote here.

Seasonal Camps Reopen:
Shinde : 01 March
Kanana : 01 March
Okuti : 15 March

www.kerdowneybotswana.com

Malawi

Where to start? The good news is usually the best place, and that is we are on track for the grand re-opening on 1st April. Everything is coming together beautifully, those little niggles of doubt of 'will it be ready in time' are firmly pushed to the side as all the staff have rallied together and almost everyone opting to work overtime. The results, well you can see from the pictures.

Other exciting news, we have two new managers starting in March, both with plenty of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry. Michelle has jumped ship from Virgin where she was an Upper Class stewardess, whilst Rich has been working for Jamie Oliver.

Kaya Mawa has been nominated as a favourite lodge in the Good Safari Guide Awards. Place your vote here.

We are happy to announce our new website is online with a number of specials available for 2010. It will keep you updated with the latest images of the lodge and provide full details of the new rooms and suites. www.kayamawa.com

Likoma means 'Beautiful Place' and was named by the first people to settle on the island.

www.kayamawa.com

South Africa

2010 brings the 10th Anniversary of Jaci's Lodges and the owners, Jaci and Jan van Heteren, will visit the UK in April and plan to organise some celebrations with you here.

Jaci's Lodges are pleased to introduce a new Single Supplement policy. For the first two single rooms booked (same reservation), there is no single supplement. The single supplement applies from the 3rd room onwards. For example, with a booking for 4 single rooms, the first two will pay the per person sharing rate and the other two 50% added as single supplement. Also, single parents also pay the sharing rate and children under 12 sharing with parent the special child's rate.

Honey badgers invite themselves to dinner at Jaci's Tree Lodge and the summer rainfall to date is exceptional. Imagine the commotion in the Tree Lodge kitchen when 2 honey badgers walked in and started to see what they could add to their menu for the evening.....within seconds all the chefs were in the dining room in a giggling huddle as the badgers proceeded to make themselves at home. Now usually they visit after the Lodge has "closed" for the night so the fridges are Badger proofed - in this case there was no time - result badger heaven!!

www.madikwe.com

Zambia

• Exhibitor tables / Product Manager workshop 1.00pm - 5.00pm
• Media drinks reception 5.30pm - 6.30pm with drinks
• Travel Agent / Tour op drinks reception and dinner with presentations 6.30pm - 9.30pm. (already have good attendance for this)

Sausage Tree Camp is off to a wet start with late rains setting in. We have started various projects in camp including building stunning outside bathrooms for the honeymoon suites, constructed from teak. So now guests will be able to have a candlelit open air shower under the trees!

All of our guides come back in a week's time - facing the challenge of opening up all of our game drive roads. Hastings and Chris will be attempting to pass their Walking Exam Practicals - this will only strengthen our guiding team. Several guides will be attempting to improve their skills by passing other exams.

We are hoping that the lion population will settle down into defined groups - last year saw 3 coalitions of young males move into the area. The dominant male, Douglas, was not seen the entire season. Although this did mean we had excellent leopard sightings - one female was in camp regularly. We expect 2010 will bring more excellent game viewing!

Sausage Tree Camp has been nominated as a favourite camp in the Good Safari Guide Awards. You can vote here.

The Daily Telegraph has launched this weekend a competition in partnership with Wanderlust magazine. 'Tracking Down The World's Best Guide' www.worldguideawards.com and Sausage Tree Camp have nominated one of their guides - Moses 'Kanyeka' Chiguta.

"It is with great pleasure that at Sausage tree camp we nominate Moses Chiguta for contribution to the safari industry. Moses was born and raised in Chiawa and has served the Lower Zambezi as a guide for 11 years and 7 of these years at Sausage Tree Camp. Over the years he has steadily risen the ranks and acquired certified knowledge of a well qualified guide. He has continued to marvel an overwhelming number of people from all walks of life with his vast knowledge and dynamic personality and as such has been Sausage Tree's most requested for guide with our returning guests.

He has relentlessly provided his knowledge to the younger guides with great enthusiasm and has over the year earned his nickname 'Kanyeka' which means 'moving with fire'. Moses has actively participated in the recruitment of new guides as his experience has taught him to have an eye for what it takes to be a great guide. His dedication to service and teaching in the Lower Zambezi is evident in his impressive track record."

