Where Frogs Live

Where Frogs Live


For the past two months the water feature in the garden at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone has just been a rock feature without water. Happily, as the photo above shows, it now has water again.

The original underwater pump for the feature was given to us by a friend from Denmark, Tom Kristensen, way back in the 90’s when the water feature was a pond teeming with Zambezi Bream. The Southern Water and Sewerage Company saw to that by overdosing the town water supply with chlorine one night, killing all our fish in one fell swoop. We were desolate, and the fish pond was never the same again. That was around 2003.

When we were able to fund a swimming pool in 2005, Phil Roberts and his team from Alpha Leisure who constructed it, built our beautiful water feature as well. We used Tom’s underwater pump that we’d used for the fountain in the old pond. At the end of last year that pump finally broke after more than 10 years service and was replaced by a quite expensive South African one. It didn’t work properly from the start and was declared unrepairably buggered after just a month. Eish!

Now enterprising Phil Roberts has adapted a regular .75hp water pump we had lying about, fitting it behind the rock and, hey presto! We have water circulation again! Oh! And we hope some birds come back – they’ve been absent ever since the rock had no water!

I suppose those noisy frogs will be heard again too!

Ah! Life in Livingstone!

9
MAY
1

Africa, Chanters, frogs, garden, wildlife, Zambia

Suite 1

Suite 1


Here’s a photo of the ongoing work to convert rooms 1 and 2 into a suite at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia. The picture shows the new entrance doorway into the sitting room, and if you’ve been following the work, you’ll see that the sitting room roof has been successfully raised!

The electricians have been busy inside re-wiring, and the masons will be preparing the walls for plastering, hopefully to start early next week.

There will be steps with railings leading up to the door of the suite, and of course the whole of the new outside wall will be plastered and painted. Anyway, there’s good progress. Next comes the expensive part – finishing!

8
MAY
1

accommodation, Africa, Chanters, entrepreneurship, renovation, victoriafalls, Zambia

The Happy Hotelier

The Happy Hotelier


We were delighted to get a mention the other day from The Happy Hotelier who said

Update:
I thought to provide some good examples of blog based hotel sites for your consideration:

* Chanters Lodge by @Richard Chanters does a good job with a self hosted blogspot based hotel site. He’s a frontrunner as he started out very early at the now closed Yahoo “platform”.

The Happy Hotelier describes himself:

“A happy doorman, bellman, concierge, front desk agent, technology engineer, limo driver, valet parking attendant, city guide, Sargent at Arms and photographer at wedding ceremonies, cleaning boy, gardener, pond- and central heating technician, personal assistant, butler, cook, designer, developer and owner of a small and very luxurious Hotel in The Hague, The Netherlands: Haagsche Suites.

Hence a Happy Hotelier with a keen interest in new developments in luxury travel, luxury hotels, luxury B&B’s, architecture, design, travel- and hotel gadgets, guest satisfaction, web design and web promotion of travel sites and hotel- and accommodation sites.

About some of these items and other things that interest me or are useful, I blogged already two years as co author on the Dutch language Blog: Weekendhotel.”

His real name is Guido vanden Elshout and that’s him up there!

6
MAY
2

blog, Chanters, hotels, Zambia

Sweet Conversion – Update

Sweet Conversion – Update



‘Better than volcanic ash’ a friend commented on Facebook when I was complaining about the rubble, dust, mess and noise emanating from the conversion of Rooms 1 and 2 into Suite 1 at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone in Zambia! I’m really not so sure, they seem comparable.

Anyway, check the picture of Charles the builder, taken from the garden, still demolishing, but preparing to raise the roof of the proposed suite sitting room up to the level of the existing roof.

Where’s the rubble? I hear you ask. Well there’s still a hell of a lot indoors but check that pile outside waiting to be collected by someone who needs it to raise the level of their yard to protect against flooding. There’s recycling for you!

It’s my half day today and I’ll be pleased to have a break away from the dust, mess and noise! Oh! And they’ve broken the wheelbarrow – again!

5
MAY
0

accommodation, Africa, Chanters, entrepreneurship, renovation, victoriafalls, Zambia

Llama Encounter

Llama Encounter


Sorry, no, not in Livingstone, Zambia, not yet anyway! This is Ashwood Lllamas from North Devon, UK where Kevin and Vicki Woodward have started a Llama Experience! I’m not the only one fascinated by this, Kevin has more than 2500 followers on Twitter @llamakevin, which is where I found them!

