Landscaping


As mentioned on my last post, we’ve been busy landscaping around the new rooms at Chanters Lodge, and have decided to use some more ‘pan bricks’ (as they’re known here) around the rondavels where we intend to have sunbeds.

It’s not a cheap finish (!), but will match the existing and it’s long lasting and strong. The picture shows the builders laying the bricks. Like everything about this project we’ve ended up needing about three times more than we’d originally (wrongly) estimated!

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Holey Vision


I make no bones about reproducing this blog from Tanvir Naomi Bush – Holey Vision – (daughter of a very old friend of mine in Lusaka who healed me in many ways). Holey Vision is currently struggling with a degenerative eye disease as a student in UK. I love the way she writes and admire her humor and enormous courage. This is her latest post:

Last Sunday my journey cost me my entire week’s income support.
All of it.
There is nothing quite like knowing on the Sunday that the rest of the week is all oozing out of the overdraft. The problem was that there were no trains to Kings Cross and we had to reroute and take taxis across London. By the time Grace and I were squeezed onto the Paddington to Bath train we were dishevelled, disgruntled and the stress had caused my eyes to blur. Grace disappeared under the seat in disgust to hoover up old chewing gum and I squinted at my homework through my magnifier.

The train was full to bursting and within a few minutes there was a queue for the seat next to us. I huffed (very quietly in my best British manner) and took my rucksack off the seat to let in a large man with long shaggy grey hair and wire-rimmed specs. He didn’t mind dogs he said and somehow managed to manoeuvre his legs into the spaces left by Grace. His young son had to sit on his lap. There was just no other room.
They were on their way home from a match. I listened for a while as they spoke ‘football’.
‘What was Lampard thinking?’
‘Rooney got one in…..did you see?’
As happens eventually the man and his son asked about the dog and then – because the magnifier was giving me a cracking headache and I was needing to feel empowered again, to feel worth something, I began to whiter on about how I hadn’t always been this way…blind and alone..…oh no.! Once, darling… I had been in the movies, talking pictures..ahh yes..back in the day…..(sighs, turns diva like to camera, lights cheroot, sips dry martini. )
‘I wonder if he is impressed,’ I thought knowing full well that he and his son were probably quite happy to keep discussing goal tactics.
Refusing to release my captured audience on I went.
‘In Zambia,’ I boasted like some hideous ex-colonial ‘I tried, single handed, to jump start a non-existent film industry… ‘
The man laughs kindly and something about the mannerism is somewhat familiar. A little chill runs down my neck. I peer at him closely.
‘Err … are you in media?’ I ask.
‘Well yes I am,’ says the man. His glasses catch the light and I can’t quite tell his expression. ‘I make my own films and stuff.’
There is a pause.
His son is looking at the back of the seat and trying not to grin.
‘Umm.. would I have seen any of your ..’stuff’’? My voice is a little high.
‘Now lets see.’ The man genuinely thinks about this for a second. ‘You may have seen my last release. ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’?’
Turns out I am sitting next to Paul Greengrass .
That’s The Paul Greengrass.
Two Bourne films and ‘United 93’ among other remarkable and ingenious works.
I notice my mouth is open. I shut it.

After a while I manage to open it again and we end up having much banter for the last remaining minutes before they get out at Reading station.

After they have gone I resist the urge to stand up and shout to the other passengers in the carriage, ‘Oy! Did anyone just see that?!’ I nudge Grace but she just chews her gum and turns over.

So after all the delay, the stress, even so, I still feel exuberant and blessed. Of all the trains in all the world I am the woman who gets to have a personal hero from the movie industry and his son spend 15 minutes making me laugh by telling stories of Matt Damon mistakenly hitting someone in the face on set.

I wonder who Grace and I will bump into this week!”

I wonder!

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Poignant Picture


This, to me, and I’m sure the rest of my family, is a very poignant picture. It shows my late brother-in-law Don Binney, who passed away on November 13th last year, being served by my (now) Assistant Manager Annastasia Katele, during Don’s visit to Zambia in March 2006 with my sister Ruth. A good time they had too! Don and Ruth came to Zambia following some time in South Africa during which Don, a great cricket lover, was thrilled to have attended a test match at Newlands in Cape Town. I’m very much looking forward to Ruth’s return visit in March 2010 as I’m sure she is too. Our thoughts are with her today.

