On the Prowl with Robin Pope

Who They Are

The base for Robin Pope Safaris‘ operations is the small, riverside camp of Nkwali, which is close to the central Mfuwe area of South Luangwa National Park. Nkwali is one of  Luangwa ’s few camps that is accessible all year round. Further north, Robin Pope’s two substantial, luxurious seasonal bush camps are the much lauded Tena Tena (tented) and Nsefu. Like Nkwali, they offer 4×4 game drives and walking safaris.

Nkwali by Night

A River View, Nkwali

For small groups and families, RPS runs two stylish safari houses, both close to Nkwali: the two-bedroom Robin’s House and the four-bedroom Luangwa Safari House and both come equipped with their own staff (chef, guides, and 4WD vehicles)  so you may set your own schedules.

Perhaps the most famous holidays from Robin Pope Safaris are their walking safaris, which utilize small  camps, walk-in tents, mattresses on the ground (with fine linens), shared bucket shower, bush loos). These ‘mobiles’ are organized about 18-24 months in advance, and often sell out swiftly; they run on fixed dates through the year. The properties offer game drives, walking, and boating, all with excellent guides.

A Robin Pope Specialty, Walks in the Wild

What They Are Doing

The Kawaza School Fund focuses on education in the Nsefu Chiefdom (an area in the South Luangwa section of Zambia).  Efforts are aimed at building schools, paying for teachers in order to improve the children-to-teacher ratio.  The government does not provide adequate teachers for schools, and there is a shortage generally in the country. Also, it is hard to get teachers to come to the rural areas.

They prefer towns, where there is electricity and water. The fund also provides educational equipment and sponsors 50 children to do their secondary and tertiary education. Only basic education is free. There are no secondary schools in the area, and no colleges, so anyone going to either has to find boarding, which is very expensive.  Many poor rural families and the increasing number of AIDS orphans cannot afford to go beyond basic schooling. The fund also has a volunteer program, where qualified people from abroad come and stay at one of the schools and teach.

A Zambian Specialty, Lots of Wildlife

Robin Pope Safaris was the founding member of the Luangwa Safari Association Medical Fund. The lodges in the area pool money and organize for a volunteer doctor to live there and work at the local clinic. Over the last ten years the scheme has raised money to renovate the clinic, build new staff houses, and, whenever there is a need, buy or provide medication for epidemics. Do they also pay for other medicines? Not unless a situation gets desperate. The government provides monthly drug allowance to the clinic.

A Tent Maybe, But Simple It's Not - Tena Tena

One of the New Malawi Lions

Malawi is known for many things – a gorgeous swimmable lake, friendly people – but a big selection of wildlife is not one of them. Top of travelers’ safari lists this Central African country has never been. Until now, that is … or until August. That’s when it will become home to four lions, and Malawi once again can be classified as a country that has the Big Five.

Two Leopards Before Being Set Free

Historically, lions were common in Malawi’s south, but by the early 1960s scouts were recording only one cat every 100 patrol days. Serious poaching depleted their numbers, and there have been no reports of lions in the region since the 1980s. Although the occasional lion is seen in Liwonde National Park, further north in the country, it is believed that they come across the border from Mozambique and are not permanent.

The four cats arriving in August are being donated by South African National Parks to the 70,000-hectare Majete Wildlife Reserve in the Lower Shire River Valley. That will complete the Big Five – right now there are elephant, rhino, buffalo and (from very recently) leopard. The non-profit African Parks has been resurrecting Majete since it took over management in 2003. Since then Majete has been fenced and infrastructure developed, and at least 12 different species and more than 2500 animals introduced. The safety provided by the perimeter fence and a law-enforcement program, as well as the abundance of prey, has created an environment where lions can once again thrive.

A Leopard's New Home, Majete

Last October, two leopards were brought from South Africa, and then in December, two more. As for the lions, African Parks announced in a statement, “Healthy animals at the beginning of their reproductive lives will be selected … and the intricate relocation process will involve weeks of quarantine on both sides of the border. It will also be a costly operation with holding facilities having to be erected and flights chartered to transport the predators to their new home.”

It has taken many people and companies to achieve these translocations, and one of them is Robin Pope Safaris, which owns the recently opened luxury Mkulumadzi Lodge in Majete (as well as other great safari operations in Africa) and contributes to African Parks. Without people and businesses like them, the good works could never happen.

