Dear All

I was on a trip for a week and then I came home to no internet. I have internet via a dongle now; ADSL not working for almost 3 weeks. So, sorry for the last newsletter - it didn’t happen ... and this one is late because I am on power shedding on Wednesday mornings until 2pm. And then then the dongle stopped working ... ADSL back on now ...My header is Lake Itezhi-Tezhi. Notice how low it is! More of the story later.

Ex-mayor convicted of manslaughterZambia Weekly

The High Court has convicted Livingstone ex-mayor and current councillor Aggrey Mulako Njekwa guilty of manslaughter for murdering his 83-year-old neighbour Herbert Mulonda in 2014. Njekwa had found Mulonda in his yard at “an awkward hour” which resulted in Njekwa “losing self-control”. He will be sentenced on 25 September.

Livingstone mayor fi red

Livingstone Mayor Milford Maambo has been fi red, after an ad-hoc committee found him and other council members guilty of illegally allocating themselves more than 18 plots of land in Highlands in Livingstone. The Anti-Corruption Commission is already investigating the matter. Maambo has also been suspended as UPND councillor of Simoonga Ward for six months, and was previously suspended as Livingstone Constituency chairperson by the UPND. In addition, the council demoted acting Town Clerk Chabala Chanda to his former position of director of public health, while UPND Mosi-oa-Tunya Ward Councillor Ziwa Malilo Ziwa was suspended for six months. The decision was made at a full council meeting, accompanied by protests from UPND cadres, who accused UPND Zambezi Ward Councillor Philemon Musonda of being a PF sympathiser and having discredited Maambo.Acting Mayor Fred Sikazwe, who is PF Akapelwa Ward Councillor, announced a new mayor would be elected in seven days.

Money for the Bus Terminus and the Town Centre MarketLusaka Times

The Government has sourced K53 million to complete the long awaited construction of the ultramodern Town Centre Market and International Bus Terminus in Livingstone. ...

Itezhi-Tezhi

I had wanted to reach Kafue National Park via Namwala. I had never done that road so I needed to see how it was. We drove to Choma and took the newly-tarred road to Namwala. Fine. After a couple of hours we reached Namwala to fi nd street lights. I wonder who started this trend for street lights and traffi c lights in all our towns. It is very odd to see ... And, it seems to me, interesting that they are our priorities ...

We continued along the tar road until it ended into two divergent sandy tracks. Which way? Again no signs. We went back to a government offi ce and asked which way to Itezhi-Tezhi. Take the right-hand road. It is a bad track but you will make it.

Off we went along a sandy track which turned into a fl oodplain of clay. It was obvious that, at some point, someone had tried to fi x the road because there were concrete culverts deposited at various points where the road had collapsed. They had not been put in place so it was a case of up and down the causeway – down when the causeway had been washed away. It only lasted for about

10 km so it was not a major drama but, I would guess that the road is not useable during the rains.

We arrived at the Kafue River and a pontoon. We waited for the pontoon to cross over the river and, in the meantime, were entertained by Dolly Parton music coming out of a reed hut.

The pontoon must have lost a gear as vehicles were required to drive on and then reverse off.

ZAMBIA

Road to Namwala

Namwala street lights

Concrete culverts ... waiting for road repair ...

Namwala to the pontoon

Waiting room for the pontoon where Dolly Parton entertains

Pontoon over the Kafue River

We took the Itezhi-Tezhi Road which is a dirt road. All the culverts had been put in so it was fi ne. It did get a bit degraded as we neared Itezhi-Tezhi – I assume because it had more use.

Turning towards the dam we were back on a tar road which went over the spillway and below the dam wall. As we saw the lake we were rather aghast. It was so low. We got out to take some photographs. We noticed a man in uniform walking towards us. He told us that we were not allowed to take photographs there and told us to drive along the road and park. He walked slowly to our parking spot and then told us he wanted to see the photographs, one of which he insisted to be deleted from the camera. What a shocker. When are we going to blot this law which states that we cannot take photographs of bridges, dams, courts, police station and ... even post offi ces! It is a serious block to tourism. Had we been international tourists we could have been very upset by the offi cer’s attitude. I gave the offi cer a bit of advice about putting up a sign to state ‘NO PHOTOTGRAPHS’. Fortunately we were not internationals and have faced this sort of thing before, so we just shrugged our shoulders and carried on.

