Zambia African Safari

Promotes Zambia safari and tourism plus the conservation of wildlife and the environment. Visit the site by clicking here

Monday, February 28, 2005

Zambia World's Wildest Coffee Conference

It’s a unique safari, a coffee safari really. Starting from March 3rd to 5th Zambia will host this rare safari. The World’s Wildest Coffee conference! And the big "guns" Starbucks, the coffee chain that operates over 30,000 coffee stores in the world will be present.

Besides Starbucks there’ll be other world-renowned players in the global coffee industry in attendance. These are the coffee quality institute, Kapeh coffee certification, international coffee organizations, specialty coffee association, top coffee roasters, producers and traders.

In all over 500 participants and 40 exhibitors from around the world are expected to attend the second World’s Wildest Coffee conference in Livingstone, Zambia. The first conference of its kind was held in Kenya last year and attracted over 400 top coffee executives and exciting speakers from over 30 countries worldwide. This year Zambia is the host!

Visiting Zambia rings a bell, doesn’t it? Why, Zambia will see more visitors starting this year. This is in response to the Visit Zambia in 2005 campaign. The sleeping "safari giant" is awakening this year!

Livingstone as this year's venue is greatly suited because it will give participants a chance to visit the mighty Victoria Falls on its '150th birth day' this year. I nearly forgot… It’s also a centenary cerebration for Livingstone town.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

The 500 Travel and Leisure Magazine Award

Another Zambia safari kudu. The Royal Livingstone a Sun International resort in Livingstone has been named one of the best 500 hotels in the Travel & Leisure’s annual list. The list is of the 500 greatest hotels and resorts in the world. The Royal Livingstone Hotel will receive a plague for this award by the Travel & Leisure Magazine.

Ms Nancy Novogrod, Editor-in-chief of T&L magazine said being named the exclusive Travel & Leisure 500 by the most discerning traveler and T&L readers demonstrate that the Zambian resort is of world class.

Ms Novogrod said, “The T&L 500 is a list that’s more than a list. It’s the most reliable and comprehensive guide to hotels. One that is sure to be among our reader’s fovourites. Something to be said and referred to time and again to help our readers expertly navigate the globe”
This year’s T&L 500 includes 169 properties that are on the list for the first time. Out of the 500 the United States of America has 198 hotels and resorts. As a city London is said to have more of the T&L 500 hotels than any European city.

The highest scoring T&L 500 hotels are in Africa and the Middle East. Last year 58 Asian hotels grew by 29 percent.

So a Zambian hotel is among the rarefied 500 of the world. That’s another of Zambia the Africa's best kept secret in safaris.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Zambia… the Nc'wala Ceremony and the Ngoni People

During the last weekend of February a variety of Zambians will gather at Mtenguleni Village in Chipata district of eastern Zambia. They religiously congregate every year to celebrate the Nc’wala ceremony of the Ngoni people.

And what do they expect? The usual highlights… roasted meat, drinking homemade beer, the stomping feet dance by bare-breasted women, the menacing ‘warriors’ doing their war dance and the ‘fierce blood-drinking’ chief. Chief Mpezeni is the Inkosi Yamakosi (chief of chiefs) the Ngwenyama (lion) who’ll be the main spectacle of the ceremony.

The 25th Nc’wala ceremony, which takes place on February 26, is meant to pay homage to the Ngoni people’s ancestral spirits. It is a celebration they first did during their flight from King Shaka Zulu the warmonger of KwaZulu Natal in the 1800s. Their run brought them to Zambia. In 1835 they crossed the mighty Zambezi River into Zambia during a spectacular eclipse of the sun. The Ngonis also praise God for the year’s first fruit from their gardens.

On hand will be Chief Mbelwa from the neighbouring Malawi. Other chiefs will come from Mozambique and Swaziland. Many other Zambian chiefs have been invited too …and of course politicians as usual will be ‘politicking’ :-)

Ms Priscilla Jere, the Deputy Publicity Secretary of the National Nc’wala organizing committee has confirmed that, ”All is set and people should expect thrills at this year’s ceremony…which is expected to be better than in the previous years.”