Piglet

Out of Tswalu in the Kalahari comes the unusual and heartwarming story of a baby aardvark that was saved by a vet and her husband in Vryburg, South Africa, and which has now found a home on the grounds of the lodge. Tswalu has posted the story on its blog of how the aardvark was found, reared on a particular kind of milk formula (which was eventually sponsored by the company),  and how (because of the animal’s oddly shaped mouth) they had to use a bottle from the United States designed for babies with cleft palates. They called him Piglet. Every day they took him for walks, which aardvarks do a lot of, and Piglet eventually dug his first burrow so deep (9 meters!) that he couldn’t get out and it collapsed on him, and the vet and her students camped out for 36 hours in order to get him out. Now at Tswalu, and up to 18 kilograms from 3.5 when he was found, Piglet needs to learn now to fend for himself, eat termites instead of milk, and it is hoped that he will start moving off into the wild. Read more about Piglet’s story.

'Minga vonani kuxouga ka xigaza,' Philemon Hlungwani

The task we try to set ourselves at A World Different is to find hotels and lodges around the world that do good things. Sometimes it is easy to see who those good things or deeds benefit, such as the luxurious Casa Gangotena’s work with communities in its hometown of Quito, Ecuador. Or the silversmith project supported by Ibo Island Lodge in Mozambique. Or the efforts of Cortijada Los Gázquez to resuscitate a dying Spanish village’s way of life.

'Alter Ego 1,' Andrew Verster

In the case of Ellerman House, in Cape Town, the good works are less obvious. They are actually the art works hanging on the hotel walls. The luxury boutique hotel now has 500 pieces by South African masters and 80 by contemporary artists. The specially built Ellerman Contemporary gallery opened in December 2009. The gallery, hidden away below the front of the hotel, is fronted by the striking Hier sculpture, a 3-meter head made of slate by Angus Taylor. AWD met with Ellerman House GM Nick Dreyer and talked about how the luxury boutique hotel came to become a prominent supporter of local artists and built its Ellerman Contemporary gallery as a showcase.

A World Different: Ellerman House is famous for its paintings by South African masters, such as Pierneef and Irma Stern. That collection was put together by the hotel’s owner, financier Paul Harris. But these new art works are taking Ellerman House in a new direction.

Dreyer: With the masters we gained traction as art collectors. But we had no contemporary works, and we wanted to collect them. We had this hollow space at the bottom of the property, and it suddenly became obvious that’s where the gallery should go.

Inside Elllerman Contemporary

AWD: What did you want to achieve with the gallery?

Dreyer: We wanted to give artists access to the market and we wanted to give our customers a chance to see some great South African art.

AWD: Do you sell the paintings?

Dreyer: No. We make the introduction between the guest and the art, and we might suggest galleries where they can buy the artists, such as the Goodman Gallery or Michael Stevenson. But that’s all. We collect art we love, and there is an integrity to collecting the art but not selling it.

Mary Sibande's 'They Don't Make Them Like They Used To'

AWD: Who buys the art for Ellerman Contemporary?

Dreyer: It is a collaborative affair. Myself, my colleague Mitch Terry, Paul Harris. We get advice from Mark Read, the owner of Everard Read Gallery in Johannesburg. We go to the Johannesburg Art Fair. We find out about an artist and investigate.

AWD: Are there any success stories?

Dreyer: I don’t think Ellerman can claim the success of any of these artists. As I said, we merely introduce clients to them.

AWD: Are there set tours of the gallery or do clients simply wander down?

Dreyer: It’s a small intimate hotel, so one of the managers goes with guests. Often they go down by themselves.

AWD: The Independent of London carried a story on the ‘big six’ hotels in the world that have art collections. Besides one in Melbourne, which is named after the artist whose works it carries, Ellerman was the only one of the six with the idea of promoting living artists.

Inside the Gallery

Dreyer: We have had very important art collectors stay at the hotel and they have purchased hundreds of thousands of rands worth of local art as a result.

AWD: How do you arrange the art in the gallery?

Dreyer: As soon as work comes in I put it up and take other things down. It’s not a huge gallery, and because some of the works are very large, we can only put up maybe two dozen artworks at a time. It is a bit like a store, and sometimes there are even things on the floor propped up against a wall.

AWD: The artist Angus Taylor, who did the striking head outside the gallery entrance, is now a consultant to the hotel on a building project. So your relationships with the artists go even further?

Dreyer: Angus spent three months on the property putting up the head. He made a grid of steel and then layered the rocks inside. We liked the way he worked, always with organic materials, so we asked him to be a consultant on the new villa we are adding to the property.