When we went over the spillway we saw the water gushing out to feed Kafue hydropower station much further down river. ZESCO must be panicking to produce enough power for Zambia and I wondered if Lake Itezhi-Tezhi would dry up this year. We passed the new hydropower station. They were still working like beavers on it. We had seen the pylons for the transmission lines along the road and they still had no cables on them. I can only assume that the lines will not be in place to provide power to the grid this year. Even if they will be in place, I doubt that there will be much water left in the dam to power the turbines.

On to the lodges overlooking the lake. First is New Kalala which has chalets and camping. Then comes Chibila, the Wildlife Society self-catering accommodation and fi nally Musungwa Lodge where we were to stay. This was my third time of staying at Musungwa. It is 1972 vintage and got lots of character. The staff also have character – Luke, the manager, and Joyce the head of housekeeping have been there for years and know exactly how to look after their guests.

It was still quite early so we went to have a look around New Kalala. Again, I assume it was put up in the 1970s when the

New Kalala chalets

Rock Hrax relaxing on the path

Dirt road to Itezhi-Tezhi from the pontoon

Kafue River gushing out of Lake Itezhi-Tezhi

dam was being built. Along with Musungwa it then became a tourism hotspot as visitors arrived to boat and fi sh on the lake. It is also a good place for day trips into the park. At New Kalala we were welcomed by many rock hyrax as they rested on the footpaths and scampered among the rocks.

Back at Musungwa we settled down to enjoy sundowners and dinner. The power, we were told, would go off at 10pm. It did but the rooms were cool.

The next day we had a quick tour of the facilities to see the refurbishments. We were also told that there would be a boat next year. And then we were off on the road again ... heading to Mushingashi ...

Musungwa Pool

Joyce and Luke

Newly refurbished rooms at Musungwa

Mushingashi

Mushingashi hit the headlines the other month after there had been elephant poaching in the area. Darrell, the manager, had been accompanied by others to see the result of a poaching episode and the photographs had appeared on social media before Darrell had time to inform ZAWA. ZAWA were upset about this. It has all resolved itself now.

I was interested to see and listen to stories from this conservancy which is next to Kafue National Park.

We had left Itezhi-Tezhi reasonably early and headed on the old tar road which had been in a terrible state for many years. Now, though, it is being resurfaced and, although only about 10 km had been completed, the rest of the journey was on diversions which were fi ne. We only took a couple of hours to reach the Lusaka-Mongu Road.

From there it is about 70 km to Mumbwa to fi nd fuel. There wasn’t any and we had to buy from the street sellers. They ripped us off, of course. The good news is that there is a new petrol station being built on the main road by Mumbwa so, hopefully, the ineffi ciency of the petrol station in Mumbwa will become irrelevant in the future – it rarely has fuel.

The road to Lubungu pontoon over the Kafue River is dirt and not signposted ... We found it eventually. If you want to fi nd the road, at the roundabout by the fuel station turn left and look for the Ametheon sign and take a right there.

The road had been graded. It wasn’t a smooth run, but not as bad as it has been. The last time I had travelled this road I had almost been in tears and had to turn back, knowing that I would never reach my destination in time.

Anyhow, this day was fi ne and we happily bumped along the road for 60 km to the Mushingashi entrance; another 30 km found us along the river and our chalet for two nights.

Itezhi-Tezhi Road on diversions. Notice the charcoal ... Those beautiful forests are in for trouble once the road is busy ...

Mumbwa to Lubungu Pontoon road

Road through the conservancy

Entrance to Mushingashi Conservancy

We spent most of our time at Mushingashi chatting. Not too much touring the area. We had just one quick trip and found quite a lot

of plains animals. The reason for not touring was lack of fuel. We had yet to get to Busanga Plains, Muyukuyuku and Mumbwa before we could refuel.