The six finalists will be named in Wanderlust and The Daily Telegraph in April and the winner will be announced at the Royal Geographic Society on 28th September 2010. We wish Sausage Tree Camp's nominee "KANYEKA" the very best of luck.

www.sausagetreecamp.com

A contemporary look arrives in our dining area at Tongabezi. With an extended, raised and gorgeously tiled floor the larger dining space invites guests to linger a little longer during our gourmet feasts. The freshly decorated and furnished living area makes it easy to relax and enjoy the games, books and of course the famous view.

The Boat House is taking shape! All three entertainment levels of our ultimate chill out zone are becoming a reality. Soon our guests will be able to depart for boat cruises from the lower deck, dine on the second deck and enjoy the bird's eye view from the top deck.

And for some staff news - Brian has been chosen to represent Tongabezi at the Guide of the Year competition. You can vote for Brian here.

Sindabezi Island was completely rebuilt and redesigned in 2009 and is the most environmentally friendly and romantic accommodation on the Zambezi. It offers a magical kaleidoscope of views across the Zambezi as five star meals are served in a different setting each time. The staff are enjoying surprising the guests with alternative dining decks and treating them to extra attentive service in the beautiful, elevated rooms. Not only is Sindabezi Island the Zambezi leader in energy efficiency and environmental conservation, every individual guest can tailor their stay to ensure an absolutely perfect vacation.

At Tongabezi we consider the environment in everything we do. Our print brochure has been reduced to a quarter of its usual size. For our online brochure and more details and images about Tongabezi operations please visit our website.

www.tongabezi.com

Accepted knowledge over the years is that the game viewing in the South Luangwa can be somewhat limited in the "green season". This is simply not the case and game viewing has been unbelievable over the last few weeks. It's particularly good for the big cats and predators as they tend to use the all weather roads in order to keep their paws dry. Guests have had multiple leopard sightings, the "super-pride" of 18 lions is still around, wild dog have been seen often up near Chichele Hill. And there are elephants everywhere! This is a time of plenty for them and the living is easy. There's more food than they can possibly eat and there seems to be time for play! Last week, from the boat we saw well over 100 simply PLAYING in the Luangwa! And there is nothing quite like staring UP into the eyes of a lioness on the river bank from the boat!

Of course the birding is also amazing and our many birding guests come back from each drive more and more excited as they notch up the "lifers". Angola pitta WITH CHICK must be the seasons highlight so far!

Our wonderful hostess at Kakuli Camp for Rivers and Rainbows is Priya Shah. She is usually based at Nsolo but this green season, together with Aubrey Njobvu, Kakuli Manager and all round super star guide, they are having amazing adventures in camp and on the river safaris. You can follow our wildlife sightings on Twitter - on the front page of our website.

Once Kakuli closes after the river safaris and before bush camps re-open in May, Priya & Aubrey are both off on adventures of a lifetime. Priya is going to climb Kilimanjaro and Aubrey is off to the wilderness of British Columbia on a guide exchange. Instead of tracking lion, leopard and elephant on foot, he will be searching for grizzly bears and caneoing in the dolphin and whale filled waters of Knight Inlet - www.grizzlytours.com. We have been partners with Knight Inlet for many years running guide exchange programmes.

Norman Carr Safaris has been nominated as a favourite in the Good Safari Guide Awards. You can vote here.

www.normancarrsafaris.com

Uganda

Semliki is experiencing some unseasonal rain lately, but that doesn't seem to be bothering our shoebill population. These days it's very likely that guests will see multiple shoebills sharing space along the marshes. This lucky shoebill didn't seem to mind having an audience while he successfully hunted a lungfish from Lake Albert.

Photos : Shoebill - taken by CJamesEwen - Earthmedia. Juvenile chimpanzee - taken by our lodge manager, Mark Vibert.

Wild Place Conservation Trust - Semliki
We have been extremely lucky to have Sarah Chudnovsky, a conservation education volunteer, working with us at the moment. Sarah is working in several local schools on the park boundaries using the PACE curriculum (Pan African Conservation Education) to teach the importance of conservation and preserving the environment. Several environmental days where the school students spend the day participating in eco-friendly activities have been a great success. The campaign has had a such a positive impact that we plan to continue the program next year. By January the former Uganda Wildlife Headquarters will have been converted into a Community Nature Centre, providing a meeting point for further conservation activities.

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

Semliki Lodge, Apoka & Clouds Mountain Lodge have all been nominated as favourite lodges in the Good Safari Guide Awards. You can vote here

www.wildplacesafrica.com

Fact of the Day - Animal Groupings

December newsletter answer - Thank you for all your answers.
The correct answer to what we call a group of cheetahs is a coalition of cheetahs

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