It’s Monday 17th September 2007 and the SIS lesson There is a new magazine called Travel Zambia which I had a hand in starting. Well it was my idea and after four years of being an idea it is now a reality. Very exciting. For the second issue, we are looking for people who have […]
It’s Monday 31st December 2007 and the Choir Sings Dash to the Bush British Airways have a sale. And we want to celebrate this! So go on – book a “Dash to the Bush” – a week in the Emerald Season. The river will be high, the boating superb, the birds will be breeding and […]
It’s Monday 24th December 2007 and the winner is … Many of our guests take such great photographs, of which we usually only see a handful. In a very selfish attempt to sneak a peak at all your photos we thought we would hold a competition – “Being on Safari with RPS”. With a […]
It’s Monday 24th September 2007 and the determined dog This week I am going to give you bits and pieces. I have saved snippets during the week but if a bigger story comes up and they do not get to press then they are put on hold. Well I now have a number in the […]
It’s Monday 1st October 2007 and the funny season Kerrie popped down from Tena Tena with some wonderful stories, so I asked her to put them down for you. All is well in the bush – as we tip into October today, we oscillate between hazy hot days to clear breezy days (well still hot […]
It’s Monday 8th October 2007 and the recces Well again – a few stories to tell you….. Firstly the baby bushbuck. I was having a busy morning with many disturbances and I was trying to complete a project. There was yet another knock on the door. “What now” I said rather irritably. And in came […]
It’s Monday 15th October 2007 and the Chief’s Ceremony This week is the middle of October and the bush is dry, the river low and the once flooding Luangwa has slowed down less than a walking pace. The game is gathering around the remaining waterholes and, guess what, we have a few. At each camp […]
It’s Monday 22nd October 2007 and Beej’s Highlights Starting with Beej’s Season Highlights: Greetings all, yes it is Monday and I am going to pin you to your computer screens for a couple of minutes with tales of life, death and natures beauty. The dry season is almost over and as we will soon be […]
It’s Monday 29th October 2007 and the Bush Babes Well the season has started to change. Robin always tells us about how the new and full moon bring on change of weather. After twenty years of hearing this, and trust me we hear it all through the rains, I think he may be right! The […]
It’s Monday 5th November 2007 and the Emerald Season has begun It has been all go at the RPS camps this past week – camps closing; moving into the new and improved office building; and the storms of last week have given rise to burst of growth in the most vibrant of greens. It’s amazing […]
It’s Monday 12th November 2007 and Nsefu closes with a bang! Nsefu closed with quite a bang this year … of the leopard variety … the last guests to stay seemed to see more leopard than they did giraffe or zebra! Our regular visitors Grahame and Anne Cousins and Chris Bourlay had introduced 4 friends […]
It’s Monday 19th November 2007 and the dog days … This week we’re going to join the African Wild Dog Conservation Team (AWDC) during their research on this rare carnivore (the second most endangered with only 3000-5000 left in the wild). The South Luangwa National Park is lucky enough to have a healthy population of […]
It’s Monday 26th November 2007 and the RPS Guides’ Safari Robin and I are back from our annual migration to the UK. Three weeks of lovely autumnal weather. As the end of the dry season has now come and gone (although I don’t see much rain around) I am going to let you know about […]
It’s Monday 3rd December 2007 and let’s go to the village … Jo and Robin left on Saturday for a week on the Kenyan coast, celebrating a friend’s big birthday – lucky ducks!! So I’m back on board the It’s Monday boat … But before Jo left she wanted to share the following story … […]
It’s Monday 10th December 2007 and the big bat diaries Last week we had our Special Bat Safari, led by Rocky Simachila – this is an annual safari to watch the bats that congregate around Kasanka National Park by the millions! Two of the guests Claudia and Robin Gore have contributed to their story: Bats: […]
It’s Monday 17th December 2007 and the hippo operation For a while we had a lovely hippo couple using our lagoon just by the dining room, with one often sporting a ‘veil’ of nile cabbage (they were getting married after all). Then one morning Zebron noticed that one of them had not moved for a […]
It’s Monday 10th September 2007 and the plot unfolds Last week we said goodbye to Barbara and Frank – who at 85 have decided they should hang up their safari boots after 34 safaris, the last 12 being with RPS. Admittedly they said that last year but I have a sneaking suspicion that this year […]
