Lodge Blog – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

Liberty Hotel Helps Haiti

I liked this in HotelInteractive from Caryn Eve Murray

When southern Haiti was torn apart by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12, Rachel Moniz immediately felt shockwaves more than 1,500 miles away at the small, privately owned Liberty Hotel in Boston’s Beacon Hill district. “I asked for a list of employees who have relatives in Haiti, who have any ties to Haiti, to make sure we got aid to their families,” said Moniz, the hotel’s general manager. The hotel handed each affected employee $300 that same day to go toward their families, then donated an additional $500 to the Red Cross for Haitian relief.

But the Liberty didn’t stop there: On February 4, the hotel’s hour-long weekly fashion show, Fashionably Late, will dress itself as an earthquake-relief fundraiser featuring the styles of a local avant-garde Haitian-American designer. “We will pay for everything, including the models, and donate a portion of our bar proceeds from that night,” said Moniz. “We’re also developing a package for people who want to stay in the hotel that night and … we will donate proceeds from that to the global disaster relief organization Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team, “ she said.

Then, on March, 13, the fundraising will continue with a wellness theme, offering an evening of yoga, live entertainment and a silent auction. Moniz said the Liberty Hotel is also trying to pull together a celebrity fundraiser in the next two weeks to bring in yet more relief dollars. The scope of the effort is unprecedented for the Liberty, a 300-room renovated former jail on the bank of the Charles River, she said. “We help different causes and are immersed in any action where we can provide relief, but to be so direct and explicit about one cause, this is actually a first for us.”

26
JAN

charities, hotels, usa

Diary Of An Expatriate Now Living In Inverness

Thanks to Roger Jones, apologies to Derek Dawson

DEC 18th
It’s starting to snow. The first of the season and the first we’ve seen for years. The wife and I took out our hot toddies and sat on the porch watching the fluffy soft flakes drift gently down clinging to the trees and covering the ground. It’s so beautiful and peaceful.

DEC 20th
We awoke to a lovely blanket of crystal white glistening snow covering as far as the eye could see. What a fantastic sight, every tree and bush covered with a beautiful white mantle. I shovelled snow for the first time ever and loved it. I did both our driveway and the pavement. Later that day a snowplough came along and accidentally covered up our driveway with compacted snow from the street. The driver smiled and waved. I waved back and shovelled it away again. The children next door built a snowman with coal for eyes and a carrot for a nose, and had a snowball fight, a couple just missed me and hit the car so I threw a couple back and joined in their fun.

DEC 25th
Christmas Day.
It snowed an additional 5 inches last night and the temperature dropped to around minus 8 degrees. Several branches on our trees and bushes snapped due to the weight of the snow. I shovelled our driveway again. Shortly afterwards the snowplough came by and did his trick again. Much of the snow is now a brownish – grey.

DEC 31st
New Year’s Eve.
Warmed up enough during the day to create some slush which soon became ice when the temperature dropped again. Bought snow tyres for the car £500. Fell on my backside in the driveway. £100 to a physio but nothing was broken.

JAN 1st
New Year’s Day.
Still cold. Had another 8 inches of the nasty white stuff last night. Car covered in salt and iced up slush. That wretched snowplough came by twice today. Where’s that bl**dy shovel.

JAN 3rd
More snow! Not a tree or bush on our property that hasn’t been damaged. Power was off most of the night. Tried to keep from freezing to death with candles and a paraffin heater which tipped over and nearly torched the house. I managed to put the flames out but suffered burns on my hands. Lost all my eye brows and eyelashes. Car hit a deer on the way to casualty and was written off.

JAN 4th
That white shite just keeps on coming down. Have to put on every article of clothing just to go to the post box. The little ***** next door ambushed me with snowballs on the way back. If I ever catch that snowplough driver I’ll chew open his chest and rip out his heart with my teeth. I think the bast**d hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shovelling and then he accelerates down the street like Michael ‘effing’ Schumacher and buries the driveway again.

JAN 5th
16 more inches snow and ice and sleet and God knows what other white stuff fell last night. I am in court in 3 months’ time for assaulting the snowplough driver with an ice-pick. Can’t move my toes or my fingers. Haven’t seen the sun for 5 bast**d weeks. Minus 20 and more snow forecast:

SOD THIS! I’M GOING BACK TO AFRICA!!

25
JAN

Africa, joke, uk

Chipembele Wildlife Education Centre

Here’s something really super for Sunday – hats off to Steve and Anna!

Chipembele Wildlife Education Centre is a fun, interactive and contemporary learning facility for Zambian children. It focuses its programmes on wildlife, the environment and conservation issues. The Centre is located on the banks of the Luangwa River opposite South Luangwa National Park. It is a wonderful, unspoiled setting for local children to learn about the value of their natural environment. This education will help to both protect the wildlife and generate sustainable development for the benefit of the local population for generations to come.

