Zambia Blog
Student celebration and goodbye party
So proud of these young people and it has been a highlight of our 2 years here in Mfuwe "Contributing to the Community" I will support and have these kids as friends for years into the future. Thursday 4 January 2018 finally arrived I WAS SOOOOO EXCITED Prosper 6 year...
Wild dog pups a safari highlight
The wild dogs are one of the most sought after animals for the guests along with the lions and leopards. With less than 5500 left in the world they are highly endangered with the major impacts on them being population growth taking over their territories, disease from...
Garden of Eden for Elephants
Journey of life Our experiences over the past 2 years (1 Mar 2016 - 17 Jan 2018) in Zambia have been quite magical and majestic for both Jamie and I. We have immersed ourselves in the community of Mfuwe, loved hosting guests from all over the world and have learnt so...
Flatdogs Christmas 2017
It's that time of year again, time to spend with family and friends, time to chill out a bit, time to reconnect, time to reflect, a time for a little indulging, time to say goodbye to past year and for a leap of faith into the new year. Christmas Day we hosted 43 for...
Small world
A group of Australians arrived in camp which of course Jamie and I are always excited to greet. They were a group of Doctors mostly head of Emergency Departments from various hospitals over Sydney who had travelled a few times prior on charity work and now had become...
Oh wow you saw Ginger
Meet Ginger and Garlic the legendary male lions in the main game viewing area of the South Luangwa National Park. They are renowned for protecting the Big Mfuwe Pride and fathering many cubs. Both Ginger and Garlic were born in the Luwi pride to the north of the main...
Exceeding our Expectations WHY?
Over the past 2 years Feb 28, 2016 through to January 17 2018 of working and living in Zambia the most asked 2 questions from our guests and friends of Jamie and I have been “So how did you end up working in this amazing camp and Why Zambia?” There are a number of...
School reunion and squash buddies visit Flatdogs
It would seem Jamie and I have been selling Flatdogs very well back home to our friends and often people have dreamed of going to Africa though did not know where to start. So along came Camp Managers Jamie and Wendy at value for money Flatdogs and followed us were...
A blog on blogging
Launching Sundowners in Zambia - The suggestion of doing a blog came from our son Tim when we were making plans for our move to Zambia. I was discussing how we could communicate to all our friends and family over the time without it interrupting our busy work...
Health – Expect the Unexpected
Preparing for our 2 years in Zambia Jamie and I spent time with our local GP to ensure we had the right inoculations and confirmed what medication to bring including basic things like paracetamol, Ibuprofen, antihistamine for allergies and bites, stomach upsets and a...
Prosper is off to University
Jamie and I are thrilled to confirm Prosper has successfully registered at the Mulungushi University September 2, 2017 Mulungushi University info, confirmed accommodation and meals at the university campus and has commenced his studies Monday September 11, 2017. He is...
What do we miss the most?
1. Sorrento crockery 2. the beach and the Pacific ocean 3. The Esplanade and north head at Manly 4. kids, kids in law, grand kids 5. family and friends 6. privacy 7. Thai food - Oh I miss this so much.....Yok Thai Neutral Bay 8. A good hairdresser I hate using a box...
Dilla and Poppy our camp dogs
Meet Dilla and Poppy the camp dogs, as you can see they have a really tough life at Flatdogs well not really! The dogs are Jess and Ade's babies and have grown up living with pukus, baboons, monkeys, elephants, bush bucks, giraffe, guests and the staff of Flatdogs....
Flatdogs glorious food
Generally safari camps throughout Africa have set times for meals around the safari activities and offer smorgasbords. The high end camps do offer table service though still offer a limited selection of starters, mains and desserts due to limited access to fresh...
Church Alley
I love to run and Church Alley is my sanctuary of safety. Located in the village there are no elephants, few cars and very few village people. It is soft sand and great in the wet season as the water disperses quickly. It is my savour!
Sweet Harold Shuumbwamuntu
Harold our wonderful Harold, it is hard to put into words what Harold has contributed to Jamie and I over the past 18 months of our time here at Flatdogs. Harold is the head of HR which is a massive responsibility at Flatdogs with over 80 staff and just like back in...
Our beautiful Zambia – stats
Zambia Stats - The below statistics are from various resources as of July 2017 • The population of Zambia is 13,475,000 • The medium age of the population of Zambia is 17 years • 46% of Zambians are under the age of 14 years whilst just under 2.5% are over 65 years •...
Meet the Temminck ground Pangolin
Today I took Cathy and Carlos who are from Los Angeles on a CSL Base tour. Cathy has been in childcare for the past 10 years and when she returns from her Africa trip is commencing a 2 year degree in Vet Assistant. I thought Cathy and her Dad would benefit from a...
Flatdogs Camp great team effort
1. Ade MD and Finance controller 2. Jess Reservations and marketing Operations Manager 3. Paolo Director of Human Recourses, Hospitality and Community Projects 4. Harold Shuumbwamuntu 5. Lydia Camp Managers 6. Wendy and Jamie 1 March 2016 - 15 January 2018 Accountant:...
Pod casts – a life saver
Nothing new though they are a life saver. I am committed to learning something new everyday during our time in Zambia and the pod casts are truly amazing. ABC, Dr Karl, Health one, Food one and the ultimate one of all "Gardening Australia" They stop the boredom of...