Butterfly and Hot Pinks

Neato! Animal Block Height Charts for Kids

At A World Different we sometimes come across companies that are inextricably linked to tourism. They start because of tourism, and tourism and tourists become part of their lifeblood. A great example of this is Tribal Textiles in Mfuwe, Zambia.

Established in 1991 by Gillie Lightfoot and a few local women, Tribal Textiles started making gorgeous hand-painted fabrics and selling them to lodges in the area, including Norman Carr Safaris, Flat Dogs Camp, and Robin Pope Safaris. Then sales went further afield, to Tongabezi at the Victoria Falls.

In turn, the lodges started selling Tribal Textiles’ products in their gift shops, and even then visitors couldn’t get enough. The Tribal Textiles workshop in Mfuwe has, as a result, became a regular stop for visitors to see where these stunning textiles come from and how they are hand-painted and by whom.

More shopping continued at the factory, and, as one would expect with such desirable products, people wanted to sell them in other countries too. Now Tribal Textiles’ goods – whose product line includes bags, cushion covers, and more, in a growing array of styles – are sold in more than 20 countries. (If you’re interested, here’s a list of suppliers).

Like It? Ask for 'Tribal Art, Fire'

Business has grown so much that what started as a sustainable project now supports other charities, including a nearby school, Malimba, which has over 160 pupils, many of them orphaned by AIDS.

'African Circles, Chocolate Blue'

Nor does it end there. About 11 years ago Suzie Saunders found herself employed by Tribal Textiles as design and production manager. While there she met Gillie’s brother, James Lightfoot, they fell in love, got married, and moved to Likoma Island in Malawi, where they now own and run the fabulous Kaya Mawa Lodge. Taking up the textile idea, Suzie started Katundu, hiring  single mothers selected from the local orphan program, where they made beaded textiles, linens, tablecloths, and much more.

Katundu now employs 26 women and has branched out into making beautiful interior pieces, such as wall art, lighting accessories, mosquito net ties, and baskets.  Craftsmen from all over Malawi have been invited to come to the island and teach the Katundu employees other traditional Malawian crafts using local resources, such as mats made with baobab string and beads made of local mud clay.

Lodges that now show off Katundu accessories include Tongabezi, Chongwe River House, Kaya Mawa, and  Tangala, the exclusive villa at Tongabezi.

'Wassu, Tutti Fruity.' Of Course It Is!

And check out the video of Tribal Textiles at

Tribal Textiles, Zambia from Will Benson on Vimeo.

Who They Are

Step back in time at Elephant Pepper Camp, a glorious tented camp hidden in a grove of giant ebony and elephant pepper trees overlooking the Masai Mara Plains. Modern comforts are set amidst hurricane lamps, and sumptuous meals served under a ceiling of stars.

The View Out

The camp is situated in the heart of the protected Mara North Conservancy, a spectacular wilderness area on the northeastern border of the Mara National Reserve. Here now for 20 years, it is one of the original, very small and exclusive tented camps, and is located away from other lodges. With only 9 en-suite tents, this magical camp maintains the atmosphere that is usually felt only on a traditional, mobile luxury safari.

The View In

What They Are Doing

Elephant Pepper Camp was built with sustainability in mind. There are no generators, cement, or any permanent structures, making the camp completely movable. Nestling almost out of sight under its canopy of trees, it closes for two months a year to allow the ecosystem to regenerate.

The Masai Mara

Elephant Pepper was instrumental in the formation of the Mara North Conservancy, a spectacular 28,000 hectares on the northeast border of the Mara National Reserve, a core parcel within the Masai Mara ecosystem. For the exclusive use of its 12 member camps, it provides some of the Mara’s prime game viewing in complete privacy. At the same time it guarantees the more than 700 Masai landowners stable revenue, with the camps paying $112,000 a month in fixed lease payments, or $1.3 million annually. Almost twenty percent goes to conservation management with employment of rangers, vehicle surveillance, and maintenance of infrastructure.

Zebra on the Mara North Conservancy

The camp has worked with the local Masai community for nearly 20 years, with the creation of the conservancy being the latest development in preserving this vital wilderness.

Among the initiatives the camp has spearheaded and participated in: Water from Wildlife, bringing water to schools without damaging the ecosystem; it has also introduced water-catchment and -collection systems, as well as the concept of shallow wells to support the local communities.