Chipembele is run under the auspices of a registered Zambian charitable trust. It was established and is now managed by Steve and Anna Tolan, who emigrated from England to Zambia in 1998 to fulfill their dream of building and running such a centre. It is supported in the UK by Chipembele Trust, a registered UK charity.

Since then however, the Trust has progressed to encompass much more than the Wildlife Education Centre. The work has expanded its programme of conservation education into the local schools and operates a Chipembele Rangers scheme through the school conservation clubs. Anna manages school improvement projects, runs a Pupil Sponsorship Scheme and is involved with local women’s groups. Steve is an actively involved in anti-poaching work and forestry protection. Chipembele also has a seat on the Board of Trustees of the South Luangwa Conservation Society, where Anna has the position of Secretary. They rear and rehabilitate orphaned and injured wild animals and they have made discoveries of archaeological and palaeontological importance.

24
JAN

Africa, charities, education, wildlife, zambezi, Zambia

Silly Saturday Story

A teacher is explaining biology to her 4th grade students. “Human beings are the only animals that stutter,’ she says. A little girl raises her hand. ‘I had a kitty-cat who stuttered.’ The teacher, knowing how precious some of these stories could become, asked the girl to describe the incident.

“Well,” she began, ‘I was in the back yard with my kitty and the Rottweiler that lives next door got a running start and before we knew it, he jumped over the fence into our yard!’

‘That must’ve been scary,’ said the teacher.

‘It sure was,’ said the little girl. ‘My kitty raised her back, went “Ffffff!, Ffffff!, Ffffff” but before she could say ‘F**k Off!’ – the Rottweiler ate her!

The teacher had to leave the room.

23
JAN

joke

Mukuni Big 5 Safaris

Check that amazing photo of Tando Malunga, a friend of my son Michael Chanter, at work with lions at Mukuni Big 5 Safaris. Bit too much of a lion encounter for my liking! Mukuni have a range of activities, and Guests at Chanters Lodge who have had the Mukuni Big Five experience have been delighted with their activities, so here’s rather more detail:

Lion Walk
US$120 per person, two morning collections and one afternoon. Transfers are included and the activity lasts about 3 hours under expert guided supervision.

Cheetah & Caracal Interaction
US$85 per person, collections as above.
The Mukuni Big 5 Safaris’ cheetah research programme is committed to the preservation of the cheetah. A percentage of the project’s proceeds will help to sponsor a mobile clinic and to educate the local population, by means of interaction and lectures, on the preservation and protection of this wonderful endangered species. The Cheetah!

Combo
Lion, Cheetah and Caracal combo price US$170 pp

Mukuni Big 5 also offer an Elephant Ride at US$150 pp.

Of course we’d be delighted to handle your activity reservations.

22
JAN

activities, Africa, Chanters, guests, tourism, wildlife

Kalaki’s Corner

I’m delighted to see Roy Clarke now on line. Check Kalaki’s Corner. Along with the late Trevor Ford, cartoonist extraordinaire, Roy’s one of the few journalists willing to take humorous potshots at our politicans in Zambia. Pretty close to the line he’s been on occasions as his various arrests and court appearances will bear witness!

21
JAN

Africa, Zambia

The Real Livingstone Bicycle Tour

One of the lesser known activities on offer to Guests at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone is The Real Livingstone Bicycle Tour. Organized by Mrs Hermine – who, incidentally also has a smashing garden nursery located in ‘217’ – two tours are offered. Bicycles used are Raleigh MTB.

The Real Africa Township
This 3 hour guided tour takes visitors to Maramba and Linda districts of Livingstone and affords Guests the chance to see where Livingstone residents play sport, pray, live, shop and eat, as well as seeing some local culture, education facilities and the care of the not so young. The tour takes in the local markets, Lubasi Old Peoples’ Home as well as one of the local schools and the cost is US$25 per person.

The Victoria Falls
Crossing the Maramba River through part of the Mosi-o-Tunya National Park to the Zambezi riverside and the mighty Victoria Falls. This tour is also 3 hours and the cost is US$30 per person which does not include the entry fee to the Falls.

Tours are morning 09.00-12.00 hrs or afternoon 14.00-17.00 hrs.

Bicycle Hire
The bicycles are also available for hire at US$15 per day.

The Real Africa Township Tour has proved very popular with our Clients. They have delighted in being able to see a side of Livingstone and Africa that few tourists experience and have commented that it is indeed the real Africa!

The picture? Maramba Market.

