World Aids Day March

The counselor, Mary

1 December every year is World Aids Day. This year in Zambia it was marked by marches in all the major towns. Ten years ago this would not have been the case – people were too shy to be seen joining in a march of this kind.

Nowadays, though, things have changed; more and more the people are accepting that Aids is real. If they are not infected themselves they will have a family member or friend who is. Although statistics are not very accurate, it is accepted that a significant percentage of the adult population is infected. It is a frightening fact.

No More Infections

Due to research and innovations, this Aids Day had the theme: No more infections. The hope is that no more people will be infected with the virus. Of course, this is a dream but we must all dream for a better world. This will only happen if the people are educated and taught how to use the medicines and to change their behaviour.

Workshop at Falls Resort

At the Falls Resort in Livingstone they held a workshop for their staff in one of our conference rooms to increase awareness. In the morning the staff were allowed to meet privately with an Aids counselor to discuss any questions they might have. These ranged from coping with a family member who had contracted the virus to how to protect themselves when they started a relationship.

In the afternoon there was a group session where the staff listened to a presentation on Aids. The counselor, Mary, pulled no punches and gave it to them straight. The staff listened quietly, some of them a bit surprised at the facts about Aids which were highlighted. It was definitely an eye-opener; an eye-opener in the fact that Mary was so forthright.

After the presentation the members of staff asked their questions, with everyone joining in with comments and suggestions. It was light-hearted at times but always serious. For Joanne Selby (General Manager), she was impressed with her staff for being so open and candid in their discussions and she knew that they would take the message home to friends and family.

We have to beat this scourge of Aids in our society. It is breaking up families and leaving many children alone in the world. To hear the staff’s discussion during the meeting, at least, they have all the knowledge to stay healthy throughout their lives.

Helping the community

Recently the Awards were announced by Imvelo, the organisation which promotes responsible tourism. The Royal Livingstone and the Zambezi Sun (The Falls Resort) won the award for Best Social Involvement and Best Practice – Economic Impact. The Falls Resort have won before, but, even so, they were delighted to have won again.

The reason that The Falls Resort continue to win is because of the way they run their projects. The Falls Resort will never support a project that cannot be self-sustaining. After an initial input of capital expense and staff training, The Falls Resort expect the members of the project to run it on their own.

The Community Projects Manager, Stain Musangaila, continually visits the projects offering advice and encouragement.And will help in financial terms if the project looks as if it is about to fail.

The farming project for the blind community initially helped them with tools, a water pump and seedlings. The Falls Resort also put up a greenhouse where they could grow tomatoes and peppers as a communal effort. The money raised from the greenhouse is used to pay for electricity for the pump and any remaining amount can be used in times of crisis.

The blind community did have a crisis a while ago. The greenhouse was visited by a herd of elephant which ate their way through row upon row of vegetables. What the elephants did not eat they trampled. Stain was there as soon as possible to give them support. Stain said “Don’t worry. We have some seedlings ready for planting. Get the fields tidied up and I’ll make sure that the new plants arrive first thing tomorrow.”

At the hospice The Falls Resort also set up a garden where family members and staff can grow vegetables for the hospice and for sale to The Falls Resort.

Children in their school uniform

At one of our school projects The Falls Resort empowered the mothers by buying sewing machines and giving them some of our old linen and staff uniforms which the mothers use for making school uniforms and items for sale.

Every project has to be thoroughly researched before The Falls Resort will give the go ahead for any financial input. The research is done to make sure that the people who receive our support should also gain in terms of an income to feed themselves and also to gain in self-esteem.

The Falls Resort believe in the saying about giving a man a fish and he will eat for one day, or teach a man to fish and he will eat forever.That is our philosophy and it seems to be the right one.

Proud parents again

Baby Impala Born

The Falls Resort have had more babies – impala babies. The staff at The Falls Resort are, of course, very proud parents.

Impala are medium-sized antelope which live in most of the parks in Southern Africa. They will eat grass or leaves and are therefore very adaptable, making them a successful animal which is found in large herds.