Place of Rest

When the area surrounding the camp was designated a wildlife conservation area by the Masai, Elephant Pepper was instrumental in helping the local Masai relocate to their new homesteads. The camp also transported their building materials for them, in order to reduce the need for tree felling. It supports the Aitong Primary School, which has, since 2007, added a new classroom, kitchen, and new desks and chairs.

Guests are encouraged, whenever possible, to go on game walks instead of drives. This experience is unrivaled, especially as all of the guides have the prestigious SilverLevel qualification, making them some of the best in the country. Over eighty percent of the staff are employed from the surrounding communities.

The camp relies on solar power, ecofriendly toilets, and traditional bucket showers. Food is sourced locally as much as possible; glass is separated and sold to a recycling plant in Nairobi, all of whose funds are donated to the East African Women’s League to support a family planning program managed by the North Lake Branch in Naivasha.

Who They Are

Possibly the most astonishing thing about Ellerman House – and there is plenty here to be amazed by – is that so few people know about it.  Now almost 20 years old, it has succeeded by being as under-the-radar as it has been reverentially consistent in luxury. The people who need to know about it, do.

Room No. 7

This former residence (or, to be exact, mansion) high above exclusive Bantry Bay, is a study in refinement and peacefulness. Even though the gracious building is in the heart of Cape Town, its 9 rooms, two suites, and 5-bedroom villa, each with unsurpassed views across the Atlantic, offer the perfect amount of isolation.

Room No. 10

Below the spacious yet cozy reception rooms and large porches spreads a manicured garden and pool. The rooms throughout the property are decorated with magnificent works by South African masters, including Irma Stern and Pierneef.

At the Villa

The rooms have recently been buffed up – new fabrics, bedding, and wallpapers – although subtly enough that repeat clients (of which there are many, despite the prices) probably won’t notice. While the main residence has a more traditional ambiance, the more modern villa’s rooms – with names like Aqua and Lilac – are lushly simple. The kitchen has a glass wall that opens electronically for you to ask the chefs any questions, and across from it is a ‘pantry’ full of goodies for guests to raid at all hours and which has become infamously addictive.

What They Are Doing

Ellerman House owner Paul Harris, a well-known Johannesburg financier, was the main mover behind the creation of Penreach, which works with schools in rural communities in the north of the country. Established in 1994, Penreach now touches the lives of more than 2,000 teachers a year, working in over 900 schools, and directly benefiting more than 350,000 learners . At least ninety percent of the teachers are women.

A Painting by Irma Stern at Ellerman

Penreach has also gone beyond schools, to help fund beneficial projects such as the provision of psycho-social support to teachers, orphans and vulnerable children; the improvement of state-run feeding schemes; the establishment of vegetable gardens; the development of sport and sports facilities; environmental education, with a view to turning schools into profit centers through waste management; the provision of IT training; youth leadership development camps; and administration training. So successful has it been that Penreach is aiming to reach other parts of the country in the future.

The Contemporary Gallery

Harris, who is also a patron of the arts, has one of the finest ‘galleries’ in the country decorating the walls and rooms of Ellerman House – you can find not only every South African master here but possibly also their finest work. In 2009 he opened a magnificent specially built gallery on the property to foster contemporary artists (see News). The gallery now has enough artworks to rotate the exhibition four times annually, and the exhibition there of artists has led clients to buy their works.

Africa’s Eden was largely – if not entirely – responsible for Gabon’s rise in the last decade on the world travel map. It had not only created camps such as its flagship Loango Lodge and Evengué Lodge, but it had contributed extensively to conservation projects, including studies of the lowland gorillas.

In September, Africa’s Eden announced that the hiccups had been sorted out, and that it would be back in business in Gabon. More than $1 million is also being spent to improve the camps, extend the runway, and increase the capacity of the local school. Loango will reopen for business in mid-December.

Singita Lebombo

Is it possible for a travel destination to be luxurious, hot (as in magazine-worthy), and sustainable? If anyone proves it, Singita does.

This African-based company has properties that go a long way to show that their hearts and minds are in the right place – they care about where they are and what they are doing. Travel is their business, but a business that has to last and in a country that has to last. Singita Grumeti, in Tanzania, has virtually turned what used to be a virtual wasteland (after years of illegal hunting and poaching) into an Eden. Bordering on the Serengeti, the 350,000 acres now have as good as you’ll get animal-wise (and probably even better than) in the iconic park next-door.

