In our Kitchen

"Each couple who had booked the San Pan dinner had the highest of praise for an opportunity to enjoy a very special dinner, a romantic setting,and the pleasure of enjoying the staff bringing the courses to the San Pan"
Betsy Younkins
BJ Adventures, Inc

As the mercury heads north Chilli remains the King of Cool. There are few dishes better suited to the fresh ingredients grown in our Tongabezi kitchen garden than our Sweet Potato Laksa. While one legend has the word Laksa (plural laksas) originating from the lowly, similar sounding Hokkien word for dirty, this earthy Peranakan noodle soup certainly garners high praise from all our Tongabezi guests. The Chinese and Malay elements merge very happily with the Tonga culture.

Sweet Potato Laksa

Peel and cut up into 2cm chunks 2-3 sweet potatoes (you could also use either pumpkin or squash - or mix of the three). Steam it carefully for around 15 minutes until cooked.
Meanwhile make the base of the sauce with: (all fresh ingredients)

• Lemon grass (2 stalks)
• Red chili (up to 5 birdseye ones - with or without all the seeds)
• Ginger (1/2 a thumbsize chunk)
• Garlic (1-3 cloves - again, one is plenty but you might as well just go for it!)
• Coriander (couple of fists full) stalks as well as the highly flavourful leaves
• Blitz all the above - except for some of the coriander leaves - into a paste using a blender otherwise get busy with the chopping board, pestle and mortar.

Gently fry the paste in some groundnut oil (or similar) for about 2 minutes. Then add 1/2 pint of vegetable stock and gently bring to simmer stirring gently for about 5-10 mins for the flavours to cook and blend. Then add in halved cherry tomatoes - about 20 - and gently simmer and stir for another 5 mins. Meanwhile cook some noodles as instructed on the packet. Add a can of coconut milk to your main laksa and simmer for about 2 mins. Finally add in your cooked sweet potato or other vegetable. To serve, put some noodles in each bowl and ladle the laksa over the top.

Our Comment Corner

According to some research women speak around three times more than men. This is due to many facts - mainly because the female brain contains more cells controlling speech function than the male brain - testosterone has its say early on as it decreases the zones of the male brian controlling speech, emotion, perception and memory a long time prior to birth. It is also a matter of scientific note that a woman's brain reacts to the act of speech by releasing powerful feel good hormones.

Feedback motivates prospective travelers, allow old guests to relive their experiences, show our management the way forward and motivates our staff. It is all good - so please go on.. leave some comments (and if you are female feel free to have three times the say!)

"Tongabezi Lodge felt like something out of a Hollywood movie. Each "room" ( in our case, there was three walls, and the fourth side opened totally onto the Zambezi River, a dreamy perspective ( bugs in the room were no problem at all when we were there, nor did anything else unwanted enter our room). Each room has a designated butler, who draws a bubble bath ( in an outdoor but private setting, overlooking the river), or delivers wine, and of course takes care of daily laundry at your request -- totally at your beck and call".

Tripadvisor comment

FEATURING A TONGA FUTURE

Lets not beat around the bush, lip service and charity often race each other for the post when it comes to tourism. Many projects are started with great intention but unfortunately years later it becomes clear that the original motives have been muddied and tourisms contributions to the project can broadly be filed under G for "guilt trip".

The Tujatane trust school is not however your average responsible tourism venture - Tongabezi challenges our guests to investigate.

It is quite rare for initiatives to succeed immediately and do so in ways that are even more evident 12 years later. Tujatane has done it. The 15 pre-school children who originally began the school in 1996 have graduated from various secondary schools in December 2008. One of these students - Chimuka Cheepa - was accepted with a full scholarship at Iona College, New Rochelle, New York, USA to study medicine. Chimuka started his journey on August 3rd with a farewell party of friends and family at Livingstone airport. Chimuka comes from a family of 8 - his parents, three brothers and two orphan cousins - in a house of four rooms - no electricity or running water. They shower outside in a reed enclosure where they take a bucket of water. Chimuka has always been a fantastic student and very dedicated to his studies. We are all so excited for him as he starts this life changing road ahead. Chimuka has proven that given the chance of a privileged education, children from underprivileged areas can achieve results that are impressive by any standard. It is great to see how a child, given the chance, the motivation and commitment can follow their dreams.

Taken from Chimuka's first email home
"I enjoyed the trip from Livingstone to Johannesburg because it was quick but not the one from Johannesburg to NY via Dakar. It was very tiring. It took 15 1/2 hrs! ..... While on the plane I enjoyed take off and landing because it felt as if I was floating but I did not like being in the air. The plane seemed not to be moving at all. At first I thought the pilot had stopped the plane so that meals could be served but to my surprise (after 2 hours) I was told we had arrived in Johannesburg. I tell you it was funny.

Tujatane calendar is currently on sale in support of the school's food and health program.

With fabulous photography by Nick Blunt and David Fettes (who is also very good at baby sitting and buying coffee for strangers), Designed byMarie Blount and printed by \Northend Creative print solutions

NEW AT Victoria Falls!!!

'Tis the time of year and a major spring cleaning has done the rounds at Tongabezi - all the cottages have received inside /outside painting jobs and the timber frames, amenities and furniture have been sanded and re- varnished. Every hot water system and all the electrical wiring has been checked and changed where needed. Mosquitoe netting on the doors, windows and patios have been replaced. The rugs have been washed and the ceiling fans serviced! Plans for the dry season include reflooring and the upgrade, redesign and launch of the Garden Cottage.

It is once again possible to walk along the Eastern Cataract to Devils' Pool when you book a Livingstone Island Waking Safari with us!

All reservations to be made through Tongabezi.

For pick up please visit the shop that Thunders near the Victoria Falls curio market.
Our meeting point is the weir within the park
- Drinks will be offered on arrival at the island
- Qualified guides will be accompanying the guests
- Maximum number per group is 10 pax and the age Limit is 8 years
- Relative fitness is required
- Recommended footwear includes rafters or trainers. No flip flops or hard soled shoes.

During low water there will be the opportunity to swim in the Livingstone Island pool on the edge of the Falls.

Airlink now connects Kruger to Livingstone!!

Tongabezi IN CYBERSPACE

Tongabezi is the # 2 in popularity for Livingstone hotels on Tripadvisor

Reviews of Tongabezi on Expert Africa