With a fun filled Easter weekend, Mushroom Lodge celebrated Easter with a full house with families coming in from all over the country to celebrate this years Easter festival.

Guests smile for a photograph before they departed for their morning  game drive.

Among the many exciting animal sightings was the African Wild Dogs. Rarely seen in this part of the park the wild dogs were a spotted on one of the morning game drives, all to add to the guests excitement. The African Wild Dog is scientifically know as the ‘lycaon pictus’ is variously known as African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf.  This is the largest African canid and, behind only the gray wolf is the world’s second largest extant wild canid. Adults typically weigh 18–36 kilograms (40–79 lb) The African wild dog has a bite force quotient (BFQ, the strength of bite relative to the animal’s mass) measured at 142, the highest of any extant mammal of the order Carnivora, although exceeded by the Tasmanian devil, a marsupial carnivore. Once again, taking you away from the safari aspect of the Lodge, Mushroom Lodge was yet again exhibiting at this year’s 5th Zambia International Travel Expo which was held at the New Government Complex in Lusaka.

During the 3 day event, Mushroom Lodge also sponsored a Golf team for the Golf day held on the 11th April at the Lusaka Golf Club. The theme this year “Unlocking Zambia’s Eco—Tourism & Domestic Tourism Potential to realize sustainability for Local communities.

Seen above is Honorable Given Lubinda—Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism visiting the Mushroom Lodge stand. The Minister officially opened the event and visited every stand that exhibited during the show. Among other exhibitors, were ZTB, Botswana International, Zimbabwe International, Kenya Airways, and Investrust Bank just to name a few.

As we approach the Peak Season in South Luangwa, with the grass still green, the river at its peak and we are looking forward to an all exciting busy season ahead. Seen below is the Luangwa river at its highest this year.

Mushroom Lodge also welcomed back Dave and Dee Mathiak who have visited us for the 3rd time since we opened and this time brought their 4 friends all the way from the USA.

Dave and Dee with their friends enjoying a sundown over looking the Luangwa Wafwa (one of the many meanders of the river , which has water all year round, but does drop extremely in the dry season) The Mathiak’s have promised to come back next year, this time bringing their daughter with them.

Taking you away from Safari and into the city of Lusaka, Mushroom Lodge recently donated a prize, which was a weekend for 2 at Mushroom Lodge to the International Women’s Day Dinner Dance and Gala, hosted by Prosoft  Events Management Solutions.

The event was a fundraiser for a school Prosoft adopted called Gifted Hands in Chilenje. The prize was auctioned at the event and the highest bidder went to Prosoft CEO Miyanda Maimbo, with all the proceedings going to Gifted Hands.

From Left Back: MC of the event Ms. Annie Chiluba, Right Back: Ms. Miyanda Maimbo, CEO of Prosoft, Seated Left: Mrs. Beatrice Nkanza, CEO of Lusaka Stock Exchange and also Guest of Honour for the event and Seated right: Pastor Nelly co owner of Gifted Hands.

During this Special event, in commemoration of International Women’s day, Towani Clarke a Fashion Designer in Zambia also launched her latest clothing selection called Yali-cious. The event was a success with an attendance of women from various companies from all over Lusaka celebrating and enjoying their day.

Mushroom Lodge’s February 2012 Newsletter

 Prepared by : The Mushroom Lodge team.

The rains are in full swing, the bird and animal life most spectacular at this time of the year. The baby impalas all born into the new world and feeding on the wonderful new grass shoots as seen above. The mothers only give birth at the first rains when the new grass is out, in order for them to have sufficient food while feeding their young.

Apart from an abundance of wildlife, South Luangwa also boasts over 400 different bird species and between December and April this is the best time to come and witness the amazing bird life.

 Mushroom Lodge remains open through out the rainy season, please feel free to visit us this wet season to get a glimpse of the wonderful scenery, animal and bird life.

Mushroom Lodge,

Our People Await You

Welcome to Mushroom Lodge.

Mushroom Lodge’s January 2012

Newsletter Prepared by : The Mushroom Lodge team.

As Christmas has come and gone, we walk into the New Year of 2012. We would like to wish you all a prosperous year ahead and hope this year will bring you more success. Thank you all who have supported us through out 2011 and we look forward to working with you all in the new successful year ahead.

Mushroom Lodge will remain open through out the rainy season (Jan to June) and we look forward to an ever exciting summer and peak season.

Our people await you.

Welcome to Mushroom Lodge.

There is no better place to spend the festive season holidays than in South Luangwa National Park at Mushroom Lodge.

Ever thought of Christmas Carols in the bush? Well at Mushroom Lodge you can experience carols in the bush with lots of snacks, drinks and socializing. On the 24th of Dec we will be having Christmas Carols for all our guests with all the other lodges in South Luangwa out in the bush.