Sabora Tented Camp, Grumeti

Working with the community surrounding Grumeti is as much a part of the day-to-day as it is in Pamushana,  in Zimbabwe. For years now the property, which lies adjacent to the stunning and barely visited Gonarezhou park, has served thousands of meals daily to local children. Singita’s community work dates back to 1998 already. Whether it is buying products locally, supporting a cooking academy for staff (watch the video), or contributing to local schools, the company is doing it.

At the ever-popular Lebombo and Sweni lodges in Kruger Park, South Africa, Singita has tried to emphasize low-impact design, creating stunning rooms made of glass, steel, and reeds, perched singly on a ridge. An ongoing program of monitoring the wildlife and land around Singita’s first lodges, Ebony and Boulders lodges, in Sabi Sand, South Africa, endeavors to keep the much-used park seemingly untouched.

Children at Pamushana

At each of these properties, the work with low-impact design, the community, and the wildlife goes on daily and never ends. And that Singita doesn’t forget.

A Pool in a Place Like No Other

Who They Are

The unforgettable Ibo Island Lodge lies just north of the mainland city of Pemba in pristine northern Mozambique, and the island is one of 27 that make up the breathtakingly beautiful Quirimbas Archipelago.

Ibo, 1912

Remote and untouched by commercial development, Ibo is one of the most fascinating, idyllic, and romantic islands – adjectives that easily apply to the lodge too. For several hundred years Ibo was a prosperous Arab trading post on the east coast of Africa. Three forts, a beautiful old Catholic church, and numerous ancient trading buildings stand guard over the sea.  Pirates, ivory, intrigue and the never-to-be-forgotten slave trade are a part of its rich history.

Position at Sunset

The lodge takes up three magnificent mansions, each over a century old and located right on a prime waterfront site, where dhows sail out to sea at high tide. Each of the 9 en-suite rooms is individually designed, large, air-conditioned, and they boast antiques and handcrafted furniture with marvelous wooden doors and shutters that evoke the original design. Guests can immerse themselves in the unchanged, ancient culture of Ibo and the rare chance to interact with the wonderfully hospitable islanders.

Meals feature fresh Ibo-grown organic vegetables, fruits and produce, traditional specialties, and, of course, seafood. Romantic dinners are served on the wide tranquil verandas or on the roof terrace restaurant, both with awesome views over the sea.

The Sand Spit off Ibo

What They Are Doing

Ibo Island has 4000 inhabitants, of whom only a small number had formal employment. The lodge has made a significant impact on the local economy, employing and also training up to 150 employees during the construction and development phase.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5vEjN3WKBI

Click here for more videos about Ibo.

The Main Lounge

Before the lodge’s nascence, the community had no exposure to tourism or the outside world. Few had any education and in many cases did not even speak or write Portuguese.  The lodge has provided a solid training facility with the development of the Ibo Island Community Training Centre, delivering education programs that deal with, among other things, English literacy, guiding techniques, tourism etiquette, small enterprise development, and the presentation of the unique cultural and historical features of Ibo. The facility is free to all community members.

Jewelry Made by Ibo Silversmiths

Making use of the old Arab coffee plantations that still exist on Ibo, the lodge hand grinds and open-fire-roasts its world-class coffee. Its agricultural project will focus on the production of coffee, as well as a market garden producing fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit for the lodge.

Even the Decay is an Artwork

A marine turtle research project aims to support international research efforts into turtle biology and ecology and to protect marine turtles, and turtle eggs, from illegal and inadvertent harvesting on Ibo.

Silversmiths, part of an ancient tradition here, hand-craft exquisite intricate jewelry using old Arab techniques and tools. The key element to sustain this craft is providing high quality raw materials.  In order to do this, the lodge has set up a distribution network with a company in Cape Town called Africa Nova who will be able to provide a far greater return for the silversmiths. This jewelry is found no where else in the world and guests can observe the art and commission pieces from the lodge’s silversmith project.

By creating jobs where there were none, Ibo Lodge has had other positive influences, reducing the reliance on fishing as a primary source of income and food. Among other projects the lodge is involved in is a local Montessori school.

Rooftop View

In Their Own Words

“As the first tourism investor on Ibo Island and specialist tour operator to the Quirimbas Archipelago, the company believes that it is critical that local communities benefit from tourism development. One of the key approaches of Ibo Island Lodge has been that of supporting and creating projects on Ibo that will serve to create income and livelihoods for other members of the communities.”