The children of Bambini Asilo walk in a neat file on their way to see the lions at Mukuni Big 5

The Bambini Asilo School was set up and by Maria Oronti Mauri. She organised funding through her son in Santa Domingo and friends in her native Italy, until her untimely death in June last year. Maria was passionate about Zambia and her school, and her son Thomas Oronti still carries on with the sponsorships – along with regular visitor Gaby Hohlweck and her friends, also from Italy.

The charity, named Jacaranda, recently built a borehole for the school among other things and are in the process of building a new secondary school in the same area, near the airport. They also sponsor a pre-school in Fubo near Monze, 300km from Livingstone.

Many of the children who grow up in Zambia never get to see wildlife in their natural surrounds. “That is so sad”, says Karien Kermer of Wild Side Tours. “It was wonderful to see the excitement and the awe in the little one’s faces when they actually got to see the lions at Mukuni close up”. (Children aren’t allowed to walk with the lions, unlike adults).

A big yawn…

The lions are all part of a carefully monitored programme to re-introduce lions into areas where they used to occur but where their numbers have dwindled by up to shocking 80%. By the time the cubs that form the first stages of the programme reach the age of about three they are released in a large holding area where they start fending for themselves without human help – although they are closely monitored in case there are problems. Their offspring are totally wild and grow up being taught life’s skills by their parents. These are the ones that are eventually reintroduced into the planned 80000 ha Mukuni Game Reserve just north of Livingstone the area North of Lake Kariba.

For bookings for an unforgettable African wildlife experience, no matter what age you are, visit http://www.victoriafallszambia.travel/Lion_Cheetah_Experience.

Percy and his friend Jesse Bobeldijk were flown to Lusaka courtesy of KLM. They of course wanted to see more of Zambia and made their way down to Livingstone, staying at the Mama Out of Africa on the banks of the Zambezi. Here Percy happily exchanged the loud world of DJ-ing for a few days of the absolute quiet you can only find in the African bush.

Percy enjoying the peace and quiet in front of the Mama

In Percy’s own words:

“Being at Mama Out of Africa is simply amazing! A natural piece of art right at the banks of the Zambezi.

This beautiful lodge with everything you need gave us a real Zambian experience we’ll never forget.

The stunning views of the river, the rich wild life and the moonlight over the river at night makes this place both a romantic and adventurous place.

We had the pleasure to stay over at the Mama for three days and we completely recharged our batteries. Still far too short for everything livingstone has to offer and missing it already!

During our stay we went of course to the Victoria Falls. This must see in Livingstone is an overwhelming experience! I have never seen such big and beautiful waterfalls in my life. The power of the water is enormous and the natural park around the falls feels like being in a tropical rain forest in april.

During our second day we experienced the rich wild life. Munene Kermer (above, right) took us first on a boat trip in the African Finfoot on the Zambezi river. For the first time in my life I saw elephants, crocodiles, hippo’s, impala’s and several special birds in their natural habitat.

Percy took this photo of an elephant on the Zambezi

After the boat trip we took a game safari during the afternoon. Again the rich Zambian wild life of rhino’s, buffalo’s, zebra’s, elephants were exposed to us. Simply beautifull!

The kindness and hospitality from the owners Karien and Peter and their son Munene was amazing. We were allowed to use their truck and boat and they guided us in the area. They showed us the best spots in the area and gave us an experience never too forget.”

For more info on the Mama Out of Africa at Kayube Estate, visit http://www.victoriafallszambia.travel/Mama_Out_of_Africa. You can also email info@victoriafallszambia.travel or go to our Facebook page, I Love Zambia.

Suni, now 18 months old, has walked a long road towards recovery following an axe attack a year ago this month. She is surrounded by a team of carers that are constantly amazed at her resillience and her spirit.

Suni and her best friend ‘Bezi’

With Suni as inspiration, Andrew White, education advisor for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation will be cycling through Zambia along with two cousins, in aid of the Elephant Orphanage Project, part of Game Rangers International and supported by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.