Annastasia’s had a great year since being promoted to the post of Assistant Manager in January this year. She’s grown a lot in the job (not in height, she’s still pint sized) and is about to start her annual leave. She’s shown herself to be super reliable, tough and her great public relations skills have made her popular with suppliers and Guests alike. By way of a reward for excellent work the company have sponsored a return flight to South Africa for her to go and see her young brother who lives in Johannesburg. As soon as our new bedrooms are finished (a week or so to go), we’ll be starting the construction of two offices – one for her and one for me, with a view to her being able to take over even more responsibility next year.

How nice to be able to link these two super people together in one image!

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Forecast 2010


Here’s a dose of reality this Wednesday morning courtesy of Travel Weekly

“The financial crisis is continuing to damage the travel industry with the number of global arrivals this year to be worse than originally predicted, according to the World Travel Market (WTM) Global Trends Report. The report, produced by Euromonitor International, revealed that global arrivals are expected to decline by 8% by the end of the year, while flight and hotel sales are expected to be down by 14% and 16% respectively.

Worse yet, a full recovery for tourism is not expected until 2013. Presenting the results of the report at the WTM Forecast Forum, BBC journalist Thalia Pellegrini said: “The global financial crisis is taking its toll on the industry – falling expenditure, lack of credit and rising unemployment caused a slump in confidence and demand.” She added that while the swine flu epidemic had been contributed to the global tourism decline, demand would continue to be inhibited by low consumer confidence and rising unemployment.

Euromonitor International global travel and tourism manager Caroline Bremner said the UK’s Air Passenger Duty will affect recovery and be a “major inhibitor for growth” as this is “making the UK appear uncompetitive”. However, the recession had already opened up a new market in the North America market called the ‘funemployed’ – increasing numbers of cash-poor and time-rich people who are deciding to use their redundancy to finance travel. While in Africa the ‘Obama effect’ is driving the growth in “roots tourism” especially from the US, which has a high number of African American citizens.

In the UK, the effect of the recession has been to drive the hotel market to look at building pop-up hotels as demand for good-value accommodation increases. The report also revealed that travel sales online are expected to grow by 4% whereas the total travel market is down 1%. Bremner added: “This also due to the fact consumers are booking later.”

Zambia needs to act to remain competetive too! I guess most of the “roots tourism” mentioned will head for West Africa.

The picture? Mafia Island, Tanzania. An hotelier friend on the Island, recently had a guest complaint that their beach was mud! If so, from that picture, take me to the mud! lol!

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SOS Children’s Village, Livingstone


Recently we had Clients staying at Chanters Lodge who were, unfortunately, dissatisfied with one of their activities and subsequently asked the provider to refund the cost to any charity of my choice. This was kind. After some thought we decided to give the donation to SOS Children’s Village of Zambia Trust. The village in Livingstone, just next to the weighbridge on the Lusaka road, which looks after some 153 children and is always in need of funds. This is what they do.

SOS Children’s Villages is an international non-governmental social development organisation that has been active in the field of children’s rights and committed to children’s needs and concerns since 1949. In 132 countries and territories our activities focus on children without parental care and children of families in difficult circumstances.

SOS Children’s Villages focuses on family-based, long-term care of children who can no longer grow up with their biological families. At our SOS Children’s Villages and SOS Youth Facilities they experience reliable relationships and love once again, meaning that they can recover from what they have experienced, which has often been traumatic. They grow up in a stable family environment, and are supported individually until they become independent young adults.

We are extending our work with families through family strengthening programmes by working with and for disadvantaged families to prevent crises that can in the worst case scenario lead to children being placed in out-of-home care. SOS Children’s Villages offers various forms of support to strengthen and stabilise families as much as possible so that they can once again manage their lives independently and care for their children. Our family strengthening programmes are an important way of building on the families’ and communities’ resources, their ability to self-organise themselves and their responsibility for the well-being of the children.

