The headmaster, a lovely woman, took us through. This is a private school that the lodge started for the village children. It started with a class of 20 in kindergarten (or the baby class as they call it) which really covered the kids kindergarten and young, two years ago. They now have 55 children, in kindergarten, first grade and second grade. They will add third grade next year but need some more space. The land was donated by someone who died. They start the day by giving the children breakfast. They learned they have to do that as they don't all get it at home and those who didn't, were having trouble paying attention. Because they are a private school, they can start teaching them in their native language to understand concepts but then move to English.
We visited each classroom. The baby class is the biggest with about 20-25. They were very quiet and obedient. The headmaster got them to sing "The wheels on the bus" for us. They were so cute.
When one has to go to the bathroom from this class, they all look at it as a chance to line up and do the same.
We then visited the first and second grade classes which were smaller. They were doing math and learning history there. The headmaster then showed us her office, along with an iPad they use to teach which has lessons on it. She said that they try not to use that too much as they don't want the kids on devices too much. Sound familiar? She said she is on Facebook at night when she goes home to cook.
After we did that, the first and second grade classes came out, with a few of the little ones hand selected, to sing and do a little dance for us. The headmaster would call out different kids by name and that child - Daniel, Collins, Lucy (dancing below) - would step forward and dance as all the kids sang his/her name. Then they did "all of us...all of us" which was also so cute.
After that, one of the teachers passed out the supplies we brought to the kids - pencils, pens, colored pencils, erasers, crayons and pencil sharpeners. They held them up and said thank you. We then got into a picture with all of them. We only wish we could have brought more.
Right after this, we boarded the boat to go visit Malambo Village, which is the local village here. It is very closely associated with Royal Chundu. A woman named Bettina met us. She was pretty much our guide to show us how they live there. It isn't as primaries, for lack of a better word, as the African tribes we saw in Kenya, but they don't have much. But wow...do they know how to use their resources. She would show us a tree and explain three different uses for one but from that tree - medicinal, cooking oil, sugar for the children. She showed us where thy cook and how they prepare their food.
Bettina was very complementary of Royal Chundu and all they have done for the village. RC buys their food the village farms...they have taught them more about hygiene and being clean (i.e creating a "toilet" and a way to wash your hands afterwards. She talked about how RC is educating them, ans helping people learn trades, not just to work at RC but anywhere. Multiple times, Bettina said "thanks to God for all they have done and for all you do for coming here to support us." It wasn't propaganda either. It was very genuine. At the end, she showed us some goods they have and, of course, we felt compelled to buy a few. It was the least we can do.
Our next activity we chose was listed on our itinerary as River Canoeing. Which it was and so much more. We were driven 15-20 minutes where Moses and Fred, two guides were waiting for us. The canoes were more like canoe pontoons (is there such a thing?) with oars that were two sided, like kayak paddles. Given there isn't much wildlife here, we weren't given as strict hippo/croc instructions as we were at Sausage Tree. But we were told there would be some rapids, at which point, they would take our cameras and put them in a secure, dry box. I headed out with Moses and Moira was with Fred. We hit the rapids, which were really just some stronger water that gor us wet, after about 15 minutes. And yes, we got pretty wet but not drenched like white water rafting. We paddled until about 2 when we pulled for over for lunch.
Now, we knew we were getting lunch. What we didn't know was how amazing that lunch would be. We pulled up to shore to find two hammocks, as well as two, I don't know how else to describe this, beds on the ground (pillow, blanket etc). There was a full grill going, with a chef, and a pizza oven.
Additionally, there was a full bar with two people there to help us. Emmanuel met us with a glass of Pimms (I assume this is the British influence) and gave us an intro of the most decadent bar (rose! Champagne! Beer! Tons of gin!) and barbecue (beef, chicken, pork belly, veggies). And an amazing pizza.