Here’s all about it:

“Do you fancy a few hours experiencing some time with our llamas?

What we offer – 3 hours of our time, showing you around our smallholding, and giving you the opportunity to get up close and personal with some, if not all of our llamas.

* First, we’ll do a short introduction, including the essential health and safety rules. We’ll give you some history of llamas in general, some useful facts about the way they will behave, and what you should expect from handling them.
* Next, along with the help from one of your party, we’ll bring some of the llamas up to the holding pen, where you can all get to say hello!
* Here, we will show you how to halter the llama, and each member of the party (one at a time) can groom a llama and have that one to one photo opportunity.
* Next, we will take two llamas for a short stroll around our land, this will most likely be Wilbur & Cusco, and you can have the opportunity to lead them. If your party is more than 2, we can go around again, so that everyone has the chance to lead. The stroll is far to short to be called a trek, but will take 15 – 20 minutes.
* On our return, it will be treat time, the llamas will be rewarded and you’ll have the chance to give them their treats.
* Then, a chance to wander over and see our other llamas, our goats, chickens, and we may even be joined by the cats!
* A quick wash of the hands and then we’ll provide you with a cup of tea or coffee and a slice of one of Vicki’s homemade cakes (soft drinks will be available). Here you’ll be able to ask us more detailed questions about our llamas!

Who do we offer this to? – We can cope with a maximum of 4 people.

When do we offer this? – We can only offer this experience on Saturday, Sunday, Monday & Tuesday afternoons at 2pm. Booking is essential! The start of the 2010 season begins on Saturday 29th May.

How much? – £15 per person, children under 16 will cost £10 each, and children under 10 will cost £5 each. Please note that children under 10 will NOT be able to fully participate, they will only be able to groom and feed the llamas from outside of the pen and through the fence, and will not be able to walk their own llama (they can walk with the llama while a responsible adult holds the lead).

How to book? – Please call Kevin on 01237 451848 during office hours (9am to 5pm – Monday to Friday) to arrange your llama experience, or send us a message via the contact page for more information!”

Awesome!

4
MAY
0

Uncategorised

High Tea At The Royal Livingstone

High Tea At The Royal Livingstone


I liked this, written by Joanne Selby on April 27, 2010 on the Falls Resort blog . It’s great that the high tea at Royal Livingstone is also available to non-residents, and we recommend it to all our Clients at Chanters Lodge. At US$17 per person it’s great value and the view from the deck at the Royal is well, to die for! Especially when, like now, the spray from the Falls climbs high in the sky right across the 1.6 km span of the Zambezi. (Check the photo!)

Here’s Joanne’s piece:

“During the romantic colonial era, all the finest ladies celebrated the tradition of high tea. They would come together in the afternoons to socialize and gossip over cucumber sandwiches, delicious cakes and, of course tea. Today, the Royal Livingstone hotel, allows guests to enjoy this regal custom.

At 3pm, when the sun is high in the sky, and the mid-afternoon slump is starting to kick in, our waiters bring out the most delicious snacks and cakes and display them in the lounge. Suddenly, it’s as if a new life has come over everyone as guests begin to wander in off the veranda. They may have been looking out at the majestic Zambezi River, watching the spray from the mighty Victoria Falls, or maybe even just relaxing with a good book, but the decadent spread calls to them, and soon everyone is enthralled.

Just the other day, two ladies came in for high tea with us and I had the opportunity to get their reactions. After enjoying the lovely cucumber and salmon mini sandwiches with their tea, the cakes and sweets caught their gaze. One of the ladies turned to the other and said, “I really shouldn’t, I’m on a diet, I must think of my waistline.”

“I know exactly how you feel, but we are on holiday…maybe we can have just one?” the naughtier of the two responded.

Soon enough they had given in to the table of sweets beckoning them and went over for a closer look. Standing there for a few moments, undecided, weighing all the indulgent options, they asked a waiter to tell them about the selections. The two ladies finally gave in and took a plate, choosing their favorites…just a few!