Mushingashi is a popular spot for fi shing. The Kafue River is protected along the length of Mushingashi so there is no netting. Also, the fi shing is not on a catch and release basis so many suppers are caught. If you want to enjoy the conservancy and all it has to offer it is necessary to bring your own boat to get on the river and bring enough fuel to tour the area! We didn’t have either ... The chalets are all self-catering, so bring your own food. There are members of staff to help with cooking and cleaning.

Darrell puts out food for the birds ...the monkeys and bushbuck enjoy it too Waterbuck above ...

Hartebeest below ...

Invoice in kwachaFrom Zambia Weekly

The Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has warned businesses that all domestic transactions must be priced in Kwacha. The recent depreciation of the Kwacha has led many businesses to begin quoting for goods and services such as rentals and school fees in US dollars. However, the central bank pointed out that quoting in a foreign currency amounts to dealing in that currency, “a practice that is for authorised foreign currency dealers only” and therefore contravenes the Banking and Financial Services Act. In addition, BoZ explained, the practice is likely to lead to a multiplicity of un-competitive exchange rates, which “has the potential to increase the demand for foreign exchange and intensify pressure on theexchange rate”. BoZ further stated that pricing in foreign currencies makes it more diffi cult to diversify the economy, as the practice reduces the depreciating Kwacha’s inherent price incentive to businesses to produce rather than import. It also pointed out that the current rate of infl ation, stable and declining during 2015, does not warrant quoting in foreign currency, and that most companies’operating costs are not in foreign currency. Finally, it stated that the adverse effects of pricing and paying in foreign currencies “are mainly felt by the general public”, as it has no means of hedging against currency depreciation.

Game Rangers International

Well done and thank you to Zambia Wildlife Authority-ZAWA’s Special Anti-Poaching Unit (SAPU) team Honey Badger who last month recovered a whopping 1025Kgs of bushmeat in Kafue National Park.

The consumption of bushmeat is widely seen as unsustainable and contributes to the disruption of ecological and evolutionary processes, changes in species composition within ecosystems and a reduction in biological diversity.

Gill Comment: During my travels through Kafue National Park in September, I met with Sport Beattie who oversees the operations of GRI. I told him of my concerns about Kafue National Park and he told me to be patient and that GRI had got more funding to patrol the area. Kafue National Park is one of Zambia’s best parks but its borders are porous and surrounded by hungry villagers. We also need to stop the bushmeat trade in the cities. We have very few game farms which produce game meat, therefore people who buy it are fairly sure that it is coming from an illegal source like our National Parks.

Yesterday morning, alongside Zambia Wildlife Authority-ZAWA and with the help of Mukambi Safari Lodge we successfully released a pangolin into Kafue National Park. This one was brought to us by Carl Ryoby from JTI who found it being handled by school children near Nalusanga Gate.

Unfortunately, Pangolins are now the most traffi cked animal on earth. Their scales are made of keratin, the same substance as horns, fi ngernails and hair and are used in both Chinese and African traditional medicine.

Illegal Settlers in Parks and GMAsZNBC

Government says it will continue evicting illegal settlers in National Parks and Game Management Areas.Tourism and Arts minister, Jean Kapata says settlement in protected areas is still prohibited by law.Ms. Kapata said this in parliament on Tuesday in a ministerial statement on the encroachment in National Parks and Game Management Areas.She said the illegal settlers do not only encroach but deplete wild life resources in these protected areas.Ms. Kapata said Government is targeting to evict illegal settlers from Lukusuzi, Mweru Wa Ntipa, Lower Zambezi, Lavunshi Manda, Blue lagoon and Lochinvar National Parks.She said government will give some time to illegal settlers who are waiting for their payments from Food Reserve Agency.Mrs. Kapata however warned foreigners encroaching protected areas of deportation.And Various Members of Parliament debated the speech with some expressing worry about where the people will be re-settled.

Nanzhila Plains

This little Scops owl spent the day roosting about a metre off the ground between the chalets yesterday

Rates Increase for Victoria Falls TownFrom the Chronicle

The Victoria Falls Council has increased rates by 650%, which according to the Council for Tourism, are choking the industry. The ZCT chief executive offi cers, Francis Ngwenya said the proposed rates could kill the tourism industry. ...

