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 North Luangwa
In the April
2004 edition of Lowdown an article appeared that recounted the
adventures of a group of people on a self-drive safari through the
Luangwa Valley - "A Luangwa marathon" (Author unknown).
I would like to
make a few comments and corrections to their narrative relating to
their trip through
North
Luangwa National Park.
I work for the
North Luangwa Conservation Programme (NLCP), a project of the
Frankfurt Zoological Society. NLCP has been involved in the
conservation and management of North Luangwa since 1986.
My first
comment relates to the author of the article's assertion that North
Luangwa is 'managed by a set-up affiliated to Frankfurt Zoo, and has
some rules which do not apply to other National Parks'. North
Luangwa is managed by the Zambia Wildlife Authority, with the
assistance of NLCP - we do not manage or make the rules for the
Park. The support of FZS has however meant that North Luangwa has
received a level of protection few other parks in Zambia can claim
to enjoy, and this support led to the Park's ability to be
considered safe and secure enough to receive the first group of
black rhino to be reintroduced into Zambia - the black rhino was
declared 'Nationally Extinct' in Zambia in 1998, with the last
confirmed sighting of an animal in the early 1990's.
North Luangwa
has been known as a wilderness park since it's inception, with very
limited access for self-drive tourists. This was a result of a
combination of the Park's natural inaccessibility and rugged
terrain, as well as the philosophy of having a Park in the Luangwa
Valley that could maintain a strong wilderness aspect with little
development and management, in comparison to South Luangwa with it's
international airport and all-year tourist roads. This meant that
visitor activity in North Luangwa was mainly restricted to guests
booking for the walking safari's offered by licenced tour operators
in the dry season. Over time the necessity was seen to diversify the
tourism opportunities available to visitors, while maintaining the
intrinsic wilderness aspect that has always been the signature of
the Park. ZAWA and NLCP started a planning exercise in 2001 aimed at
setting up a zone plan for the Park with varying levels of tourism
use for different areas of the Park. This was achieved in a
participatory process that involved the relevant conservation
authorities, community members, local government authorities and
tour operators.
The new zoning
plan opens up the northern third of the Park for a limited number of
self-drive tourists, whereas the lower section is reserved either as
a semi-wilderness or wilderness zone. In the semi-wilderness zone
tourism activity is restricted to small, seasonal camps that focus
on offering quality walking safaris, whereas no construction or
public roads are allowed in the wilderness zone. The zone plan forms
part of a larger general management plan for the Park, which comes
up for ratification by the ZAWA board in May this year.
The
implications of the zone plan came into effect in 2002, and for the
first time self-drive tourists could officially enter North Luangwa.
A circuit was opened in the northern section of the Park, and the
Mukungule community on the western boundary was assisted in
establishing the Natwange Community Camp Site. This camping site
offers a hot shower and toilet, and braai facilities, at three
private camping sites in beautiful thick mushitu forest close to the
Mwaleshi River, just outside the western boundary of the Park, at
the very reasonable rate of US 5/person/day. Self-drive visitors can
therefore drive up to the boundary of the Park, stay at the
campsite, and then drive down into the Valley and through the Park
the next day. With the limited road network of
North Luangwa,
the options for self-drive visitors have been limited, but the
network will be supplemented with additional game-viewing loops this
year, while work on some new tracks will start in the dry season.
The route
through the Park opens up a very attractive northern circuit for
Zambia, which could include Kasanka National Park, Kundalila Falls,
Mutinondo Wilderness, Kapishya Hot Springs and Shiwa House. Instead
of backtracking all the way down the Great North Road to Lusaka,
visitors can now travel through North Luangwa, stay over in Luambe
National Park and carry on down to South Luangwa and Mfuwe.
The restriction
on private vehicles referred to by the author of the article refers
to visitors who visit the walking safari camps in the
semi-wilderness zone. Self-drive visitors can access the camps with
their own vehicles, after which they can be taken on game drives by
the tour operators' vehicle, although the focus and highlight of any
visitor's stay remains the walking safari that the Luangwa Valley is
famous for.
The whole
concept of self-drive tourists is therefore very new to North
Luangwa, and understandably some facilities such as detailed maps
and road signs were still under development.
In the time
since the visit by the author of your article, more detailed maps
have been developed, and will be available at entrance gates, and
routes signs have been installed at all turn-offs inside the Park.
Importantly - to avoid the possibility of vehicles getting stuck in
the Luangwa River (or even abandoned by tourists with little
experience and it seems even less concern for the environmental
impact of leaving a vehicle in the middle of this essentially
pristine habitat), a pontoon has been set up on the day-visitor
circuit, and will be available for use by tourists in the 2004
season.
