THE TWO lions lapped at the stream, unconcerned that our open-top Jeep was just five yards away. Thirst slaked, they padded slowly past us, so close that I could see the muscles rippling under their tawny coats, before ambling slowly down the track, with a catwalk shimmy in their hindquarters. We followed them for a mile, watching them in our headlights, before they slipped into the bush and the night swallowed them.
Thrilling game viewing is why we come on safari. And the excitement of our game drive in the South Luangwa National Park did not end with the lions. We had already seen zebra and giraffe, a hyena trotting close by, beautiful birds such as the crowned crane with its yellow coxcomb, and cute puku antelope. But the real highlight was coming across ten wild dogs, some of the rarest creatures in Africa, snuggling down for the night under some bushes. Once again our experienced Zambian guides, Peter Banda and Douglas Zulu, manoeuvred our vehicle to within a few yards of the creatures without alarming them.
Later, in the bar under the ebony tree at Nkwali camp, the dozen guests, mostly British, swapped stories over cold Mosi beers or glasses of South African white wine, before a superb three-course dinner was served under the stars.
But I wasn’t here only to experience the game drives and walking safaris offered by Robin Pope Safaris (RPS), one of the most highly regarded operators in Zambia. I had come to see why Robin’s wife, Jo Pope, won the Best Personal Contribution Award in the 2005 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards (the 2006 awards are launched in these pages today).
Jo, 47, is a formidable woman. She came out from the UK to work for one season at RPS in 1988, met Robin, a second-generation Zambian and one of the country’s best guides, and stayed on. Within three years they were married. While Robin, 53, leads walking safaris in the bush and encourages black Zambian staff to train as guides, Jo juggles other projects that support the local community through tourism.
One is at Kawaza, the nearby village where many RPS staff come from. “I see it as a very abandoned community,” Jo told me. “It’s only two and a half miles from the tar road to Mfuwe airport, but there are two rivers that swell in the rains and cut it off. But I don’t want that community to get left behind and the kids not have access to the jobs being developed here.”
So under Jo’s guidance, RPS helped to launch a tourism project — encouraging their guests to swap one night of comfort at Nkwali, with its soft beds and open-air bathrooms with running water, for a mattress and mosquito net on the floor of a mud hut, with long-drop loo and bucket shower, at Kawaza. The £65 cost gives plenty of profit to provide income for the villagers. I drove over to take a look.
Life in a Zambian village is a great contrast to the comforts of a safari lodge. Obby Banda, the project’s chairman, showed me the small granaries on stilts that keep rats away from the precious maize (which is ground to make the staple food, nsima), the open-air kitchen — little more than a fire and a rack of utensils — and the mud or brick huts where the 55 villagers live. We saw the improvised gin still where the local hooch, a chilli-hot firewater, is prepared, and visited Morris Tembo, who owns the machine where villagers grind their maize — it costs a family of eight about a pound a week to grind enough maize for their nsima.
I was served nsima for lunch — it’s a pretty flavourless mush — with delicious cooked pumpkin leaves, beans, and, for honoured guests, fried chicken, all eaten with our hands as we sat on the floor of a hut. The villagers nearly fainted when I told them the price of mangoes in Britain. In Kawaza, they come free from the mango tree in the centre of the village.
Over the road is Kawaza school, where I was shown around by headmaster David Mwewa. There are 618 pupils aged 7 to 16 — nearly half are girls, which is encouraging as they used to be taken out of school early to work in the fields. I was invited to listen to a class of 12-year-olds recite poems on subjects such as Aids and education. They rapped through them in good English with uninhibited, punchy gestures.
RPS funds Kawaza and two other local schools to the tune of some US$100,000 (about £53,000) a year, from guest donations and fundraising, paying the salaries of 18 teachers to supplement the state-funded teachers. “We’re ‘Zambianising’ the jobs at RPS, so we need local people to be educated,” said Jo.
Her influence doesn’t end there. In the 1990s the national airline went bust, stranding tourists. Jo’s solution was to launch an airline (she’s also a pilot — oh, and a qualified safari guide). It has now merged with the revived national carrier but, following pressure from Jo, runs to timetables that enable tourists to get around the country easily without lengthy connections or unnecessary overnight stays. Zambia’ s poor road network means flights are vital to keep the safari lodges operating. “And without tourism, local people would still be very poor,” said Jo.
I stayed at three other lodges: Norman Carr Safaris’ Kapani camp, a short drive from RPS, and Chongwe River Camp and Chiawa Camp in the Lower Zambezi area. The verdict of all camp managers was that Jo did a generous job of promoting Zambia as a tourist destination internationally before promoting her own camp. “I think Jo Pope more than anyone has put Zambia on the tourism map,” said Grant Cumings, who runs Chiawa.
His camp also works with the community, funding the education of 271 local Aids orphans this year, and running an anti-poaching education programme. “We are trying to tell (local people) that the animals are worth more alive than dead, and how to deal with those that, for example, eat crops,” he said.
At nearby Chongwe, boss Christiaan Liebenberg has also benefited from the Jo Pope Effect. Last winter he and Jo formed a joint venture to build the dramatic Chongwe River House, created by South African Neil Rocher, who also designed the stunning Luangwa House at Nkwali (both houses, which sleep eight, are available to rent through Safari Houses of Africa, another of Jo’s initiatives).
I stayed in Chongwe River House, a short drive from the main Chongwe camp, for two nights and was reluctant to leave the deck as there was so much to see. In front of me, across the Chongwe River, a herd of elephants came to drink. Close by, a huge crocodile lay on the bank and yawned. Later, a bull elephant crashed through undergrowth just 20 yards from me and wallowed in the mud as the sun sank in a deep purple haze and a full moon rose. A group of baboons were silhouetted on the top of the escarpment over the river. It was so perfect, I began to suspect that Jo Pope had choreographed the scene.
Need to know
Cath Urquhart travelled to Zambia with Expert Africa (020-8232 9777, www.expertafrica.com) which tailor-makes trips. A ten-night trip, visiting South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi, costs from £2,592pp based on two sharing, including flights, transfers, meals and safari activities.
Jo Pope has a marketing company, Zambian Horizons (www.zambianhorizons.com), which has information on safari camps in Zambia.
Robin Pope Safaris (and Kawaza village information): 00 260 62 46090, www.robinpopesafaris.net. Safari Houses of Africa: www.safarihouses.com. Zambia (Bradt, £15.95) is the best guidebook.