It’s Monday 1st Jan 2007 and Happy New Year A Happy New Year to you all. If it is anything like ours there are a lot of people wandering around with sore heads and sunglasses on (and it is a cloudy day!). Kim finally left yesterday which of course was a very difficult day for […]
It’s Monday 8th Jan 2007 and a day with Beej Greetings all and a Happy New Year. It has come to that time of the week when one of us puts pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and indulges you all in the goings on in and around our Eden. This week has been […]
It’s Monday 15th Jan 2007 and the Rising River Gosh – it does come around quickly – It’s Monday again. I am going to have to get used to this with Kimmie gone! Well the green season hot topic is right up there again. How high is the river? Is it rising? Has it dropped? […]
It’s Monday 22nd Jan 2007 and the Popes go Flying Friday was a corker! Robin and I had the chance to spend nearly two hours in a helicopter flying around the Luangwa Valley. Now, you have to understand that this was “work” – we needed to investigate two areas. A new camp on the Mupamadzi, […]
It’s Monday 29th Jan 2007 and Nkwali Becomes an Island So, after the week of high waters, we did as expected, get cut off for a day. But of course this depends on what you are driving. Naturally all the “boys” had to rush down to the bridge while Amanda and I said we had […]
It’s Monday 5th Feb 2007 and the flood Well what a week. I hardly know where to start so I am going to start at the beginning. I have used a lot of photos this week as it is a story to tell and of course to illustrate. The river was high as I have […]
It’s Monday 4th June 2007 and Team Tena Kicks Off Well the season really has started and we had our start of season management team meeting. Always great to get everyone together for discussions! We had to wait for Robin to return from his first Palmgrove Bush Camping safari – I was anxious for him […]
It’s Monday 11th June 2007 and keep that camera out! I have been at home for a few days, catching up with some rest and reading and so was a bit out of the loop. I awoke this morning at 05:30 ready to go, and so Robin and I leapt out of bed with enthusiasm […]
It’s Monday 18th June 2007 and the Popes go South A varied week for me this week. On Tuesday, Amanda and I attended the opening of the Kakumbi clinic renovations. It was due to start at “1100 hours” and with our snacks we arrived on time. At 1130 the officials from the council and health […]
It’s Monday 25th June 2007 and dispatches from the bush This week we have dispaches from our camps. Jen is the mobile caterer, Patti and Jim have just stayed with us at Tena Tena, and Celia was with us at Nkwali a few weeks ago. Dispatch from the Jen on the mobile team.The first walking […]
It’s Monday 2nd July 2007 and the Jackman’s go camping We have had a group of eight staying for a week at the Luangwa Safari House – including Brian and Annabelle Jackman. The two stayed to experience the Palmgrove Bush Camping with Robin. Brian is a well known journalist in the UK and kindly wrote […]
It’s Monday 9th July 2007 and the python scores Robin had a real treat this week. He was invited onto a day safari to Bangweulu Swamps followed by a quick afternoon tea at Shiwa… by two helicopters no less. However, you will hear about that next week. But I had a real treat as well. […]
It’s Monday 16th July 2007 and Robin flies north Robin and Jo are currently off in Zanzibar enjoying the sand and sun, but before he left Robin wrote a great account of his helicopter trip up north for you all to enjoy. Have a great week! Amanda Last week I was most fortunate in being […]
It’s Monday 23rd July 2007 and we were having dinner Before I tell you about all the news I have to say that I have just spent the last hour trying to marry cameras, cords, photos cards for the stories, but have been frustrated in nearly all attempts, so this is a mixture of current, […]
It’s Monday 30th July 2007 and the lions do growl This week we have news kindly sent from Steve and Sherry from OZ. On the Walking Mobile Safari they had the most amazing morning. Over to Steve… “0520 and the pre-dawn calm was shattered by the sound of lions attacking something large quite near our […]
It’s Monday 6th August 2007 and Dr Death arrives August has arrived, can you believe it, and there has been a definite shift of season. The mornings are not so cold, the skies are going hazy with dust and smoke, and Dr Death has arrived. Dr Death is a guest, Paul Deniger, who comes every […]
It’s Monday 13th August 2007 and the Kawaza School Fund It has been a busy couple of months for the Kawaza School Fund and Reforest Nsefu projects. Many of you email in asking for news so here it is… And please read at least to….”so here is my exciting idea” Teachers houses … We have […]
It’s Monday 20th August 2007 and the Medals Robin and I planned to visit Tena Tena and Nsefu – firstly for Robin to say goodbye to the guests he had taken on the Walking Mobile Safari and secondly we had not yet seen Dr Death and he was at Nsefu. All was ready to go, […]