I have to
emphasise that despite all the measures outlined above, the North
Luangwa area remains a remote and rugged area of Zambia, and any
visitor that plans a trip to this part of the Valley has to come
prepared, with a well-maintained 4x4 vehicle and experience in the
driving thereof. Although roads in the Park are graded and
maintained, tracks outside can be very rough, and the route between
North and South Luangwa will continue to offer the more adventurous
traveler enough scope to test advanced navigation and driving
skills.
It is hoped
that the new developments in North Luangwa will open up to the
dedicated nature lover a very special and unique part of our world,
while at the same time allowing it to retain at its core, its wild
and untamed spirit.
Elsabe van der
Westhuizen, Technical Advisor
North Luangwa
Conservation Programme
Chingola’s
Roads
After reading
the letter from Chileshe Komakoma regarding the roads in Chingola I
felt that I should support his views and congratulate him for his
initiative and courage in writing to you.
When I moved
from Lusaka to Chingola in 1971, Chingola was one of the loveliest
towns in Zambia. It was the cleanest and prettiest of all the towns
and the roads were excellent. However, things have changed.
Over the past
few years many residents and companies have spent much time and
money repairing the numerous pot holes and craters that have existed
on our roads. We even made up a signed petition complaining about
the condition of the roads. Our Government has spent a lot of money
in an effort to rehabilitate these roads but to no avail because
they have contracted out to small scale companies for the repairs.
However, now that the roads are virtually beyond repair they have
engaged another company to rehabilitate the road in Chingola which
runs from the south end roundabout through to the road bridge on the
edge of Chingola. This Company is supposed to be an
international one but so far I have not been able to find out what
international roadworks they have carried out. Their equipment looks
as though it has seen better days and progress is extremely slow.
They commenced
work on this section in early November and because of the heavy
rains they have had to stop and start work and have virtually had to
do the same jobs over and over again. Why on earth was this contract
started at the beginning of the rainy season, especially as we
have much heavier rains than experienced in the Southern and Central
Provinces. Our rainfall at the moment is over 1300 mm?
The section of
road that they have been contracted to complete is just a drop in
the ocean as Chingola now has the worst roads in Zambia and even the
mini buses and taxis refuse to carry passengers over some of our
roads because of their poor condition.
The Solwezi
Road was rehabilitated in 2002 but because of the heavy transport
going back and forwards to Kansanshi it is now becoming what it was
before - a disaster. I realise that the Government now has another
contractor working on this road but will we still be experiencing
the same poor standards this time next year?
It really is
time that the Government stepped in and came to inspect the roads in
and around Chingola, after all we are still part of Zambia, although
after having driven on the very good roads in other towns and
especially in Lusaka, we wonder if Chingola has been overlooked.
There are
residents in and around Chingola who would really love to promote
tourism but how can we honestly encourage tourists to this part of
Zambia when the roads are so awful. I think that our slogan up
here should be ’Come visit Chingola, the best 4 x 4 Country' , and
when the roads get even worse will we have to get around on
tractors?
Doreen Reeves,
Chingola.
I wish to thank
your readers William Harrington and Susan (Apr issue) for commenting
on my article The White Tribesmen of the West. Constructive
comments a: help clarify moot points and increase our understanding
of what we think we know. I am glad, for what it is, that my article
has excited young William, heir to the Matepeta dynasty/to write
about his grandfather. William may be interested to know that my
article was an off shoot of my searches for my roots when I came
across men who had had a profound influence on my namesake
grandfather, Yuyi, such as Situnula Diamond, de Evans Mwendambelele,
Russell Mafuta and Cottrell Ndate Silishebo. However the focus of
the article was the nickname, its meaning and the circumstanees
giving rise to it - not the greatness or otherwise of the named. If
it weren't so I would have included great men like RS Hudson (who
rose from probationer to Assistant Chief Secretary for Native
Affairs and who had four different nicknames); I would have given
more coverage to Diamond and his father in law, Sacika Yambwanamunji
(you talk of him only during daytime!) who was Lewanika's first
Mulozi private Secretary and whose signatures appear on some of the
treaties of the time. Diamond was the grand father of our past
Secretary to the Cabinet Sketchley Sachika.
Neither did the
article claim to have been exhaustive. I did not include Harrington,
as with many others, simply because the information I had was rather
misty and my attempt to have this clarified with William's mother
during my visit to Senanga in March 2003 was frustrated by fate and
so I folded my script. In Senanga they say "Senanga selushimbo wa
sienda maliya-liya - watch every step you take!