Our impala herd of one male and five females was brought onto the resort in May 2009. Since then they have settled in well and produced two sets of offspring. This year we have had four new babies. The babies are born after a gestation period of about 6 months, but being such a successful animal the impala mums have a trick up their sleeve. If conditions are not good – maybe the rains are late – the impala mums can keep their baby inside them for an extra month. At the Falls Resort our impala dropped their young on time; conditions are excellent in our woodlands around the Resort.

During the coming year The Falls Resort will have to think what is right for their young herd. They are one family. At two years of age, the young females from last year will be ready to breed and will need a new family; they will need a boyfriend.

The Falls Resort are not sure yet how they will cope with this. They have several options. They could move out the male impala and bring in a different one; they could bring in a new herd so that the young impala can move away from their family; or they could move them all away and bring in a new herd. This is not something that The Falls Resort can decide as hotel managers; we need experts. The Zambia Wildlife Authority has many experts so they are not worried; as they are sure to get the necessary advice.

The Zambia Wildlife Authority is used to moving wild animals around, even lions. As the parks become isolated areas surrounded by villages and farms, the gene pool of a particular species can become limited. This is particularly the case with predators because their numbers are not as great as antelopes like impala.

In the meantime The Falls Resort will enjoy the young impala which are full of the joys of spring, jumping around through the trees and playing with each other. The Falls Resort will decide their future during the coming year; as they have their best interests at heart.

Ackson the beekeeper

A year ago The Falls Resort decided that we must learn to harvest honey from bees. Beehives and honey in Africa used to be very common, but nowadays the art is dying out as more and more people move to the towns. In the past, the villagers would find a beehive in a tree, cut down the tree and take the honey. Of course, now we have better ideas and know that, if the bees and hives are looked after, we can harvest the honey without chopping down a tree.

Stain Musangaila, The Falls Resort Community Project Coordinator, has been researching bees and honey. He even went to Eastern Province, miles away, to visit a successful bee project on a farm. In the past couple of months the new beehives arrived in Livingstone and have been carefully positioned. There are no bees in them yet because we have not asked the bees to take up residence. The bees will be attracted by wax from a working beehive, so until we bring in some wax our hives have no inhabitants.

In the meantime The Falls Resort are working on the bee environment. Bees drink nectar from flowers which they take back to the hive to make the honey. We needed to make sure that the bees have flowers, lots of flowers, so that they are happy to stay near their hive. Being committed to a natural environment The Falls Resort have found indigenous plants which will flower throughout the year to provide the bees with food. These plants are being planted around the site to add to the already natural environment.

Ackson and Steven are two of The Falls Resort beekeepers in training. They are local men from Mukuni Village; Ackson is a subsistence farmer and Steven a curio seller. Both of the men assisted with the placing of the hives and are now helping with the introduction of the new plants; they are learning the names and the habits of them too.

The Falls Resort still have so much to learn about honey production but are committed to learning and to train our beekeepers in the process. The hope is that when we complete the journey from novice to expert in the honey-making process, we can pass the knowledge on to others. The Falls Resort hope it won’t be many years before we see the production of jars of Livingstone Honey on the shelves in supermarkets around the world!

Teaching the art of beekeeping

The long awaited Beekeeping Project is finally becoming alive after receiving and installing all beehives for the new beekeeping project at The Falls Resort. Community Social Investment (CSI) Coordinator, “Chief Strawberry” Musungaila and the company management are all delighted about the new development. The Falls Resort will soon start baiting bees for making honey.

The community running the project has already been identified and travelled to Chongwe in Lusaka for training in beekeeping to enhance their skills. The people were drawn from the surrounding communities as a way of empowering them with extra skills for their livelihood. An association has been formed to help train others in Beekeeping. This extends the benefits to even more people enabling them set up their own small or medium scale businesses.

“I’m delighted to see the beehives. The place for beekeeping is now ready and the beehives are already in place, I’m already seeing honey,” said Stain.

Making of beehives

Apart from The Beekeeping Project, there is another project to train people on how to make modern and effective beehives. Katombora Reformatory School youths are the beneficiaries of the skills development programme. This project will enable them sustain their lives in society after reformation.

