One of the highlights of our new life in camp for Jamie and I is the ever changing interesting and diverse types of people we now spend our life with on a daily/nightly basis. Our shifts are split between the Management team including Paolo, Harold, Lydia, Ade, Jess, Jamie and I. Subject to the number of guests in house 2 people meet the guests at 530am for early light breakfast and escort them to their waiting safari guide and vehicle. They head out on game drive and return about 10am (hot breakfast waiting). The remaining management and staff start work at 645am through to after 4-5pm with a number of breaks in the day.
The night shift team have afternoon tea with the guests at 330pm and see them on to the exciting evening safari drive where the park comes to life with the nocturnal animals including the lions & leopard. Below is our Will Smith really Albert our tracker and in house electrician.

Will Smith Flatdogs safari spotter Albert

Our camp attracts large numbers of short and long stay International charity groups including Project Luangwa, companies and individuals doing research on diseases like AIDS and malaria, the local wildlife, vegetation, the environment and heaps more. The conversations are incredible and I am learning far more than you would ever searching Google or staying in our comfy life in Ingleside. The group below came stayed one brief night for dinner and safari after working in the field for a week. Jeremy the group leader shared this info with me to explain the project. My dumbed down version – for example companies are saying they are “carbon off setting by planting trees around the world” eg BMW . This team was here to audit some of the projects. Sorry Jeremy if this is not quite accurate though for those of you keen to learn more here is the email from Jeremy explaining in more depth.

Thanks to US Agency for International Development for answering my 1000 questions – I was fascinated.

USAID (US Agency for International Development). We’re the development agency of the US government and we support projects in health, governance, agriculture, environment, and education throughout Zambia and the world. We generally fund projects that are implemented by non-governmental organizations and businesses. You mentioned BCP (BioCarbon Partners) in your e-mail, which is just the implementer of USAID’s Community Forests Program, which is working around the Mfuwe area. However, all of the participants at Flatdogs last week work in agriculture, and were there to view seven different projects that we have in the area that support smallholder agriculture.

You can find out more of what we do at: https://www.facebook.com/USAIDZambia or https://www.usaid.gov/zambia

Week 4 starting tomorrow for Jamie and I as we are rostered off on Thursdays. I will keep the blogs coming about 4-7 days apart though you can register to have them sent to your email as I post. Look for the RSS feed on the side and register.
love from Zambia xxx