The National
Archives of Zambia (NAZ) are well stocked with public documents but
gaps exist in personal records because they are dependent on
donations from families and individuals like William and his weIl
endowed (historically) family, otherwise how else can NAZ have
genuine history of great men like the great Arthur Harrington who
did so much for so many for so long! My advice to Shwana Matepeta is
to read Brelsford's Generations of Men: The European Pioneers of
NR and Sampson's They Came to NR. He will also do well to
get in touch with Drs Hinfelaar and Macola at NAZ and get a copy of
A Guide to Non-Governmentalt Archives in Zambia.
Now Susan,
unlike William, has taken me to task over what I wrote, which I
appreciate. First, there is record that CD Ellis moved to Makuku/Libonda
around 1918 apparently after a failed partnership with AF Vosloo (Mangasitutu)
at Nalolo where he had earlier been discharged by the government as
an innoculator during the devastating rinderpest outbreak (1915-18).
His first application for a trading licence at Libonda was rejected
as it was not supported by the authorities in Senanga. Second, my
non-reference to Lukona was deliberate as Lukona had no bearing on
the name Kupalelwa earned at Libonda prior to his shifting to Lukona
around
1940. I
admit however that Lukona was a success for him. Third, Ellis was a
polygamist but there was this Ma-Bushman who bore him his most
famous (eldest?) son, Patrick (PD Ellis) popularly known as Petty
who ran the business during the old man's last days and inherited
it. Petty was short and stocky thus attracting the bushman tag. His
mother's given names were Nakasemuka Kwaleyela; her father was Ndate
Nakasemuka Nan'galelwa of Lwambo village, Libonda.
An interesting
anecdote is told that once when Kupalelwa fell sick his Libonda
in-laws engaged a local nganga to ‘steam him up’, with the whole
clan singing and clapping the night away. As the heat built up, the
man shouted in protest but to the people that was a sign that the
medicine was taking effect, thus more steam, singing and clapping.
Ellis is said to have remarked later (no doubt angrily) that" the
people of Libonda are very cruel!"
For good
measure Susan might wish to read a recent book Twilight On
The Zambezi by an American author Eugenia Herbert;, it has a
paragraph on CD Ellis.
It is not
denied that Matepeta Harrington is a household name in Senanga, at
Lwambi and Namuso. In fact within Senanga Boma itself, it was for
Harrington Matepeta, as it was for Christopher Wren, si
monumentum requiris circumspice (if you seek his monument, look
around you.) But to extend this beyond is tenuous. As regards the
hyperbolic relationship with Mungole Coillard, I plead de mortuis
nil nisi bonum (let nothing be said of the dead but what is
good.)
Lastly I must
disclaim that I am an historian as such, being at best an amateur,
but to suggest, as does William in his penultimate paragraph that I
am pedalling counter factual history, is as ridiculous as it is
puerile.
Yuyi Libakeni
ZAWA PARK FEES
Revisited
The issue of
inconsistent park entry fees at various park gates and in various
parks simply won't go away. Why is it so hard for ZAWA to clarify
the issue?
We have just
returned from an Easter holiday in Luangwa NP where, when paying in
person at the
Mfuwe
Bridge
gate, we paid the old park fee (for locals) of K10,080 PER ENTRY.
When paying through the lodge we paid K25,000 PER DAY. We were
reliably informed that this sum was what ZAWA charged and demanded
when visiting lodges to collect fees. Last year we had been paying
even up to US$10 per day!
Which is all
very strange indeed! How can one fee be charged at the gate and
another at a lodge? It puts the lodges in a really awkward position
because it looks as if they are sneakily taking advantage of
tourists' ignorance of fee levels, pocketing the difference (which
can be quite sizeable if the domestic tourist has paid US$10/day for
let's say 4 days - the average length of stay in SLNP - equalling
US$40, while the lodge only had to pay ZAWA a total of K10,080 for
those four days; an undeserved profit of K181,920).
Two months ago,
in a letter of explanation, ZAWA's Ag Director General, Mr Butler A.
Sitali, explained that the reason for the muddle was that the
revised version of the Statutory Instrument (of Nov 27, 2003) that
"had NOT
YET been
approved by the Ministry of Tourism" (cf Lowdown, March 04, p.43).
November to March is three months that the Ministry has been sitting
on the matter; now another two months has passed, the tourist season
is about to begin, and STILL the situation remains unclarified.
Is it really
the aim of our Tourism Ministry to take tourists to the cleaners? It
certainly looks that way.
Ilse Mwanza,
Lusaka
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May 2004