ZIMBABWE

Amazing Race

For the fi rst time ever, “The Amazing Race” will be visiting Zimbabwe and Rotterdam. The 27th season of the show is set to premiere its new season on Friday, September 25th on CBS. This season, the contestants will be visiting the Batoka Gorge in Zimbabwe as well as visiting the “Gateway to Europe” for the fi rst time ever.A little more about Zimbabwe and Rotterdam

Back in season one, teams visited the Batoka Gorge, but that was in Zambia. This time, it will be in Zimbabwe. ...

Vic Falls to Bulawayo Road

According to The Herald, the Victoria Falls-Bulawayo road is on the schedule for repair. Good news. Also in the article, the Beitbridge-Harare Road and Harare-Chirundu Road are to become dual carriageways; the tender is expected to be approved in the next two weeks.

Legacy Hotels joins African Sun

South Africa’s Legacy Hotels has been roped in to manage and refurbish city and resort hotels owned by African Sun in Zimbabwe at a cost of $60 million (R797m) with effect from next month.

Legacy Hotels will help African Sun manage the fl agship Elephant Hills resort in Victoria Falls, the Troutbeck Inn in Inyanga, as well as three other hotels in Hwange, Victoria Falls and Harare.

African Sun, which has divested its west African operations, operates hotels under the Holiday Inn brand and mainly competes with rival operator, Meikles, which has hotel properties in major urban areas.

Bart Dorrestein, the chairman of Legacy Hotels, confi rmed that the company had entered into a management partnership with African Sun to run fi ve of its Zimbabwean hotels. He said the company was positioning itself for an expected recovery in the Zimbabwean economy, hence the decision to enter into the arrangement with African Sun.

“The past months of negotiations, as well as our constructive interaction with government has convinced us that Zimbabwe is on the road to recovery. While building confi dence in any market takes time, we believe all the ingredients are in place to track the process,” Dorrestein said. ...

Solar EnergyZimbabwe Daily

Zimbabwe’s government launched a solar energy policy on Wednesday as it attempts to reduce a major power shortage in the country.A drought affecting the country’s hydro plant at the Kariba Dam and the “abundant sun” in Zimbabwe made the solar project a priority, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa told parliament. …Last week the state power utility, Zesa, restricted most homes to six hours of electricity per day. …

Energy Minister Samuel Undenge launched the solar energy policy in Harare earlier on Wednesday.The main component of the policy is the discontinuation of electric water heaters, known as geysers, which will be replaced with solar powered ones.Udenge said in an interview ... that Zesa would import solar heaters from China.“We want this to be easy on our customers, so Zesa will then install the geysers and then customers pay for the geysers over a maximum period of three years,” he said.

ZIMBABWE TOURISM WINNERS FOR 2015Wild Zambezi

Top of the list is Ross Kennedy, CEO of Africa Albida Tourism, who was named Tourism Personality of the Year by the ZCT. Ross is a businessman and hotelier with a record of service to the travel and sector dating back more than 35 years. He has been at the forefront of international promotion of Zimbabwe, especially Victoria Falls, and has been active in public affairs in the sector to the benefi t of operators throughout the country. He is also chairman of the African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA).

Here is a list of the other winning Wild Zambezi network partners for 2015:-ZCT Awards 2015Achievement in Cultural Tourism – African Bush Camps FoundationAchievement in the Pursuit of Service Excellence – The Elephant Camp, Victoria FallsAchievement in Environmental Awareness and Action – jointly awarded to the Matusadona Anti-Poaching Unit (MAPP) and the Victoria Falls (Stanley & Livingstone) Private Game Reserve

AZTA Awards 2015Best Resort Hotel - Winner - Victoria Falls Safari LodgeBest Safari Camp-Tented – First Runner Up - Changa Safari Camp, Matusadona NP, Lake Kariba; Second Runner Up The Elephant Camp Victoria FallsBest Safari Establishment-Non Tented - Second Runner Up - Bumi Hills Safari Lodge & Spa, Lake KaribaBest Mobile Operator – Winner - Natureways Safaris, Kariba/Zambezi River/ Mana PoolsBest Self Catering – Winner - Lokuthula Lodges, Victoria FallsBest Ground Handler – Winner - Wild Horizons, Victoria FallsBest New Establishment – Winner - Pioneers Camp, Zambezi NP, Victoria Falls; First Runner Up - Zambezi Sands River Camp, Zambezi NP, Victoria Falls; Second Runner Up - Victoria Falls River Lodge, Zambezi NP, Victoria Falls.Best Travel Agent Service Provider – Winner - Premier Travel & Tours