There was a lovely table set up for us, with napkins folded up to look like little men. The attention to detail was incredible. Because it is vacation and because it is hot, we opted for rose. The situation seemed to call for more than Mosi. The chef brought the pizza over (which was amazing, almost like a sloppy joe on top of it) and we were encouraged to fill up our plates with barbecue. We could have stayed there three days and still had leftovers. Moira kept trying to push the pizza on Moses and Fred, who were sitting at another table. They promised they were eating. Oh and dessert was this amazing chocolate mousse. We were so full.
There was thunder in the distance so instead of staying and enjoying another drink, they suggested we get back in the canoes and head to the island lodge, which is a property also owned by Royal Chundu. We moved quickly as we could see the rain approaching and made it to the lodge right before the heavens opened.
The island lodge has four suites on it and is like a more private version of the river lodge where we are. We stayed in the reception area while it rained, thundered and lightened for a good 30-45 minutes. It was in a bit of disarray as all the furniture was being moved so they could stain the floors but it provided a safe haven from the storm. And a storm it was. I kept thinking of the Toto song Africa "I bless the rains down in Africa."
The rain immediately cooled it off. When it slowed down to a sprinkle, we got back in our canoes and headed back to the loft, which took a good 30-40 minutes. We were supposed to get another spa treatment (it is our vacation, don't judge) but were concerned about that running into our last sunset. No problem, a guy named Steve told us. We were the only sunset cruise tonight so he would wait for us. The LA people checked out this morning, along with Laura and David from FL. That just left us and the Canadians...and they were out doing a speedboat thing. So we got both activities in. The massage was great and we also had a nice African sunset to top things off.
And oh, as if ordered, a hippo appeared as we headed back and gave us a big yawn. Which we didn't capture on our cameras as it was too dark and happened we too quick. It is one we all have to imagine in our minds. Or if you use the interwebs, you can probably google "hippos yawning in Zambia" and see the same thing. If our internet was stronger here, I would try it.
Back at the lodge before dinner, we talked a bit to the chef, Sungani. We told him how much we enjoyed the lunch and he said he really runs 3-4 kitchens here. There is the main one at the river lodge, one at the island lodge, the one along the banks we used for the canoe trip and one on another island they use sometimes. He studied in South Africa to be a chef (a lot of the people here so that, but Chundu is trying to train people here), worked there but came here, back home to Zambia, 5 years ago. He told us that they made the Conde Nast Gold list this year - the first for a place in Zambia. There were tears all around, he said. He also told us, as did others, that they consider food one of the activities here, so what he prepares is important. He wants to be able to use Zambian influences in all his dishes.
When it was time for dinner, we weren't really hungry. At all. But as it is an activity, we went. We would have been fine splitting the meal but we realized that too late. And we didn't want to shortchange our last dinner. It was almost comical as they brought our entrees out. We actually had a laughing fit although I can't even tell you why.
Time to leave the next morning. We gave Aggie, our hostess who really took care of everything we did, some of our clothes for the local village. She said they give them to Bettina who determines who needs them most. That made us feel good. We probably gave 6 shirts, along with a hat and a rain poncho (good during the rainy season). Aggie was also in South Africa but moved back here 5 years ago with her husband who works in the kitchen. They have a 10 year old daughter. She said she loves being able to raise her daughter here and to have a one minute walk to her home. Aggie is the perfect hostess. She is genuinely happy, excited and enthusiastic for everything she has the guests do. You can't fake that.
Some final thoughts about Royal Chundu...it is one of those rare places that does truly make you feel welcome and special. The attention to detail that everyone who works there has is incredible. They are all so thankful that you have chosen to come visit them and it shows. More than one person told us, sincerely, that they felt blessed that we were there. In fact, we were the ones who were blessed.
We had a last stop in Livingstone at a local market, which was something we asked them to add. The goods there really do look well made, and even as you negotiate down, it feels good to contribute to the people there. Our only regret is that we made our few purchases with men, not women. We should have spread that out.
We flew from Livingstone to Joburg. But a note about Livingstone, although it is not yet officially opened, they have a beautiful new international terminal. Very clean and modern. Air conditioned. Apparently they did it for an African Congress meeting there two years ago but the official opening and unveiling of a statue out front has yet to happen. No one seems to know when that actual opening will be.