19
JAN

activities, Africa, Chanters, education, guests, livingstone, tourism, Zambia

Livingstone City Council

Seeing it took a month to pursuade Livingstone City Council that ‘elephant high’ grass in the park opposite Chanters Lodge was non-conducive to business as well as being dangerous and unsightly, this recent article in LusakaTimes came as no great surprise. (The grass has since been slashed, see pictures above!). More surprising perhaps is Mayor Mwinda’s admission in the article that they are ‘incompetent and negligent’. We are in no hurry to pay the rates bill we received on January 4th (nothing much incompetent about the fast delivery of that!)

“Livingstone Mayor Joram Mwinda says incompetence and negligence of duty were major factors that contributed to the city council’s failure to submit its 2010 budget to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing. Mr. Mwinda said he was particularly disappointed with management at the Livingstone City Council (LCC) for failing to submit its 2010 budget by October last year, as the development had resulted in the public andLocal Government Ministry losing confidence in the institution.

The mayor said this in an interview with ZANIS in Livingstone on Wednesday January 13. He said failure by LCC to submit the budget was a draw back to the tourist capital and had impacted negatively on the esteem with which people regarded it. Mr. Mwinda however, said the Local Government and Housing ministry was kind enough to give the local authority an extension period in which they were required to submit their budget by January 14, 2010.

To that effect he revealed that, a delegation comprising of the Chairman for Finance and Deputy Director of Finance among others had been sent to the Ministry Headquarters to make certain that the budget was submitted. And Mr. Mwinda said measures had since been put in place to ensure similar occurrences did not repeat themselves in future.”

Yeah?

17
JAN

Africa, Chanters, livingstone, Zambia

Whale Sharks, Ras Mbisi & Barefoot Luxury!

I love the blog from RasMbisi and @RasMbisi on Twitter too for that matter. Michelle, her husband and young family emigrated from UK a few years’ ago to set up their fabulous lodge on Mafia Island off the coast of Tanzania. Just how exciting and adventurous is that?

To prove my point, check Michelle’s latest blog about her Guests swimming with whale sharks:

“Kaskasi (northern trade monsoon) finally dropped slightly today, the sea looks like a mill pond this morning. Wageni (guests) off first thing to swim with whale sharks, armed with Bacon rolls, homemade pastries and strong coffee. Ibra our Dhow skipper spent 3 years working with a marine research programme and therefore has an extremely strong code of conduct regarding the Whale sharks, all guests get a lecture before he will allow them in the water. He and Johnson then swim with the guests watching out for the weaker swimmers whilst Bakari looks after the boat and gets the coffee and snacks ready for everyone when they get out. Hot coffee is always welcome after snorkeling even in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.”

If, like me, you’re ignorant about whale sharks (whales or sharks? I asked myself) here’s about them:

“The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow moving filter feeding shark, the largest living fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 metres (41.50 ft) and a weight of more than 21.5 tonnes (47,000 lb), but unconfirmed claims report considerably larger whale sharks. This distinctively-marked fish is the only member of its genus Rhincodon and its family, Rhincodontidae (called Rhinodontes before 1984), which belongs to the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. The shark is found in tropical and warm oceans, lives in the open sea with a lifespan of about 70 years. The species originated about 60 million years ago. Although whale sharks have very large mouths, they feed mainly, though not exclusively, on plankton, microscopic plants and animals, although the BBC program Planet Earth filmed a whale shark feeding on a school of small fish.”

Michelle blogs her menus too, and sometimes Tweets them – don’t blame me if they have you drooling and already checking flights to Mafia Island. “Barefoot luxury” they call it “omg, smh” as they say on Twitter!

Awesome!

16
JAN

Africa, guests, hotels, Tanzania, tourism, travel, uk, wildlife

Ganesh The Elephant

From Zambezi Elephant Trails: (provider for the elephant encounter/ride for Guests at Chanters Lodge):

“It is with great regret and a lot of sadness that I’m writing to let you know that Ganesh, our youngest elephant calf died on Saturday night.

Ganesh had been with us for 12 weeks after being found alone along Nakatindi Road on October 12, 2009. He had taken to the complex calf formula very well and had bonded with our elephants, notably 5 year old female Chavaruka and 2 year old Nandi. We had also provided three human ‘nannies’ for round the clock feeding and emotional support. In his time with us he had thrived, growing 6 cm in height and adding 15 cm to his girth.

Up until Saturday evening Ganesh had shown no signs of illness, he was carefully charted for feeding, sleeping and bodily functions. When well rested he would join the other elephants in the bush, would engage in play with the smaller elephants and he started learning how to swim with the herd a few weeks ago.

Due to the rapid onset of symptoms of shock and apparent respiratory paralysis that is consistent with snake bite (most probably mamba) we are led to believe this may have been fatal for an otherwise healthy young elephant.

Ganesh was treasured by all the staff and elephant herd up at ZET and we are all devastated by his loss.”

Deepest sympathies to all concerned

15
JAN

activities, Chanters, guests, wildlife, Zambia

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