Fastjet on Harare-Vic Falls Route

Fastjet, Africa’s low cost airline, has opened its new Zimbabwean subsidiary with the launch of services between the capital city, Harare and the world class tourist destination of Victoria Falls. Services start on October 28th subject to fi nal Governement approval.

ELEPHANTS RAIDING YARD ON BAOBAB RIDGEKariba Animal Welfare Trust

A slightly more lighted hearted raid by Elephants. KAWFT received a frantic call from a Baoboab resident early in the morning last week. Their gate had been left open for a short while and 2 Elephants walking past, wondered up the driveway to explore all the lush green mango trees etc. – much more inviting than the dry areas outside of the yard !! In 10 minutes the mango trees and anything else they could chomp up was gone. The owners managed to chase them out with safety in mind of both themselves and the Elephants – without throwing Thunder fl ashes/crackers at them !

We did warn them that the Eles would be back to visit !!!, as there is much truth that they have an excellent memory. They did come back, to fi nd the sliding steel gate was closed and locked. They proceeded to pop the lock off the gate and then try and push it open. These Eles have not yet learnt the trick of a sliding gate but would not be surprised if they soon do... The gate was slightly damaged in that it now could not open but was soon repaired.

We suggested they place shade cloth the length and height of the gate and a bit either side. Most Elephants shy away from shade cloth as they cannot see through it and the shade cloth also changes the view of the break-in area to the Elephant compared to how he remembers it.

Painted Dog Conservation

Part of the monitoring team is now based at Sinamatella permanently to improve effort in the North of Hwange National Park. The temperatures there are repressively hot all day long typical of the African experience. Sighted on red lunar night, eleven pups of the Guragwenya pack, with eight adult dogs teaching the pups survival tricks. Prey is plentiful at Sinamatella and so are kleptoparasiites. With seven other packs still to be accounted for, the dog monitoring team will be kept busy, wish them more pups and packs.

Sky DivingMmegi

The sports skydivers from around the world successfully performed the fi rst ever 18-Way formation in Botswana’s sky on the fi rst day of the event.

An 18-way formation is when 18 skydivers jump from an aircraft and hold on to each other in a prede-fi ned formation or shape for some seconds during the free-fall before they open their parachutes.

“On Friday we achieved the 18-way, which was the fi rst ever achieve-ment in Botswana. The following day on Saturday there was an 16-way formation that was witnessed by the President of Botswana, Ian Khama together with the Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Thapelo Olopeng and the Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama,” said Garai Makaya of Parachute Association of Botswana.

The event brought together 68 professional skydivers from fi ve different countries including Botswana, South Africa, United Kingdom, Dubai and Germany.

The divers included celebrity divers, among them internationally acclaimed Sports Emmy Award-winning pioneering skydiver, Olav Zipser. Zipser (49), affectionately called ‘Father of Freefl y’ is the founder of the scientifi c research mission called the FreeFly Astronaut Project. He has recorded over 23,000 skydives this year.

At Makgadikgadi Epic, Zipser was one of the sports stuntmen who performed epic stunts like proximity fl ying close to tents, wing suit skills jumps and fl ying fl ags and smokes.

The event also achieved over 65 tandem sky jumps. Four aircrafts, namely the Botswana Defence Force CASA-235, PAC-750, Atlas Angel and Cessena-206 were used at the event.

Makgadikgadi Epic Skydiving Boogie was organised by the Parachute Association of Botswana in partnership with the Botswana Tourism Organisation.