Equal rights to education and training for children are another important area of our work. Pre-school care for children, schooling and vocational training are the key to the future. To ensure that children enjoy these basic rights, SOS Children’s Villages has kindergartens, day-care centres, schools and vocational training centres. Most of them are located outside Europe.

SOS Children’s Villages is concerned about all children, particularly those who have no parental care and those whose families have to live in difficult conditions. The basis and aim of our work is to respect, promote and stand up for children’s rights. We want to use our socio-political work to make decision makers and the public aware of the problems that children face and to call for measures that will promote the well-being of children across the world. In parallel to our lobbying activities, we encourage children to actively take part in the decision-making processes that affect their lives and, if possible, to actually represent themselves.”

We made the choice because on a previous occasion when some other Clients had taken a donation to SOS we’d been very well received. So we were this time too! Thanks to Clarence Mwami their Village Administrator!

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Room 11


Continuing our pictures of the new rooms under construction at Chanters Lodge Livingstone to provide additional poolside accommodation, this picture was taken from inside room 11. The ceramic floor tiles are a soft orange brown, the walls foam white. The rooms are air conditioned and will have a queen sized double bed, a television and fridge as well as a writing table and chair.

There is still a lot of work to do on the landscaping outside the new rooms.

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The Other Bathroom’s Blue!


The other day I posted a photo taken through the window of the new room 12 at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, showing just part of the bathroom which is essentially green. The bathroom in room 11 shown above is very blue – the picture shows the wash hand basin and shower. The room also has a bath and toilet.

I am anxious to have the rooms finished, and tired of shelling out money! The painters are all but through, so too the electricians, although the air conditioner installation remains to be completed. Skirting, shelves, doors and pelmets are all ‘under construction’ and the material for curtains and bedspreads will be bought next week.

Of the two bathrooms I prefer this one – simply because I don’t really like the avocado bathrooms suite in the other room, though the shaded green floor and wall tiles are softer than these!

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Good Progress


Here’s a photo showing good progress on the new two room extension at Chanters Lodge Livingstone just 10kms from the mighty Victoria Falls. The photo’s taken looking through the window of the new room 12. The bathroom is generally green – that of room 11 is generally blue.

Remaining to be finished? A small amount of tiling, painting the outside which is in progress, fitting the air conditioners, completion of shelves, doors and other furniture, furnishings and what seems like a host of other ‘small’ items. We’re still looking to be finished in an (optimistic) two weeks’ time.

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Snakes And Things….


There’s a great crocodile park in Livingstone popular with Guests staying at Chanters Lodge. Apart from seeing various different sizes of crocodiles in lovely manicured garden surroundings, you can, if you so wish, play with snakes – as indeed Linda Webb is doing – a recent guest of ours from the Netherlands. One of my Facebook friends tells me it’s a harmless brown house snake – I’ll take his word for it!

Nice one Linda!

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Kerry de Bruyn – Photographer


I’m lucky enough to be friends with a wonderful photographer Kerry de Bruyn based in South Africa. So if you need photos, go to this site. Check the wonderful photo above of ‘bride in a forest’ if you don’t believe me! Here’s all about Kerry:

“I am a writer and photographer capturing what I can to show other people what’s out there and what they are missing. I have written and photographed for a number of magazines and wish to do more. That would be my main problem I think, always wanting to do more, see more, experience more. There is so much more to this world than we think and I hope to get people playing with that idea again.

I believe a single photograph captures something so much more than just an image. Mood, emotion and consequence are some of the few things that follow the quick click of a shutter opening and closing. “I’ve found it,” I thought. That thing that gets you excited from the moment you wake up. After my first photograph I haven’t looked back, and sometimes it’s hard to put the camera down.

After telling you the smooshy stuff I thought I should let you know a few quick facts about me…I love Africa (obviously!), travel, wildlife, love and life and beleive you should spend every minute of it living! If you would like to book me for weddings, portraits, photo safaris or would just like to chat send me a mail, I’d love to hear from you!

All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.Right now my dream is to capture Africa and all of her beauty, small and scaly or robust and strong.”

And yes, of course I’m trying to entice Kerry to come and take some pictures of Chanters Lodge!

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