Guests enjoying sundown drinks and snacks at the Christmas Carols which are held every year in the South Luangwa National Park.  The carols take place out in the bush and all the Lodges take part and give their clients a great time during the Festive season.

The rainy season also brings a different feel of the bush, with the plush green scenery all over and very family friendly for all ages.  Above a family seen enjoying the bush while on a morning safari.

During the wet season, animals even lions are seen right on the road side, which becomes more exciting for the guests. Above you see a male lion also know as the Panthera Leo is one of big five found in abundance in the South Luangwa National Park. Highly distinctive, the male lion is easily recognized by its mane. Lions can live up to ten to fourteen years in the wild, while in captivity they can live longer than twenty years. They are also apex and keystone predators preying mostly on large ungulates. The females are the main hunters while the male is usually the dominant one in a pride.

As we approach the beginning of the rains in the Valley, we see a totally different park as the bushes get greener, the bird life phenomenal and the drops from the sky don’t keep the tourists away. Mushroom Lodge hosted yet another group all the way from Switzerland flown in by the Springbok Classic Air.Springbok Classic Air, is a full service luxury adventure travel company based at Historic Rand Airport near Johannesburg South Africa. They provide classic prop liner voyagers throughout Africa, Europe and beyond.

Above: The group arrives for their bush breakfast under a beautiful shady Natal Mahogany grove by the Norman Car memorial site.

Norman Carr was United Kingdom British conservationist working in Central and Southern Africa. He was influential in setting up National Parks in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Norman Carr was one of the founders of South Luangwa National Park, the place he called alternately the “Enchanted Valley” and the “Valley of the Elephants”.

The group sits down and enjoys a bush brunch set up over looking the Luangwa river, which has gone down tremendously through out this years dry season. In the wet season, the river fills up and tourists get a chance to see fantastic bird life across the river banks.

Guests arrive at our Special Sundown set up and capture the beautiful setup over the Luangwa river and its phenomenal sunset.

As the sun sets, the guests gather round the fire and listen to the sounds of the bush. At this time of the day, the most common sound comes from the hippos, also known as hippopotamus amphibious. The hippos, spend up to 18 hours a day in the water to keep cool and start to venture out onto land when darkness falls. They follow their well-trodden paths to their feeding grounds and return to the water in the morning.

An interesting weekend just passed as Mushroom Lodge hosted a fantastic group all the way from Australia and Tete in Mozambique. There were a lot of exciting events during their stay and excellent safaris with all the guests sighting lion, leopard, elephants and buffalos. Mr. Ben Grobler led the Australian group from Travel Joy while Mr. Pablo Blanch from Argentina led the Brazilian group through a weekend full of fun, excitement and relaxation.

Above: A group photo taken while on a Special Sundown in front of the beautiful Luangwa river.

Travel Joy Group—All the way from Australia getting ready for their night safari with Safari Guide Brian Zulu.

A herd of elephants seen crossing the Luangwa river while on sundown. The Loxodonta Africana is their scientific name and they are found in abundance in South Luangwa National Park and they also remain the largest living land mammal.

A bush breakfast was also set up for the group and it was set over looking the Luangwa river under a Natal Mahogany tree. The Natal Mahogany which is also known as the Trichilia Emetica plays a significant role in the Park in the sense that monkeys feed on the flowers and the baboons and antelope eat the fruit.

The Local people soak the seeds in water, which leave behind a milky substance, this is sometimes eaten with spinach. The seeds are also eaten by certain bird species. Oil extracted from the seeds is used cosmetically and also used to help heal bones.

The flowers are produced between August to November and fruit is found between December to April. The wood is used for carvings, musical instruments, household implements, furniture, bats and canoes.

One of the many exciting birds also seen during the weekend by the 2 groups was the Carmine Bee-eater . Every spring, Carmine Bee-eaters (Merops nubicoides) gather to breed at favoured sites in the sandy banks near water on the Luangwa River. With large colonies supporting up to 1 000 pairs, they provide an unforgettable birding experience.

Above: Part of the team that hosted and led the 2 groups. From Far left, Tenson Ngwenya, Ernest Njobvu—Safari Guide, James Lungu—Safari Guide, Malilo Banda and Brian Zulu—Safari Guide.

Once again we start with a new month and welcoming the spring and sun and doing away with the bitter cold over the last few months. Upcoming events for this spring time are soon to come with lots of interesting packages for you to visit Mushroom Lodge. We are still currently on the Zambian Specials website running a special until the end of the year. Soon to come this month, Mushroom Lodge will be running yet another special called the “Spring Special” and will be advertised on the Destination Zambia website

 Guests enjoying a sundowner along the Luangwa River while on their Night Safari.

