Campsite owners
Camp site owners have been interesting people when you get to meet them. Some just let the staff run the place but others are really visible and involved. Some of the bigger characters were
Bushmen Grasslands Camp site – Sadly we didn’t get his name, but a white Botswanan guy had had a chunk of land in the family for generations, which he then added to and it now extends to 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres). Genuine Bushmen have lived on his land throughout. His daughter had done a course in conservation and he effectively built the lodge for her. Some of the Bushmen work for him, but he has been really paternal about it. The lodge was managed by Paula, a petite, very pretty and immaculately turned out (in bush gear) 30 something girl from South Africa. She looked a little incongruous in the harsh African bush. She had done numerous lodge management jobs but this one was different. She had got really involved with the Bush people, had learned their language and really look after them and looked out for them. She was really smitten by how they had accepted her and now finds it really hard to consider moving to any other job. It was also our first real introduction to the brutality of African life. Paula had arranged for us to watch the carnivore feeding at a certain time one afternoon. They have rescued lions, leopard and wild dogs. The feeding took place a bit late, and afterwards the owner apologised saying, “sorry I was late I had to shoot a few donkeys”. Yup he still had his gun at his side in the lounge. The lions and leopards could not be relocated as they were unable to hunt, but some 25 of the 45 wild dogs were able to live in the wild and he wanted to relocate them to South Africa, but he had been in discussions with the authorities for 13 years and still could not get a permit. But as he said, he still has to feed them all every week out of his own pocket and donkey is the most plentiful source of meat he can find. The cats were fed big chunks of meat, but the Wild Dogs, well……….. a man drove a pick up into their enclosure, the dogs waited patiently, he pulled a whole dead donkey off the back of the pickup and the dogs set about it the moment he was back in the car. It was totally stripped in 20 mins. Between them, the owner and Paula, were trying to preserve the Bushman’s way of life while also giving them a chance to learn, grow and spread their wings. Really difficult balancing act. While they still retained all the traditional skill, they also worked for money and knew the value of it. They were sending children to the local school for an education, but sadly one of the young girls had been abused so that was a set-back on the road to trust. While this was a game lodge with wild and rescued animals, we got the impression that their primary concern was the preservation of the Bushmen, but on terms that the Bushmen wanted not what westerners though they should want.
Mike Gunn and his wife Diane at Thobolo’s Bush Camp – A white Zimbabwean who had been in Botswana for many years, firstly setting up Gunns’s Camp in the Okavango and , for the last 7 years, setting up Thobolo’s (Thobolo is Botswanan for gun!!). Really committed conservationist. Refuses entry to anyone from countries that permit the trade of Ivory, Rhino horn or Pangolin scales and displays a big sign to that effect at the front gate. Not prepared to take money off these people! Very strong views on poaching and the mooted idea of a third “one off” sale by African countries of their stock piles of Ivory. We had never considered what happens to the tusks of elephants that die naturally. The state gathers them and stockpiles them. Indeed, one elephant died of anthrax at the water hole while we were watching it. Mike immediately went and ensured it had no lingering pain (with his gun) and was seen next morning taking flesh sample to be sent off for analysis to confirm cause of death. He would then have to remove the tusks and hand them over to the park’s authority. The whole site was serviced by borehole water, solar power and hot water. The borehole pumped something like 10,000litres of water per day and he used that to feed the water hole which was the only water source for some 20km for the animals. He was well connected in Government and was a strong conservation lobbyist. He was interviewed by a journalist while we were there, but sadly they went behind closed doors, which was unusual because most of his day to day business was conducted openly on the veranda. Would love to have heard the Q&A. Mike was a really strong character, you suspect takes no prisoners in his dealings, had the sixties hippy pony tail and could clearly turn his hand to anything, but saving the Rhino and preventing ivory poaching were absolutely top of his list. Front of house not really his thing, but Diane clearly did that when she was there. She’d been away all but the last day of our stay.