BOTSWANA

Africa agency extends deadline for strategic plan, law review, hydromet upgrade for Zambezi River BasinHydroworld

The eight-nation Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM) has extended the deadline for expressions of interest from consultants to develop a strategic plan, harmonize national water laws and upgrade the hydro-meteorological system for the Zambezi River Basin Management Project in southern Africa. Responses to three solicitations now are due September 30.

ZAMCOM previously called for responses by September 25 and August 14. It encouraged consultants who previously submitted expressions of interest to resubmit.

ZAMCOM awarded a contract last year to DHI DK to help modernize the Zambezi Water Information System to meet needs of Zambezi riparian countries. Major hydroelectric projects planned or operating in the multi-national river basin include 750-MW Kariba South Bank, 720-MW Kariba North Bank and 360-MW Kariba North Bank Extension; 900-MW Kafue Gorge and 750-MW Kafue Gorge Lower; 1,000-MW Chemba; 1,600-MW Batoka Gorge; 2,040-MW Cahora Bassa and 1,500-MW Mphanda Nkuwa.

In the fi rst of three solicitations, ZAMCOM invites expressions of interest from consultants to formulate a strategic plan for the Zambezi Watercourse. Through a stakeholder consultation process, the consultant is to develop a shared understanding of basin issues, cooperative water resources management and development options.

In a second solicitation, ZAMCOM invites expressions of interest to perform an equivalence assessment of national water laws among the riparian countries in the basin. The consultant is to help harmonize national policies and laws toward basin-wide cooperation.

In a third solicitation, ZAMCOM invites expressions of interest to enhance the basin’s hydro-meteorological database and spatial database to serve the requirements of the decision support system. The consultant is to propose, develop, integrate and implement decision support system tools with remote accessibility to benefi t water resources management and development planning and real-time fl ow forecasting and monitoring.

NAMIBIA

OTHER STUFF

Green Schemes

A combined 20 000 hectares of land are earmarked for green schemes in the Zambezi Region. The vast area of arable land was sourced from different communal areas, such as Muyako, Kongola, Singalamwe, Liselo and Muzungu. This was revealed by Zambezi Regional Governor Lawrence Sampofu during his presentation on developmental projects in the region last week.“The Governor’s Offi ce negotiated for land that could be used for green schemes. Currently there are 20 000 hectares at our disposal for such green schemes. At Muyako we have 1 000 hectares, Kongola 1 000, Singalamwe, 5 000, Muzungu 2 000 and at Liselo 12 000,” said Sampofu. Of the combined tally only 10 000 hectares have been allocated to an investor in the form of a tobacco farm by Oriental Tobacco CC at Liselo, on the outskirts of Katima Mulilo.

Although the project has received widespread condemnation, it is said to be in an advanced stage of implementation. Sampofu noted that the region was looking at ways of attracting investors to maximise production. “My offi ce will strive to lure investors to the region, who will invest in agricultural production to enhance food security, economic growth, wealth and job creation for the region and the nation at large”, said Sampofu.

Other notable green scheme projects in the region include the Kalimbeza Rice Project in northeastern Zambezi, close to the banks of the Zambezi River. Declared a national project by former president Hifi kepunye Pohamba in 2009, the area - which measures close to 50 hectares - is already under production in a vast fi eld covering 200 hectares in total. Varieties of packaged rice are also available for sale from Kalimbeza, although not yet on commercial scale. …

The water reticulation project, aimed at providing potable water to residents of the region is also ongoing, after the completion of the fi rst two phases. Phase 3, which is currently underway, involves the drilling of boreholes and laying of pipes from Bukalo to Ngoma and from Kongola to Kapani.

EXCHANGE RATES

US$1 K11.65

P10.30

Nam$13.50

WEATHER

Min Temp Max Temp

28°C 38°C

A SMILE

Have a good two weeks

Gill

Eleven people were hanging on a rope, under a helicopter in fl ight, 10 men and 1 woman.

The rope was not strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that one had to leave; otherwise they were all going to fall. They weren’t able to choose that person, until the woman gave a very touching speech. She said that she would voluntarily let go of the rope, because, as a woman, she was used to giving up everything for her husband and kids or for men in general, and was used to always making sacrifi ces with little in return.

As soon as she fi nished her speech, all the men started clapping ...............