Progression of Game Routes

After many days and long hours of slashing and grading by our maintenance manager Joe, conservation manager Bjorn and the staff, the game routes through the plains are now re-opened, finally after heavy flooding. Fires were set by ZAWA at the beginning of June to burn the long grass, thus opening up the plains to more accessible game drives and ensuring the encouraged re-growth of flora and fauna alike. Once the fires had subsided, the tractor was used to its full potential to carve out a route through the plains all the way up to elephant pools, ready for us to commence game drives through the area. So far game sightings include; elephant, hippo, hyena, eland, zebra, lion, leopard and we are hoping that as the season progresses so will the game sightings.

Volunteers home and away

This month we are excited to welcome Josie to the Lodge. She will be commencing a six month placement with us as an assistant lodge manager. Josie was the lucky candidate picked from many applicants due to her experience in similar fields and bubbly personality. We would also like to extend a big THANK YOU to Tony Moore. He volunteered his IT skills to design a new website. Although he is based in the UK and has never visited the project, he very generously took on the task and has produced a wonderful result.

News from the Clubs

As part of the lodge’s duty to the conservation project, managers from both the lodge and CCSC visit the clubs to discuss the season ahead. Any donated items are handed out at this time and also areas of improvement or progress are discussed. The clubs have the following news to report:

The Womens' Club:

The women are continuing to make doilies and host lunches for guests on village tours. They are also hoping to make new jewellery items to sell at the lodge after a generous donation of earring clasps from Claudia Behlert begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting, one of the project directors. The new items should be on sale soon!

The Carpentry Club:

The carpentry club is now self sustaining and virtually independent of CCSC! We helped them with the donation of some new tyres in order for them to continue the use of the vehicle they sustain themselves. We have ordered a new table (due for delivery soon!) to act as a dining able in the managers area and we will be working with them to create a buffet area in our new lapa.

The Gardening Clubs:

We are looking forward to receiving our first batch of fruit and vegetables from the gardening clubs very soon. Passimo’s gardening club has received a selection of seeds to help get things started and will be bringing the first harvest sometime next month. Joseph’s club have started to make egg cups to sell and use at the lodge. These items can be seen along with the keyrings and clay pots he makes at the shop.

Chilubezi School:

Chilubezi School is looking forward to rebuilding at some point this year. With help from CCSC and the community, the school is hoping to build a brick and tin school block. We are pleased to announce that the students end of year exams were a success with many students performing above average.

Chocha School:

During the rainy season, Chocha built a brick assembly area outside the school building to serve as an area for the children to be grouped together for school meetings. The school raised the money for the bricks independently and the area looks very smart. The school has also implemented a new scheme in order to regularly gain chalk. Each pupil brings with them a very small amount of money. Once all the money is collected, it is enough to buy a box of chalk. The school has an agreement with local government school and shops for the purchase and delivery of the chalk from Lundazi. The students of Chocha also did very well in their end of year exams. Well done to all!

Staff Compound Holds Strong

One of our biggest tasks last year was the complete rebuilding of our staff compound. We demolished the entire thing and rebuilt it from scratch. Prior to last year after each rainy season the staff houses would be damaged and water could leak in through the roofs. The compound looked tired and tatty and it was definitely time for an overhaul! Following the same design as the houses in the village we rebuilt each and every member of staff’s house. After the frames were built the workers wives were invited in to clay and paint the houses and finish them off to a high standard! As the rainy season went on we heard many reports of the heavy rains. My heart sank at the thought of the brand new staff compound being washed away into the fast flowing Luangwa. With no contact with the lodge over the rains it could only be left to our imagination the kind of devastation that must have been underway. We arrived in camp for the first time on April 10th. We immediately marched straight to the staff compound expecting to see a pitiful sight of clay and rafters washed to the ground. However, I am pleased to report that, in fact, there was no damage whatsoever, even the paint was intact. It just goes to show that the village designs and craftsmanship for building houses has been honed over the years and sometimes natural materials are better than manmade!

Building Bridges

During the wet season (December through to March) the rain can do a lot of damage. This year, the rains were particularly heavy with some lodges sustaining serious damage from flooding. Here in Luambe we were lucky and only had water damage to our dining area which was scheduled for restyling this year anyway. However, each year the rivers and tributaries fill from the heavy rains and do not dry up until May/June time. This is not ideal for a lodge that opens at the beginning of May! It, therefore, becomes our duty to build bridges over the major river crossings so as to open our main road from the lodge to Mfuwe. If we did not do this we would have to divert and drive 13 hours to Mfuwe via Lundazi and Chipata! So, we joined forces with our nearest neighbour and together with plenty of man power and our Unimog, we have since opened up the road. Thank goodness! It is now a mere 5 hours to Mfuwe as opposed to 13.

Solar Success at Luangwa Wilderness!!

2009 proved to be the year the installation of our brand new and high tech solar power system was completed. The lodge is now fully able to run on solar energy including:

• All fridges
• Lighting
• All communication equipment, including satellite, office and radio
• Water pump
• All other electrical goods such as fans, chargers and some tools

The system runs on AC and DC with three separate systems running different areas of the lodge, with each operating as a back-up for the other systems. It took both experts from Germany and Tanzania two weeks to complete the momentous task, which included updating our old system and installing new components to expand the existing setup. We had to clear old dead trees in order to protect the new equipment and create room for it at the lodge which was a demanding feat on its own. Transport to the lodge proved to be one of the trickiest tasks with the equipment weighing in at over a tonne!! It is completely out of sight from clients and cuts out the noise issue from generators (which are also kept at the lodge as a back-up). However, many clients are so impressed, they ask to see the system and request a “behind the scenes” tour! We receive many positive comments about the fact a remote bush camp style lodge is able to offer recharging and communication capabilities! There are more than 30 panels and 36 batteries that complete the set up. The energy is stored in twelve 2v 1000amp batteries and other specialist solar cells. We are now all making the most of no generators and silent energy production!

How to scare an elephant

Human wildlife and especially human elephant conflicts are an issue for all conservationists whether in Africa or Asia. Chilli has been published by various sources as one way of protecting crop. It it said to be very helpful to scare away elephant who can destroy months of work within a few minutes. Well, our second gardening club planted Chilli and used our old engine oil to make a chilli fence around their garden. They are enjoying good success after implementing this idea. Other gardening clubs have been badly disrupted by elephants, however, Joseph's has remained unscathed.