On Saturday February 26, the main day of the ceremony, Chief Mpezeni will be led to the main arena where song and dance will continue. There’ll be the bare-breasted women accompanied by the menacing ‘warriors’ doing their war dance. This will be spiced with the slaughtering of a bull using a spear. Then the momentous occasion! Chief Mpezeni will wrap it up by ‘drinking’ some of the bulls’ blood off a shallow dish. And of course all the drinking of traditional beer and enjoying of the braii (roasted meat) will continue.

For those who have not been to the Nc'wala ceremony Mtenguleni Village will surely be the destination this month end. See ‘u’ there!

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Zambia Safaris & Africa's Best Kept Secrets

Zambia is cerebrating three special events this year. And thus the reason for the Visit Zambia in 2005 campaign launched last year 2004 by the Zambia National Tourist Board . This is the government regulation board for safari and tourism enterprises in Zambia.

Apart from the Africa’s ‘safari delight’ and Africa’s warm welcome of its people there are three major Africa’s Best Kept Secrets:

1 - Cerebrating the 150 years since Dr David Livingstone sited the Victoria Falls on November 18, 1855.

2 - Cerebrating 100 years since the Zambia’s tourist capital Livingstone was established in 1905
3 - and commemorating the 100th birth day for the peace fighter, the former United Nations Secretary General Dag Hamarskjoeld who died at Ndola in Zambia on September 18, 1961 while on a peace mission to resolve the civil war in the neighbouring Congo.

But wait a minute! During my school days the history books we read suggested that David Livingstone was the first ‘man’ to see the falls that he named Victoria Falls after the Queen of England, Victoria. But now we know that the local Kololo people living near the falls before the 1800s knew of its existence. They called it “Mosi-oa-Tunya” directly translated to “the smoke that thunders”.

And it does thunder as the water cascades over the cliff that formed the falls. And the plumes are seen over 30 km away.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

International Institute for Peace through Tourism

And why wouldn’t peace be synonymous with tourism? That was the theme of the conference and rightly so since Zambia is a haven of peace and a safari ‘delight’. They deliberated on how peace should champion tourism. Zambia just fitted the bill!

That’s why the third International Institute for Peace, Africa conference on peace through tourism was held in Zambia. The conference ended Saturday, February 12. There were 350 delegates who attended the conference. To mark the end of the conference they dedicated a Peace Park at Victoria Falls on an area provided by Sun International the owners of the hotel resort near Livingstone town.

Sun International owns a combo of two resorts. Two brandy new hotels opened in May 2001. The hotels are the nearest resorts to the Victoria Falls. One is a three star hotel only minutes from the falls and the other a five star supreme in luxury that over looks the Victoria Falls. There you have a bird’s eye view of the falls as you relax in the comfort of your upper room. All rooms over look the falls…and what hotel can beat that!

Flumes of smoke…it’s a mist really, covers the southern sky. The accompanying hum as the water cascades on the cliff is serenity in itself. At night the drone lures you to a deep sleep even if you’re a bad sleeper. Try it and you’ll never forget Zambia the peace haven and the mark of Africa safaris.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Tourism Universal Peace Awards

Zambia safaris wins yet another kudu!

On February 7, 2005 during the third conference of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) six peace awards were presented to world leaders and luminaries who exemplifies world peace.

The Universal Peace Awards were presented to Zambia’s first president, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, Tanzania’s first president, Dr. Julius Mwalimu Nyerere, Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, South Africa’s first black president Mr. Nelson Mandela, the late United States president Mr. John F. Kennedy, and the late United States civil right leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The founding president of IIPT, Louis D’Amore, presented the awards during the third conference meeting at Lusaka’s Hotel Intercontinental.

Zambia was choosing for this conference because of it’s status as a peace haven in Africa.