Since September 2008, Sun International has lent its support to the efforts of a Livingstone community organisation called Care to Care. The project, supported by Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant Products (ASNAPP), the University of Stellenbosch, Top Turf and FullCycle, is aimed at using worm farming to establish sustainable plant growth. The project, based at The Falls Resort, has been an overwhelming success, benefiting community and hotels alike.

Making Worms Work

The worm farming project grew out of Care to Care’s desire to find a cost-effective way of producing nutritious vegetables for those suffering from HIV/AIDS. Thanks to Sun International and The Falls Resort, it has grown into a full-scale community business project, generating income and practical education for those involved.

The Falls houses the worm farms on site, in a garden hut that shelters the worms from the equatorial climate. The farm produces an incredible 300 litres of liquid compost and 900kg of vermicompost every week. Some of this is used for the resort’s pot plants, rose garden and herb garden. The rest is sold to other members of the project for a nominal fee, who in turn produce 80% of the resort’s fruit and vegetables, providing them with a home industry.

Natural Fertiliser – Making The Falls Better

The project has been a success not only in assisting the local community, but also for the resort itself. Executive Chef of The Royal Livingstone, Alexander Coupy, has noticed an improvement in the quality of the hotel’s herbs since being cultivated on natural worm fertiliser. Musowe Davis, who runs the rose garden, has noticed miraculous results since switching to vermitea (a liquid fertiliser made using worm castings). The roses at The Falls have been brighter and more beautiful than ever.

The Falls is excited to continue expanding the project, helping the local community and improving services and surrounds at The Royal Livingstone and The Zambezi Sun.

Elephant River Crossing

Elephants Crossing the Zambezi River

Now is the time of year when the elephants cross and re-cross the Zambezi River. The river is low and the water is flowing quite gently towards the Victoria Falls. We sometimes wonder whether the elephants want to be in Zambia or Zimbabwe; they move from country to country all the time finding their favourite spots.

The river in front of the Falls Resort is about 2 km wide. It is littered with islands, big and small, so the elephants island-hop as they cross the river. Some of the islands are big enough to provide them with food so they may stop over for a day or two, feeding on the trees and plants. Some islands, though, are merely rocks protruding during low water and only provide a resting post on the journey between the two banks.

The other day I watched as two bull elephants crossed from Siloka Island to the Zambian bank. They swam for a distance and then rested on some rocks. After a while they took to the river again. Elephants are strong swimmers; they ‘paddle’ with their huge legs keeping their trunk out of the water to breathe. Even quite young babies will follow their mothers into deep water and naturally swim alongside mum. An elephant can grow to 4 metres high and weigh 6 tonnes. It is hard to imagine how they can swim so elegantly through water.

Seeing the elephants crossing the river is quite a spectacle for our visitors. Watching them from the river bank is good, but on a cruise boat it is possible to get a much better view. The boat will keep its distance, of course, because the elephants should not be disturbed. But our visitors always manage to get some great photographs while watching one of our most spectacular sights on the Zambezi River.

Wherever the elephants decide to spend their time, Zambia or Zimbabwe, they are now much happier than they were a few weeks ago. The end of November gave us the long-awaited rain. The trees have sprouted fresh new leaves, and the grass is covering the land making it look like a golf course. It is a most stunning time of year; it is like a renewal of life after weeks of oppressive heat and a parched landscape. It is not just the elephants which are happy; all the animals and birds are too.

The Falls Resort’s Royal Livingston Hotel recently played host to a special contingent of British press, showing them the delights of the very best Zambian hospitality. The press group included representatives from some the UK’s top publications, including The Sun, Your Country Wedding, allaboutyou.com and Travel Bulletin.

Sampling The Royal Livingstone’s Best

The UK press were treated to a day of pampering. Transferred by vintage Rolls Royce, they were shuttled from The Royal Livingstone to the one-of-a-kind Royal Livingstone Express – a unique railway safari experience. Once on board the steam train, the media VIPs enjoyed a 6 course gourmet meal, carefully crafted by the Express’s renowned team of chefs.