Speaking of events, Mushroom Lodge will be participating with the Zambia Tourism Board this month to celebrate World Tourism Day and you will here more details of this event in the next few days on our Twitter and Face Book pages.

Indeed it is a pool with a view and during the summer time, our pool gets very popular with guests either overlooking the game that comes through the lagoon or taking a swim to cool off in the heat of the Luangwa.

Safari Guide Duncan and his guests enjoying a morning tea break after a very interesting sighting of a pride of lions resting on the banks of a lagoon. This is a very rare sighting and hence the cheers to Duncan for finding the lions on their morning drive.

The just ended 85th Agricultural and Commercial show which took place from the 29th July to the 1st August 2011, saw Mushroom Lodge yet again continuing its support with the Zambian Tourism Board. This time we were in the Capital—Lusaka exhibiting at the Lusaka Show Grounds, under the  theme… Shaping Tomorrows World. This year saw 17 countries participate in the 5 day Commercial Show, not to mention a few Egypt, India, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, China, Iran, Pakistan, Japan and Tanzania.

We saw the likes of the Governor of Bank Of Zambia, Honorable Caleb Fundanga far right visiting many of the stands and what a great honor and pleasure to stop and see Mushroom Lodge under ZTB.

Sue Rickens Kabwe—Far right from Zambia Tourism entertaining guests at the stand. Sue has been great support for Mushroom Lodge and has worked hard for all three shows in doing what she does best—Marketing.

Zambia Tourism Board had their newly launched slogan “Lets Explore” put up in well view of passing visitors which in deed attracted a lot of them to see what the tourism sector had to offer at the show. Apart from Mushroom Lodge, we also had Zambezi river lodge, Protea Hotels, Zambezi Airlines, Golden Bridge Hotel and Tecla Lodges all part of the ZTB stand.

This year also saw The Embassy of Sweden who received a special invitation to participate as judges of the exhibiting stalls. Many organizations and firms were very impressive and demonstrated efforts in interpreting this years theme – “Shaping Tomorrow’s World”. Government bodies, large companies but also small scale farmers and the universities were represented at the fair, which is also one of the main events in Zambia every year.

SAFARI

Now to the safari aspect of this months news letter, Mushroom Lodge had a special visit from Students from the Christ Presbyterian Church all the way from Edina Minnesota. They were a group of fifteen students who were in Africa for their first safari and all the better chose Mushroom Lodge to host them.

On arrival at the Lodge, the group was in time for a delicious lunch and then prepared for the first ever night safari with our qualified safari guides as seen below with nothing but excitement in their eyes.

Last month it was Kitwe, and this month it was Ndola, as Mushroom Lodge continues its strategy of promoting Local tourism through out Zambia. Innovation for competitiveness was the theme this time over the last weekend  at the just ended Zambia International Trade Fair which took place in Ndola and we had the chance once again to be with the Zambia Tourism Board. The event was held at the Ndola Showground’s with multiple exhibitors coming in from Congo, Botswana, Nigeria, Egypt and Kenya to name a few.

Among other important events at the show was a visit to the ZTB stand from the Minister of Tourism, Environment & Natural Resources Honorable Catherine Namugala. As seen below and above encouraging us to continue the good spirit in supporting and promoting Local tourism around the country.

From Left: Mr. Isaac Ndhlovu ( Director Mushroom Lodge) Honourable Catherine Namugala—Minister of Tourism Environmental & Natural Resources and Director of Marketing—ZTB Mr. Evans  Muhanga

Also during the show time, there was a special event as we saw the Zambia Tourist Board unveil their new logo with a theme of “Lets Explore” and also had a launch which was held in Lusaka on the 30th June 2011.

The Zambia Tourism Board also came out overall winners for Best Exhibitors as seen with the trophies above.

SAFARI

To take you back to the Safari aspect of this month, Mushroom Lodge would like to introduce you to Julie Howlett seen below enjoying a bush breakfast. From the left: Head Barman—Edson Banda, Safari Guide—Ernest Ndjovu, Julie Howlett and Louise Kalidas, Julie’s Host.

Julie has been visiting Mushroom Lodge for the last 4 years coming every year in June since 2007 the year the Lodge opened all the way from Norfolk, England. A link to what she had to say about Mushroom Lodge can be seen at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g479226-d1641362-Reviews-Mushroom_Lodge-South_Luangwa_National_Park.html

Julie enjoying a cold one at a sun down, during one of her many safaris undertaken while at Mushroom Lodge. She has already made her reservation for next year June, which will mark her 5th consecutive year with Mushroom Lodge.