It was a relatively quick trip back. An hour and a half tops. Our driver then took some back roads (or surface roads in LA) to take us to our hotel - the Peech. It is a small (16 rooms but expanding) boutique hotel in a nice neighborhood are. It actually won an award for best boutique hotel in Africa in 2015. It has a very nice garden and outdoor area and the rooms were nice and cool. As much as every bug bite (well almost every) is worth it for what you see on safari, it was nice to be in a place where there weren't a lot of mosquitos and flies. It had a nice little restaurant where we had a good meal and a lovey bottle of pinotage. Interestingly, it was the first full bottle we ordered this trip. Don't admire our self-control - the camps and lodges did a fine job of refilling our glasses.
As my only past experiences in Joburg have been at the airport and airport hotel, and as Moira only stopped here briefly during World Cup, we got a driver/guide from 11:30 until it was time for us to head to the airport. His name was Tumi and he was nice with a big smile. Our wish was kind of his command. We hadn't done much research on Joburg but everyone told us the Apartheid Museum was a must. Tumi agreed. We asked what else most people do with a day. He mentioned Nelson Mandela square, which Moira had already done and which is really just a shopping area...and we didn't need to buy more. He also suggested the Constitutional Court and Soweto, both of which Dervla from Kensington also suggested. And all of those things were on the top 10 lists of things to do in Koburg that I had hastily googled that morning.
Our first stop was the Constitutional Court which is built on the site of a former prison, in the downtown or city center area. Pretty much everything here that relates to law had to be redone in the mid 1990s after apartheid was abolished. Which makes it a relatively young country in that respect. There are two towers standing that were part of where the prisons would be held awaiting trial. There is also an eternal flame called the democracy flame.
Everything in and around the court is developed around the 11 languages (hence 11 judges) and more openness. It also has the look of trees and leaves, to symbolize how tribes used to make decisions by hearing the sides under the trees. The court room even has windows to show the openness of the court. And the judges rotate seats except for the chief judge and deputy judge. And the judges aren't the highest seats in the court. That is actually for the people and the media.
From there, we drove to the apartheid museum. As you would suspect, it tells the history of apartheid. It is designed by the same group who did the 9/11 museum (which I still have not been to and Moira has and could tell). It is one of those places that tells a rich and sad history, with pictures, video and words. We were there about two hours but could easily have spent another hour or two. There was even a special temporary Nelson Mandela exhibit. I won't even try to go through all that is there, other than to say it is moving and as a high school and college student, as then one freshly out of college, I didn't pay enough attention to all of it. I read Cry the Beloved Country in High School amd couldn't comprehend how something like that could happen. But the US has its own ugly history related to race as well.
Next up was driving through Soweto (South Western Township) which is the largest township. 3.2 million of the 8 or so million people live there. Yes, there are slums but there are also so,e nicer areas. Tumi said people tend to go back there and build nicer houses if they do well. It is the only place where two Nobel prize winners - Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu - lived on the same street (in the 1940s). It is also the area where the real uprising to apartheid started, when a group of children peacefully marching to protest having to be taught in Afrikaaner, were shot on by police. It was 1976. The first one killed was a 12 year old who happened to get caught up in it, Hector Peterson. He became a symbol of the movement and there is a plaza and museum dedicated to him there. Our last stop was a Catholic Church (forget the name) that we learned about in the apartheid museum, where the ANC met to plan some things. It was attacked by the police when they realized and there are still bulletholes Oh and we had lunch in a nice restaurant in a nice part of the township.
It was a little bit of a sobering end to the trip, but it's good to know the history of places. It isn't just about viewing animals and eating well. And after flying through here three times, I feel that I can now say I visited South Africa.
Final note...we told ourselves this would be an epic trip and it was (even if we didn't get the upgrades on the flights that we coveted 😀). What made it epic was the people and experiences, the wonderful opportunity to visit somewhere new. Every day was different and we wouldn't have changed a thing.
Until our next adventure...
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