“Suni represents everything that is amazing about an elephant and at the same time why we must do something right now to stop the cruel and senseless act of poaching”, says Andrew.

Suni has now been fitted with an especially designed boot to support her damaged leg. Andrew recounts: “Every brace that was applied to support her leg fell apart, often within minutes. However in flew Mark and Dan from Norway and USA and with help Nigel Goodman created an elephant boot! Their first visit was a frantic week of designing; manufacturing and fitting a unique leg support made of aluminium, PVC and leather, with various strappings and looking like an elephant snow board! The excitement and emotion from all involved when Suni finally walked normally for the first time in her brand new Elephant Boot was huge.

Suni and her fancy new boot (photos Andrew White)

“The improvements were rapid and for a few weeks there was no stopping Suni, as she charged about the bush with her elephant friends, but her increased activity and vigour was too much for her boot, and wear and tear took its toll and she snapped it across the sole, leaving her bootless over Christmas… However thanks to the generosity of Suni’s supporters, the boot team returned with an even better boot that continues to see Suni bound around Lilayi like every young elephant should, full of verve and energy, a year on from her attack. She still needs constant care but thanks to her efforts and that of the all the people involved in her rehabilitation she has a chance.”

If you would like to know more about the work of Game Rangers International, the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation or Andrew’s cycle ride please explore the following Internet links: http://www.davidshepherd.org/ http://www.cyclezambia.co.uk/@CycleZambia.

We at Wild Side Tours & Safaris are right behind Andrew White’s cycle ride, which takes place in August.

Travel.cnn.com reports:

While the past decade has seen a reported 60% increase in arrivals of regional and international air carriers to the Republic of Zambia, relatively few locals have been able to take part in the country’s air travel boom.

That will change if a group of Zambian aviation professionals and foreign investors can get its revolutionary vision off the ground.

According to a story this week in the Zambian Lusaka Times, the investment and operating group has announced the launch of Mukuba Airlines, said to be the southern African nation’s first budget carrier.

In a press statement, a company official said the airline will be operational within a few months, in time for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s General Assembly conference, to be held in Zambia in August.

Commenting on the “record numbers” of regional and international travelers in Zambia in recent years, Mukuba Airlines chairman and chief executive officer Mwansa Chalwe said the airline would target domestic travelers.

Zambians have been left “as spectators in their own country” according to the article, which also stated that Mukuba Airlines would “demystify and democratize air travel and emulate emerging economies like Brazil, India, Indonesia and others that have extended air travel to those who have never flown before, including domestic workers.”

The airline is also expected to improve the domestic tourism market by making destinations within the landlocked country more accessible to travel.

Mukuba Airlines will be based in the Zambian city of Livingstone, near the tourism center of Victoria Falls. It will operate French-built ATR 42-500 and ATR 72-500 turbo-prop aircraft.

Once the airline is up and running in Zambia, the management of Mukuba Airlines plan to look at opening new routes to elsewhere in Africa. Good news for Zambians and tourists alike!

For more information or bookings to experience walking with the cubs contact info@victoriafallszambia.travel.

“There is always much more to a tempest than its terrible thunderclaps. While all eyes and ears are trained on nature’s feistiest displays, a host of overlooked things work at gentler rhythms right alongside. It is no different with the Zambezi, the fourth-largest river system in Africa after the Nile, the Zaire and the Niger.
Of the Zambezi River’s full 3,540km length – running south and then east from northern Zambia all the way to the Indian Ocean via Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique – most travellers only experience its greatest wonder, Victoria Falls. Also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya, the “Smoke that Thunders”, the world’s largest falls channels the Zambezi’s impressive water volume into a 250km-long zigzag spectacle of rock-eating cataracts and steep-walled gorges perfect for the extreme adrenaline rushes of white-water rafting, kayaking, river boarding and more. Some people call the area, including the nearby twin towns of Livingstone (Zambia) and Vic Falls (Zimbabwe), the adventure capital of Africa.