The amazing day also included an aerial tour of the Victoria Falls and a trip to stunning Livingstone Island.

UK Media Enthralled by Trip

The response of the press party was resoundingly positive. As Julie from Four Communications noted, “The trip was marvellous. Everyone in the group loved it. The Livingstone Island tour was one of the highlights of the trip, but the bird’s view of The Falls from a helicopter was even better. The Rolls Royce transfer to the steam train was simply amazing!”

If you want to sample the same Zambian luxury at The Falls Resort , make sure to book online now!

Baby Maramba

Rachael Murton from Camp Phoenix, our Elephant Orphanage in Kafue National Park, can be called out to rescue baby elephants all over Zambia. Last week The Falls Resort had their own orphan in Livingstone. It is a sad story but with a reasonably happy ending.

Maramba - baby elephant rescued

At a nearby lodge on the Maramba River, the owners had noticed a very young elephant wandering along the river bank crying. There had been a herd of elephant by the river and it was clear that this youngster had somehow got separated from his mother.

Although it was difficult to listen to the cries of the youngster, the lodge owners left it alone for several days in the hopes that his mother would return. As the days went by it was clear that the herd had moved too far off to hear his cries. So, eventually, Rachael was telephoned and told the story.

Rachael did not waste time, packed an overnight bag, equipment and medicine in the truck, left her office in Lusaka nearly 500 km away and drove to Livingstone.

The young elephant was, by this time, under severe stress and dehydrated. With the help of Livingstone Game Scouts, Rachel and her team, tended to the elephant, giving him milk to drink, a mud bath to cool him down and lots of cuddles. It was decided to call him Maramba.

The following day after Maramba had calmed down he was carefully loaded into the back of the truck for the journey back to Lusaka. The journey took many hours as there were stops on the way to allow him time to relax from the jolting of the truck. He was still very frightened.

In Lusaka Maramba met his new companions at a holding facility. Kavalamanja and Musolole are two other orphans who are being kept safe until they can be moved to the orphanage in Kafue National Park. Maramba soon made friends with his two new brothers. Together they will become a family, supporting each other emotionally and learning elephant ways.

Elephants are very intelligent animals. All of these three young bulls have had bad experiences. Although it would appear that Maramba just got lost, the other two probably witnessed the death of their mothers by poachers. Together the elephants will form bonds which will last throughout their lives. And, it is thanks to Camp Phoenix and the work that they do, that these three youngsters have a future.

It’s Sun International’s tenth festive season in Zambia, and to celebrate we have a host of thrilling parties and events for our guests. From 23 December, you can get together for a traditional African barbecue – or more appropriately ‘braai’ – at the Zambezi Sun

Then on Christmas Eve you have your choice of two festive celebrations:

Sundowners on the Sundeck at The Royal Livingstone

• Watch the sun set over the mighty Zambezi River with delectable cocktails, scrumptious food, and great company
• Carols by candlelight at the Zambezi Sun – relish in beautiful carols, traditional village feasts and festivities, and fantastic performances.

Like a kid on Christmas, you’ll love these great Christmas Day events:

• A delightful luncheon at The Royal Livingstone – bring the family along to celebrate Christmas in true festive spirit in the Dining Room
• Traditional high tea at The Royal Livingstone – enjoy the tranquil melodies of our talented pianist while relaxing on the veranda overlooking the spectacular Zambezi River
• Traditional Christmas lunch at the Zambezi Sun – a sensational family buffet that boasts all of the tasty, traditional Christmas food as well as a few local favourites

Pool Grill at the Zambezi Sun – for leisurely Christmas fun, lounge by the pool with light bites, and in the company of Father Christmas, himeself.

Get all this and more with Sun International Zambia over the Christmas season. To see everything you need to know about booking and enjoying the festive magic, click here: Festive Magic Zambia.

These fantastic festive parties are sure to fill up quickly, so book early, contact our Guest Relations or Reservations team at crobook@za.suninternational.com.