Silence came over them as they took their first bites. I asked how they were enjoying everything, but they were too busy to answer. Finally after a few more bites, one of them paused long enough to respond. “Oh, my goodness me, this is decadent. I really shouldn’t eat this gateau…” No sooner had she finished saying those words, did she take another bite. Who could resist?

Ok, so we here at the Royal Livingstone are guilty of spoiling our guests! We admit it! We love watching them indulge and luxuriate, and we aren’t afraid to say so!”

3
MAY
1

activities, Africa, Chanters, food, hotels, victoriafalls, zambezi, Zambia

Sweet Conversion

Sweet Conversion




Check the three photos above, taken yesterday at Chanters Lodge Livingstone.

With my back to the bathroom (which is almost finished) I took the photo at the bottom. The builders (demolition workers?) are knocking through from ex Room 2 to ex Room 1. This is to allow for a new big en suite double bedroom.

The middle photo shows the space being created in ex bathroom 1 for a large window overlooking the pool, which will be the feature of the suite’s new sitting room. The entrance to the suite will be on the right of this picture around the corner, with steps leading from the poolside to a new front door opening on to the sitting room.

The suite bedroom will have its own entrance door from the main house as well – just in case….! The top photo is with my back to the new sitting room, looking through the new bedroom to the en suite bathroom.

Do we have it right? I think so, but you can’t really tell until it’s finished! I’m already seeing a few things I wish we’d done or were doing differently, and some things I hadn’t anticipated.

Anyway, as my friend Derek said: “Full Steam Ahead”!

2
MAY
0

accommodation, Africa, Chanters, entrepreneurship, extension, renovation, World Cup 2010, Zambia

Some More Travel Agent Stories…

Some More Travel Agent Stories…


Some more travel agent stories for you! The photo? A hipppo, what else?!

– A lady called needing to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:20am and arrived in Chicago at 8:33am. The agent explain that Michigan was an hour ahead of llinois, but the Client couldn’t understand the concept of time zones. Finally she was told that the plane went very fast, which she accepted!

– A woman called and asked, “Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know who’s luggage belongs to who?” “No, why?” The agent asked. The Client replied, “Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I’m overweight, is there any connection?” The agent explained that the city code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

– A Client asked, “How do I know which plane to get on?” When asked what he meant he replied, “I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these darn planes have numbers on them.”

– A woman called needing to “fly to Pepsi-cola on one of those computer planes.” When asked if she meant she needed to fly to Pensacola on a commuter plane. She said, “Yeah, whatever.”

– A businessman called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. Following a lengthy discussion about passports, he was reminded he needed a visa. “Oh no I don’t” he said “I’ve been to China many times and never had to have one of those.” The agent double checked and sure enough, the Client’s stay required a visa. When told he said, “Look, I’ve been to China four times and every time they’ve accepted my American Express.”

– A woman called to make reservations, “I want to go from Chicago to Hippopotamus, New York” The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent asked: “Are you sure that’s the name of the town?” “Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the customer. After some searching, the agent came back with, “I’m sorry, ma’am, I’ve looked up every airport code in the country and can’t find a Hippopotamus anywhere.” The customer retorted, “Oh don’t be silly. Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!” The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, “You don’t mean Buffalo, do you?” “That’s it! I knew it was a big animal!”

Have a great weekend!

1
MAY
1

tourism, travel, wildlife

Stories From Travel Agents

Stories From Travel Agents


Check these travel agent stories!

– A Client asked for an aisle seats so that her hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the window.

– A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, “Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?”

– A woman called who wanted to go to Capetown. The agent started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information when she interrupted saying “I’m not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts. The agent calmly explained, “Capecod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa.” Her response … click.

– A man called, furious about a Florida package. The agent asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. The agent tried to explain that this wasn’t possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. The Client replied, “Don’t lie to me. I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state.”

– A man asked, “Is it possible to see England from Canada?” “No.” Replied the agent. The Client said “But they look so close on the map.”

– Another man called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When the agent checked the booking he noticed the Client had only a 1-hour lay over in Dallas. When asked why he wanted to rent a car, the Client said, “I heard Dallas was a big airport, and I need a car to drive between the gates to save time.”

The photo? Capetown of course! Who could possible be confused….?

29
APR
0

rsa, tourism, travel, usa

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