Away from all this high-octane hoopla, however, the upper reaches of the river are just as enrapturing, albeit often in a more languid way. Unbeknown to most, you do not have to travel far from Victoria Falls for a complete change of pace. Just a few kilometres upstream are serene riverside lodges that allow for the easy ogling of birds and big game, including hippos, crocodiles, giraffes and elephants; while the calmer waters bring the more gentle pursuits of canoeing, drift rafting and river boating.

Tranquil water safaris
A water safari is an excellent way to explore the upper Zambezi. Glide along in a solo inflatable canoe; or, if you are more inspired by a group experience, take a seat in a large raft. With a paddle in one hand, camera in the other, your senses are bristlingly alert – undisturbed by the drone of a boat motor – to more than 350 bird species and the bush enlivened by munching, grunting and shuffling wildlife. When you make welcome landfall on the beaches of, say, Katombora Island, one of many on the upper Zambezi, you find sand so pure it squeaks beneath your feet.

Chundu Island, where the sand squeaks under your feet, is only accessible at low water.

As dinner cooks, watch the local villagers drifting past in their makoros(dugout canoes), the waters teeming with tiger fish. After a colour-wheel sunset, a canopy of stars decorates the skies.
When the water level is low, trust your guide to navigate the shallow channels and avoid the grumpy hippos. At high water times (February to May), even small rapids, while no challenge to negotiate, may set your heart aflutter.

A two-day trip, with half- and one-day options possible, can be organised though Bundu Adventures, located at Maramba River Lodge in Livingstone.

Relaxing river cruises

Several stately triple-decker catamarans ply the Zambezi’s waters, leaving from and returning to the landing of The Royal Livingstone hotel, just south of Livingstone town. Although built in the 21st Century, the African Queen and African Princess look like river boats from the early 20th Century, finished in teak and beech wood with polished-brass touches.
On both ships, seating for 80 to 120 passengers (depending on the boat) hardly detracts from the two-hour float along the river edge of Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, a perfect vantage point for spying wildlife. The animals are most active at sunrise and sunset – and the sunsets are unforgettable – but the cruise experience is lovely at any time of day.
In the evenings, the luxury liners share the river’s currents with “booze cruises”. This combination of sunset-viewing plus wildlife- and bird-spotting with an on-board barbecue and open bar have made river-borne evening entertainment options very popular on the Zambezi; try Taonga Safaris, whose launch site is at the River Shack, next to the Livingstone Boat Club.

Secluded river lodges
Rather than spending the night in Livingstone or Vic Falls, head out of town to a room on the quiet waterside fringe of the Zambezi. Mama Out of Africa and Kayube Zambezi River House are two self-catering and eco-friendly properties located on a 90-hectare private estate about 20km west of Livingstone that looks straight across to Zimbabwe’s Zambezi National Park, a treat to both bird- and wildlife-watchers.

Mama Out of Africa, parked right on the banks of the river under a large thatch roof, is an old bus converted into lodge for up to four people. Driven here from Germany many years ago and dubbed the “Okavango Mama” along the way, the bus has had many lives, including one as a mobile dressing room during the filming of Out of Africa. You could be relaxing where Meryl Streep or Robert Redford once sat. Surrounded by lawns and towering old-growth trees, the two-room Kayube Zambezi River House is a private luxury accommodation, complete with housekeeping staff.
Special local tours and activities can be booked from both lodges through in-house tour operator victoriafallszambia.travel, including private river safaris, guided visits to traditional villages, bike or horseback rides and, when accessible due to changing water levels on the river, picnics on the adjacent Chundu Island.”

There were 16 participants from different lodges, hotels and tour operators. The tour of the new Raft Float package started with the Elephant Interaction followed by the Lion Walk.

Judith enjoying the new River Float package

Next came a gentle float in rafts down the Zambezi River, followed by a game drive through the Mosi-O-Tunya National Park.