It’s Monday 27th August 2007 and Dr. Death does it again Dr Death (aka Paul Deniger) may like to smirk at the fact that we all think animals die around him but as guides and guests fight to be on a vehicle with him, he has proven again that Dr D is a lucky lucky […]
It’s Monday 28th May 2007 and a Night with the Devil Back from Indaba and to my lovely home. Indaba is an annual trade show in South Africa and this was my 19th show. It is a very busy week and I was desperate to come home. Robin hijacked me in Lusaka between flights for […]
It’s Monday 21st May 2007 and the Football Tournament We’ve had Max Little staying with us for the past two months now and have thoroughly enjoyed having him around (especially since we got him to do all the odd jobs, like painting the chairs!). He is leaving us today and heading home to England, so […]
It’s Monday 14th May 2007 and the tree planting project Last November, during Jo’s time at the annual UK trade show, she became very aware of the whole “Carbon” issue. She had a great idea – calculate the carbon consumption of RPS and then offset it. She wanted to develop a formula that could then […]
It’s Monday 12th Feb 2007 and Operation Clean Up ”Week Two of the Flood” and we are almost back to where we were the day I took the reservations team out to Lusaka. Well in river height. However the landscape of the camp has changed! Yes – I am in the Valley as I decided […]
It’s Monday 19th Feb 2007 and Mrs Mop gets to it Week Three – for various reasons I did not visit the Valley this weekend. The biggest reason being Robin was in town and decided to extend his visit. We had a restful weekend at Robin’s brother’s glorious farm. It included “Gone with the Wind”. […]
It’s Monday 26th Feb 2007 and the Garden of Eden So, this weekend I managed to fly up to Nkwali and have a few nights at home. I have never particularly been a “domesticated” person and those who know me well will now be laughing. Robin makes the scrambled eggs! Or so we all thought… […]
It’s Monday 5th Mar 2007 and the Pope’s Sunday I have to admit that I am cheating here. In fact, I am on the way to Berlin as you read this (trade fair – not a holiday alone!) but I had such a lovely day with Robin last Sunday that I had to share it […]
It’s Monday 12th Mar 2007 and we’re back in action Well, we are all missing Jo and her fantastic story telling this week as she has abandoned the nest and flown off to Germany for a trade show. However, it has been an exciting couple of weeks for us here at Nkwali, our first guests […]
It’s Monday 19th Mar 2007 and the photos tell it all I am back from Europe and delighted to be welcomed by blue blue skies! At last the flood situation is over, the camp is open and all is well. Just a foot note – the last time it flooded was in 1978 and it […]
It’s Monday 26th March 2007 and the lucky Canadians Bruce and Brenda arrived on Thursday – fresh from Canada. They had never been to Africa and we were the first stop. Their agents had told them that this was the “Emerald Season” and the up side was the bush was green and fresh and the […]
It’s Monday 2nd April 2007 and the Bee Eaters camp building Well it’s that time of the week again where we entice you with our tales of the magical place that we live. We have two contributors this week….. Robin, & Simon Cousins! So sit back, scroll down, and enjoy…… First, Robin: I cast off […]
It’s Monday 9th April 2007 and a Happy Easter Easter Monday and I am sure you are enjoying the holiday season. We have been very busy over Easter, as always, and I have had the Little Family visiting me again. I was at school with Kate and it is wonderful to have her family here. […]
It’s Monday 16th April 2007 and my hero Well today you are getting two stories. I have been in town for a few days doing my annual “shop till I drop” routine, which I do rather well. Some 1000 meters of material and 25 boxes of kitchen and camp equipment in two days, when I […]
It’s Monday 23rd April 2007 and over to Amanda Firstly let me formally introduce Amanda. She joined us in December and her portfolio is a combination of Assistant to the Directors (lucky her!) and Coordinator of Community Projects. We wanted to develop the community work and I certainly needed help. Amanda has lived in a […]
It’s Monday 30th April 2007 and the busy bees A busy week indeed. Last Tuesday Robin was re-opening some of our roads behind camp with Max and Jonathan. Leading the way with Max following behind in the tractor they found themselves in constant company with elephants. Max slightly less used to these neighbors spent his […]
It’s Monday 7th May 2007 and the gathering of the clans There was a gathering of the clans this week to celebrate the marriage of Ed and Claire. What an amazing celebration, a week long with friends and family from all corners of the earth. Ed and Claire, although not currently living in the Valley, […]