Welcome to the June 2007 issue of Tonga Tales
Winter has arrived so please advise all your guests to pack warm
clothes for the mornings and evenings

LAST MINUTE TONGABEZI SPECIAL
You are hereby invited to take advantage of our

SPECIAL 2 NIGHT ALL INCLUSIVE OFFER AT

 TONGABEZI LODGE FOR NEXT WEEKEND 7 – 9 JULY 2007

You deserve to be pampered and we will tempt you with full access to a
range of holistic treatments and sumptuous meals served on a
romantic Island or the very private SanPan.  

  

Please contact us should you want to book an idyllic cottage or a
heavenly house for these dates.


WINTER HAS ARRIVED
This time of year one can tell the African's from the travellers by the
amount of padding they wear...

As Tongabezi and Sindabezi Island are both designed to let the outside in we
now offer blankets to keep clients cozy karos-style around the fire, at dinner
and out on the Sanpan. We also have African mbaaula fires dotted around
wherever heat is needed, and of course you will have a hot water bottle waiting in bed!
At Tongabezi we now also offer electric blankets to keep our guest extra snug
throughout the night. The ultimate luxury however is having a hot breakfast
served in bed on a crisp African Winter morning.

CONFERENCES and MARKETING TRIPS
I will be in South Africa visiting Johannesburg and Cape Town next month. If you
would like me to come and see you, please contact me honour@tongabezi.com

EVEN NEWER TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Hopefully these lines will offer better communication links with Tongabezi.
Please note these are in use with immediate effect.

Lodge +260 213 327450 

Fax +260 213 327483

Direct Reservations number +260 979 312766

UK Number 0871 4081258
 

SKYPE username is “Tongabezi”.

HIGH RES IMAGES
High Res images can be downloaded from our website by going to
the following link - http://www.tongabezi.co.za/hires/

CHECKING ON-LINE AVAILABILITY
www.tongabezi.resrequest.com

NEW VEHICLES
Tongabezi have just received two brand new Mercedes Vito vehicles perfect for
airport transfers and visits to town and the Victoria Falls in these colder months.

This brings our fleet up to 5 Hiluxes, a game viewing vehicle, a bus and the
two Vitos suitable for up to 5 people. I will send through a photo next month.

KITCHEN TALES
Chef Craig Higgins
It was so wonderful being back on the Mighty Zambezi spending time with Zuwi
and the team in the Tonga kitchen. We really did achieve so much in my
three months stint and managed to get the kitchen looking pretty good too,
lots of work was done on the cold room and interior and the new waiters
room was complete and is now up and running!

New menus proved a great challenge with local ingredients and our lunch style
table service with new dishes served to each table!

Livingstone Island too has been given new and exciting tastes for breakfast,
lunch and tea, with a winter and summer menu to serve both seasons.

We have got a new 7 day menu running to achieve consistency and all the
chefs sat there full exams at the end of the course and passed with flying colours!

I’m looking forward to returning soon and to spend a few more months
with the team. Until then Best wishes and Happy Cooking

BIRDING WITH BOB
(Sanja and Quentino)

Livingstone “Bob the Birdman” is famous for his extensive knowledge
of birds. He recently spent a couple of weeks sharpening our guides birding
skills and I could not resist asking him which bird is most intriguing and
representative of Tongabezi. The Finfoot I was told.. and in the same
breath warned that these pretty birds are in a class of their own,
quite shy and hardly ever speak or fly.

   

A couple of mornings later we had 10 minutes to spare and jumped in a
canoe down river. Not only did we spot no less than 6 birds (two of them
very young!) we had one cackling away and another embarking on a mammoth
flight from tree to water! Proving that nature always has
another surprise up her sleeve….

The Tongabezi guides followed a month’s training programme in May / June
with Bob the bird man. The idea is to encourage our Tongabezi guides to
learn more about birds that are found along the Zambezi river and those that
are found in the woodlands as well as updating them on new names of birds
(Seem to change all the time). The Guides sat examinations at the end of the
training course and the results where overwhelmingly positive. WELL DONE!

Tongabezi Guides are more confident to go an extra mile with our bird fanatics
but also give all other guests and enjoyable bird watching
experience during their activities with us.

TRAINING FOR WAITERS & VALETS
My name is Mariève Daverveldt and I am lucky enough to be spending time at
Tongabezi for 3 months training the waiters and valets in the service they offer,
I'm from the Netherlands and have been studying hotel management in
Amsterdam. I have worked in several different five star hotels like Golden Tulip
and Hilton as well as various other hotels in Netherlands.
Working with guests is one of the tasks in my job which I enjoy the most.

I am here as part of an internship for my studies in the Netherlands. My task
at Tongabezi is to polish up/ build up/ enlarge the knowledge about
food & beverage of the waiters and valets.

Africa was one of the continents which I always wanted to visit so I thought
this would give me the perfect opportunity to combine an internship
in a beautiful country I have always wanted to visit.

I have been here since the end of May and I am loving every second because
of the incredibly friendly staff who have made me feel so welcome. The
resort is beautiful and Zambia is a very interesting country, A good place
to increase my knowledge and skills. The waiters are keen to build on their
skills and are very motivated to learn. Intend to keep you informed
of progress with this training.

It certainly is an experience I’ll never forget!

HIV/AIDS COACHING
By Agnes – Customer Services Manager

In our Zambian culture, gender roles and relations have powerfully influenced
the course and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It is for this reason that we have
to encourage education and dialogue in the work place on this very
sensitive topic, HIV/AIDS. We have put in place three team member’s
as educators to their colleagues.

We will now have a continuous chain of communication and knowledge on HIV/AIDS
going on among the staff in order to educate and reduce stigma and discrimination.

TUJATANE
Tujatane performs at Sun Hotel.
Our poetry group was invited by SHARe (Support to HIV / Aids Response in
Zambia) to perform at the fundraising musical concert at the Boma of the
Sun Hotel. Our children were invited to take part following a visit from SHARe to
the school during which guests were impressed with a poem performance.
The concert was organised by SHARe, USAID and Sun and attracted many
Zambian musical celebrities such as Mayenge, Danny, K’Millian and
MC Wabwino.  Dr Kenneth Kaunda and the American Ambassador to
Zambia were the guests of honour at this event.

The kids put together the opening performance and were brilliantly received.
They did a fantastic job and had great applause and cheers from the audience.

Tujatane performs at World Anti – Drugs day celebrations
The Drug Enforcement Commission invited our performing arts group to take
part in a competition on the 26th June 2007 – World Anti- Drugs Day. Other
schools in the area were also invited but Tujatane were the only primary
school and therefore the youngest participators in this competition. We
entered a singing competition in which our boys – Mathew Siazibola
and Kabeza Cheepa, performed a song about the dangers of drugs
which they had also composed themselves.

The message in the song was so strong and brought over so well that they
won first prize and received a shield and prize money for their efforts.

Well done Tujatane for these wonderful achievements.

 

Important emails:  reservations@tongabezi.com / accounts@tongabezi.com

You can direct all questions and comments to Honour at:  honour@tongabezi.com