Pippa who ran Mayukuyke River Camp was a Brit. Had set up the camp circa 13 years ago. Had previously worked for BA (Col thought in marketing, Bea thought as a Hostess). She had spent many years coming to Zambia, some weeks in Zam, some weeks in UK, then finally set up the camp in 2006. Very sales orientated conversation, wanted us to stay longer, showed us the wonderful bar/lounge/dining area that we hadn’t seen the night before, and the resident croc asleep on the bank just 10 yards from the lounge sofa! Gave us good info on going north and a short cut to avoid Lusaka traffic. Would have been very engaging conversation if we had had longer to chat. Bea made an interesting observation. We paid camp fees to Pippa and because we were in a National Park had to pay park fees to the Ranger, Crispin – a Zambian. Bea wondered if Pippa and Crispin were an item from the way they spoke to each other. Perhaps we should have stayed another night to have more time to talk to her. Very personable and outgoing.
Willie ran Hakuna Matata camp. A South African, 72 years old, clearly another hippy, but sadly widowed a couple of years ago from his wife Maggie. Full of stories and anecdotes. Seemed to be almost hero worshipped by another guest, Marco who was a German who’d lived and worked in Malawi and Mozambique and had known Willie for years. Another good friend and neighbour “the other” Maggie was also a larger than life Malawian woman, who had live for 15 years in Cumbria (“its so cold and wet!”) and had also spent time in Reigate!
Ellie was the manager, not owner, of Lukwe Eco Lodge. Another young lady that seemed out of place an hour up a steep stone switchback track living on the side of the mountain. She was Swiss, was there for a year and openly said she was running away from Switzerland. Not in a criminal sense, but more the claustrophobia of Swiss life. She could not see herself going back. We gather the owners were an Anglo-American couple (who we did not meet) but we did find on their bookshelf what appeared to be the 1980’s conservationist bible to sustainable living. A really heavy tome, but we suspect everything they had done at Lukwe was based on it, right down to the composting toilets and rain water harvesting. Would have been fascinating to meet them (Col envisages a pony tail and beads) and to find out more. In their own way they are doing their bit for the planet, for a cause they really believe in, and putting both their money and lifestyle where their mouth is.
Stella who ran Sunga Moyo. Again we could have listened to her story for days. She had known of the camp for many years and the former owner. She also knew Joyce Banda (the recently deposed President and daughter of the first post-independence ruler (dictator) of Malawi. She knew her when Banda was a minister before coming president but its not clear how that came about. We suspect she had some kind of advisory role. The former owner was an architect so had built a very sturdy and well-designed camp, but over the years had become more and more alcoholic. The camp had become run down, lawns not swept for seven years. What they thought was a termite mound turned out to be an overgrown car engine! Seems like he was up to 40 bottles of beer a day by the end, would sit in his room with his back to the lake watching cricket on the TV. Was known to tell arriving guests to F off if he had had 20 bottles, but by the time he had had 30 was willing to let them in if they had the strength of character to ask a second time. He had a hip operation which didn’t heal properly because he wouldn’t cut out the booze, ended up in a wheel chair and died in 2017. All of Stella’s recounting of the tale came with actions – crutches, wheel chair, waggy finger while telling guests to F off etc. He had wanted 500,000 Eu for the camp site a long time ago, but as it ran down she got it for 80,000Eu but has no doubt spent a lot on it since. Friends said the old man’s private room wanted demolishing, she called it the stink hole, but instead she has converted it to the most luxurious guest suite complete with open air claw foot bath, flush toilet and basin all with views of the stars. After he died his estranged wife tried to claim that the property was hers and Stella had to contest it with lawyers. The final twist being that the Banda family now think that it is the site of their ancestral home and want to buy it, but she is not selling. She was very knowledgeable about many things, was very critical of the Government doing all it can to run down what was a good education system “to keep the people stupid so they don’t revolt”. Kids go to school but frequently there are no teachers. New brick classrooms get used for maize storage and lessons still take place under the tree!
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