Then it was exam time, with Judith coming out tops as the best consultant!

"Getting the 1st Prize on SAFPAR's Education Tour has really encouraged me more and made me realize how much I I've learnt while working at Wild Side Tours", said Judith.

Am so grateful to the organizers".

For details on the offerings available please email info@victoriafallszambia.travel.

Dara O’Briain practising in the UK – he ain’t seen nothing yet… (ph: Daily Telegraph)

They hope their efforts will help raise £1m to help educate children in Zambia.

Peter Kermers’ sturdy and fast 12 seater safari boat, the African Finfoot, is accompanying the trip as one of the safety boats. On day three the team will pass in front of Kayube, and flags and banners are ready to cheer the celebs and the entourage on.

The Zambezi river trip will be ‘self-powered’, with the team required to paddle for up to 18 miles each day. Each night will be spent wild camping by the banks of the river in a stretch of water that is known to have hippo and crocodiles, as well as poisonous snakes.

“If I had to choose between encountering a hippo and a black mamba, it would probably be the mamba – at least there I could try ducking it or avoiding it,” O’Briain said. “There is no antidote to being bitten by a hippo, put it that way.”

According to pre-trip publicity, the team “will push themselves to the limit… battling torrential downpours and negotiating rapids officially known as ‘Gnashing Jaws of Death’, ‘The Washing Machine’ and ‘Oblivion’.” The journey culminates near the Victoria Falls, the world’s largest waterfall in terms of the amount of falling water.

Despite the fearsome billing, there is one aspect of the trip that O’Briain, also the presenter of Stargazing Live, is anticipating in particular. “The whole thing seems so overwhelming at the moment, it’s difficult to say what’s most exciting – but in the evening I am looking forward to looking up at some proper open skies.”

Following the total ban on hunting in Zambia, South Africa’s  daily, well read on-line ‘Tourism Update’, aimed at anyone and everyone in the travel industry, recently ran the article below:

“From hunting bans to the dismissal of senior wildlife authority executives, the new Zambian Tourism and Arts Minister, Sylvia Masebo has taken bold and controversial action in a bid to root out corruption and lay down a solid foundation for the growth of wildlife-based tourism in Zambia. 

In the past, safari hunting in Zambia occurred in Zambia’s Game Management Areas (GMAs) – communal lands that encircle the National Parks. Theoretically, these GMAs should have served as buffer zones by maintaining the hunting, settlement and agriculture in these lands at sustainable levels, while at the same time rewarding the community for engaging in conservation activity through tripartite agreements between the communities, Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) and the safari hunting companies. 

 But mismanagement has resulted in an underfunded ZAWA and failure to set sustainable hunting quotas in the GMAs. It is also believed that the communities have not yet received their full share of the monies from ZAWA.

As a consequence, in many GMAs there has been over hunting and the communities were under remunerated. This, in turn, has led to poaching and encroaching in the GMAs and on to the boundaries of the national parks over the years.  

 The leases for most of the GMAs expired at the end of 2012 and, during the tender process for new leases, these anomalies became apparent to government and, in particular, the dire conservation status of lion in the country. 

 In December, Masebo sacked five senior officials from ZAWA, including the Director General, Edwin Matokwani. Then in January, during a stakeholders’ meeting, Masebo announced a ban on the hunting of lion and leopard with immediate effect, as well as the suspension of all hunting activities outside of fenced game farms in 19 GMAs for 2013. This bold move caused huge waves in conservation circles in Southern Africa.

 According to a press statement issued by Masebo, during this time government has committed to funding conservation activity in the GMAs while conducting a wildlife census on Zambia’s entire game area estate to establish current stock levels, as well as a review of the structures responsible for wildlife management. 

Many members of the Zambian tourism industry believe Masebo’s actions are a step in the right in the direction and could eventually result in tourism growth for the country.Stakeholders have also expressed hopes that opportunities in photographic tourism, which can earn many multiples more revenue and create more jobs than hunting can, will be explored”.