Zambia open for business again
Things are slightly different here as the Zambian tourism industry faces a much shorter season and as such some camps & lodges have had to make the very difficult decision not to open this year BUT for those of you keen to make a trip yourselves or even better send us some guests there are some wonderful options. So give us a call and we can help put something amazing together. As of late have heard of some nice bookings coming through which is very positive.
Firstly let’s look at the requirements:
*Tourist Visas ARE being provided on entry.
*All tourists MUST be in possession of a Covid-19 negative certificate, taken within 14 days of arrival into Zambia. Without this you will be refused entry.
*Tourists are expected to adhere to Covid-19 regulations such as physical distancing, wearing face masks and personal hygiene.
*Tourists are to monitor themselves for 14 days post arrival and report any symptoms immediately.
*It is possible to get a test in Lusaka which you will need if flying via NBO on KQ.
*Ethiopian, Kenya Airways and Rwandair are all flying into Lusaka and we expect a reduced schedule from Emirates to commence on the 1st of September.
Getting Back to Business Now
The Zambian Tourism Agency, the Department of Immigration and the Airports Corporation have come together to release guidelines for passengers arriving into Zambia. You can read or download this document here
Making Zambia Easy to Book for 2021
Zambian Ground Handlers and another Zambian in-bound have spent a few weeks negotiating with the various Zambian safari companies and have come up with a set of terms and conditions that will govern new booking enquiries for the country. Full details can be read or downloaded here but in brief deposit payments will be refundable if COVID travel restrictions remain in place or are re-imposed.
Proflight’s Commitment to the 2021 Safari Season
As Zambia’s only scheduled airline Proflight have recently released a schedule that they are committed to for 2021. You can download that here.
Walk Luangwa 2020
With no tourism in Zambia at the moment, it is not only the camps and companies like ZGH suffering, but local communities and the wildlife itself even more so. As a result, Zambian Ground Handlers are proud to have supported a collaborative attempt to raise much needed funding for conservation and community charities working in the Luangwa Valley. ‘Walk Luangwa 2020’ was a 350km, 17 day walk from the middle of the North Luangwa National Park to the most southerly camp in the South Luangwa. Both Nick Aslin and Dani Rose joined this walk for a few days. Sadly Jo and I could not be in Zambia so we did our best to cover some good terrain in the UK in support too. To read more about Walk Luangwa 2020 – click here.
Nick Aslin has written a lovely review of his time with the Walk Luangwa Crew; “Myself and good friend John Coppinger, who has been running safaris in the Luangwa for the past 35 years, joined the walk on day 3 in the North Luangwa National Park, we walked 80 kilometres in 3 days, which I can assure you felt like quite an achievement. We camped rough at night on sand-banks adjacent to the Luangwa River and each day, save for a few water breaks and a longer stop at lunch, we walked from first-light until late afternoon. I have done plenty of safari walks of course but this was a different type of walking in the bush and was more akin to an anti-poaching patrol in as much as the pace was a fair bit faster and we were moving from point to point rather than wandering around looking for wildlife sightings. To continue reading click here…
Click here to see an interview with Zambian Ground Handlers Nick and Dani about their experiences on Walk Luangwa 2020.
An incredible initiative set up by Nick Ridden from Remote Africa and which you can still support by donating here…
Conservation in Zambia
Without tourism areas all around the world are really struggling especially in terms of communities, conservation and charity of course. This is where the places we know and love so well are truly coming into their own in supporting what they are so very passionate about. Their people, their environments and their wildlife need to continue to be protected despite the absence of visitors.
These incredible efforts to preserve the habitats that protect our animals and to support the communities that are their guardians, have continued unabated over recent months. We wanted to highlight what is being done by the various camps across Zambia and have compiled a Zambia Conservation Manual. Click here to view.
Green Safaris
For those of you thinking about a trip to Zambia sooner than next year, we are welcoming guests, so do get in touch. The teams are also working incredibly hard to ensure Chisa Busanga Camp and Shawa Luangwa Camp are ready for opening next season. Everyone else has been working hard to look after our local environment and communities all so affected by the mass hibernation of tourism this year.
Green Safaris was born from a need to empower local communities in order to create lasting change that focuses on conservation and sustainability and there has never been a time where this has been more pronounced.
Almost all of our team members in all our locations are from vulnerable local communities and rely on us for employment, empowerment and support and as such we have found ways to keep everyone busy and involved with our range of incredible initiatives.
Over the last few months, the team has focused on:
* Building Lukanga Secondary School in Nalusanga Community (Kafue National Park).
* Educating communities in the Kabulwebulwe Chiefdom in Nalusanga, Mumbwa district.
* Donating 2,572 soap bars and posters in local languages to Kabulwebulwe Chiefdom.
* With the opening of schools for exams in the Nalusanga community area, our team took the opportunity to deliver more soap and gave a Q&A document to the teachers to assist the students in understanding Covid-19 in a fun and informative way.
* Donating 1,386,890 MKW worth of PPE equipment to St. Peter’s Hospital.
* Supporting the Tongabezi Trust School in their Food Support Programme, which provided food, soap, and masks to hundreds of children and families in the Simoonga area.
* Installing hand washing stations at every household in 3 villages on Likoma.
* Implementing a reforestation program with 5 nurseries on Likoma. * Providing bursaries to 160 secondary school students. The top form 4 students have the chance to receive a Green Safaris Conservation University scholarship.
* Teams at Ila Safari Lodge, Tongabezi and Kaya Mawa have been doing cleanups alongside the main roads near the lodges. The children on Likoma are excited to participate in the clean up on the island.
Going forward our teams are working hard on the following initiatives; At Ila Safari Lodge, the team came up with the “Conservation Club” at Lukanga Primary School, one of the schools in Nalusanga community. With less tourism, the opportunity arose to use game drive vehicles and the guiding team to teach the local children about their wild neighbours. Many of these children’s greatest wildlife encounters were seeing monkeys in the village. Venturing into the Kafue National Park was a real eye-opener for them, experiencing and appreciatIng this area in effect right on their own doorstep. Our Likoma Island team visited neighbouring island Chizumulu recently to install bins around the central market areas, schools, churches, and hospitals. They are working closely with the community to share knowledge on the importance of using the bins to protect this beautiful environment.
Tongabezi will also shortly be sending out a newsletter on their latest community and environment initiatives under the Green Safaris foundation. Watch this space for updates… Next month we will also bring you updates from our brand new camps too.
If you missed the Green Safaris May 2020 Webinar click here
Another bath of Tribal Textiles Masks for sale