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Luangwa Valley Dispatches
By Jake de Motta
Deep in the Mfuwe suburbs the rain got really stuck in by the middle
of February. The perennial laments and woes of the farmers seem a
little more subdued than usual and it seems that those who planted
hybrid maize varieties in November and December are already eating
their crops. Those who opted for local varieties or planted late are
reasonably confident that there is still enough sunshine around to
mature theirs. This is all good news for the bulk of folk who are
reliant on subsistence farming.
There is however a small group of local residents who sell a
specialised product and are all walking around with very long
faces. Homo indicator epaulettus, the Epauletted
Moneyguide or Dusky Safari Guide, is having a pretty lean time of
things. The population of this indigenous Zambian Safari Guide has
exploded over the last decade as Homo indicator albiruficolis
or the White and Red-necked Safari Guide has been displaced due
to difficult inbound migratory conditions. There has always been a
permanent, resident population of the Zambian Safari Guide in the
area and some of these old birds are still active and remain the
best at finding lions, seeming to exist almost exclusively on the
tips these sightings generate. However the new more aggressive breed
proliferated and having identified the tourism trade as a fertile
feeding ground went on to demand the same staple diet as the rest of
the industry. A sad and ruffle-feathered gaggle they are now as they
stand dejectedly around the BP pumps drip feeding ever decreasing
trickles of fuel into their Surfs and Corollas. Yes, the perils of
working for the Yankee Dollar have hit home in Mfuwe and the
formerly high flying, greenback earning Zambian Safari Guide is as
hard hit as the lodge owner and desperately trying to renegotiate a
Kwacha salary. Sorry chaps!
 Flights
for the 2006 safari season are looking good with Zambia Airways and
Airwaves climbing into bed together to form one major service
looking after everyone instead of competing for the same resource.
Airwaves is a tour operator driven airline and Zambian Airwaves with
their mining pedigree, have always looked after the Lusaka and
Copperbelt business community so the alliance should bring benefits
to everyone who flies. With Kulula.com having been invited to the
slumber party it looks like there will be a link that really works
between the wilds of Jo’burg and the safety of South Luangwa
National Park. This is very lekker, as it has traditionally
been cheaper for a kugel to fly to London to buy her Jimmy
Choo takkies than for a Rock Spider to fly to Mfuwe to go on
safari.
More encouraging news as 2005 saw the arrival of three new
home-grown Zambian operators putting down roots in the Valley. The
Adorata Campsite is opening on the river in Lower Lupande. The
Mataka family have opened the very comfortable Chimfule Lodge in
Chief Mnkhanya’s area and the tender for The Mushroom (originally
the Senior Game Warden’s residence and later KK’s Presidential
Lodge) has been won by Mr. Friday Njobvu. For years there have been
accusations that the safari industry is a closed shop for wazungu
and that Zambian citizens were somehow “kept out”. The truth is that
the industry has traditionally been so marginal in profitability
that the only people daft enough to operate were sun-baked and
pioneer-spirited honkies and even then those at the loonier end of
the spectrum who were more interested in living in the bush amongst
the beasties than having a bank balance in the black. The fact that
successful Zambian businessmen and women are now investing in the
safari business is a sure sign that the smart money has come to the
table and the sums might actually be starting to work…..or that
everyone is barking mad to the same degree! Whatever the reason it
will be a pleasure to have prominent Zambian figures bemoaning the
injustices inflicted on the safari industry to the powers that be,
instead of a just bunch of whinging wazungu.
And of the nyama….what? The undeniable stars of the show, the
animals, carry on as usual in the face of what we call progress.
Stomping through hectares of Dunavant cotton fields that only five
years ago were lush riparian woodland; carrying their snares like
costume jewellery, standing dumbly under the new cell phone tower as
if they had never heard of microwave radiation and gingerly sniffing
at discarded Maheu bottles. They’re alright…… they have the Donor
community behind them and will probably outlive most of us. They
exist in the secure knowledge that their average life expectancy has
not been much reduced in the last decade which is more than we can
say for ours. No wonder they look are so placid and self contained! |
April
2006