A day in the life of Wendy at Flatdogs
General daily routine: • Arrive work 645am • Check 3 white boards – guest accommodation, safaris and activities • Check emails • Staff arrive 7am – manager goes through the movements of guests including guests on safari , who stayed in and arrivals/departures/bedding...
Project Luangwa village visit
Another part of the camps village visit is to educate the guests on our Project Luangwa charity that was set up back in 2009. Below is a summary of my tour. Drive to the Mfuwe Day/boarding Primary & Secondary school Introduction to guests: Formed in 2009 by the 5...
Protecting the wildlife – CSL
There are two organisations: DPNW - Department of National Parks and Wildlife (renamed 1 Jan 2016 ex ZAWA) currently have 100 active scouts with approximately 70 of them are used for guest walking safaris in the bush camp throughout the May - Oct peak season. CSL...
Liberating – freedom from restraint
I have been committed to contributing to the local community and learning as much as I can while here in Zambia. When you live in a first world country in a city environment there are so many restraints and so much negative press, loud music, advertisements on the...
Nanna meets Maddi
I flew back to Australia on Emirates for a 2 week holiday and to meet our forth born grandchild Maddison May Hart born 27 April, 2017. I was travelling alone on this trip due to Jamie having used his holiday leave and Emirates ticket back in April for the sad passing...
Friend visits a “surreal” moment
The year of 2016 at Flatdogs flew by for Jamie and I and after a number of trips back home the word started to spread with our friends and family about how we think Flatdogs Camp is truly great value for money and the area offers sensational wildlife experiences...
Special sun downers
May 16, 2017 ....We surprised a group of 4 guests Rob, Rowena, Colin and Libby after a 6 day stay at Flatdogs with special sun downers in the park. We set up special sun downers for guests to celebrate special occasions including birthdays, wedding anniversaries in...
Power of the Positive mentoring program
On from my post of October 11, 2016 I launched a mentoring program at the Mfuwe Day Secondary School to the year 12 students of 2016 with the goal to teach and support the students on how to obtain employment once they completed year 12. The classes are held at the...
Passion for Fashion Lydia
This is our very lovely Lydia who has been with Flatdogs for over 8 years and an integral part of the success of the camp being the head of stores. She manages all the purchasing and distribution of just about everything that makes this camp run from fresh food to...
Isolation and distance at its worst
The phone call came Friday 31 March 11am from Fiona (Jamie's sister) saying the Doctors have recommended he jump on the first plane home due to his Mum Marjorie being extremely sick in hospital. Marjorie has been fighting stomach cancer since the diagnosis in November...
Mulberry Mongoose
We are blessed in the South Luangwa by not only our sensational wildlife though we also have a number of great business’s that employ and train the local people. Imagine buying a beautiful piece of jewellery and support anti poaching in the South Luangwa Park. I met...
Facebook posting
I help out with the Flatdogs Facebook posting and today April 5, 2017 I posted the following. What's happening at Flatdogs today? Morning game drive guests were treated to seeing a male leopard hunting and 2 lion cubs playing along with a lot of giraffes , warthogs...
Life as Camp Managers at Flatdogs
Roles and responsibilities as Camp Managers and frontline Guest Relations include: Wendy and Jamie are committed to exceeding the expectations of our guests and here is a general over view of our roles in camp. Being located in a remote and rural area of Zambia and...
Thank you email to Oz
After 6 weeks in Australia (17 Jan - 28 Feb 2017) filled with lots of laughs, chats and love, swims in the Pacific Ocean, sharing our adventures in Zambia, staying with friends and family and gorging ourselves on avocados the day finally arrived we flew back to our...
Christmas Flatdogs style
Guests were treated to sun downers and carols on Christmas Eve with the ellie's passing by. Christmas Day they enjoyed a morning safari and were greeted back into camp by Santa who gave out presents to the kids. Ade and his team of chefs served up the most delicious...
Order in advance and go seasonal
Living in a remote location where the closest town is over 2 hours’ drive away and even then it has basic supplies you soon learn to plan your menus in advance. When we first arrived I was all over the show, I would go the local markets and buy the fresh vegetables...
Learning about the local wildlife
Over the past 10 months Jamie and I have learned to live with a wide variety of animals and species that Australia does not have including snakes, elephants, spiders, scorpions, termites, lions, antelopes, hippos and bats to name just a few. One of my first tasks when...
Weather in the South Luangwa Valley
There is quite a distinct dry season and green season in the South Luangwa Valley were Flatdogs Camp is located. We arrived 28 February 2016 and the camp and park were lush green with masses of plants and animals. From our house we could not see the Luangwa River and...
Wait for me MUM
Flatdogs Camp is located on the Luangwa River which is over 800 km’s long (500 miles) and flows into the Zambezi River. The river is home to large populations of hippopotami and crocodiles and has the world's largest concentration of hippo’s living in the Luangwa...
Tent 7 and 8 re-thatching
One of my most important tasks in camp is to always be on top of maintenance. One in particular is the maintenance and cleaning of the thatching on the rooves of the Luxury Safari Tents 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11.During November 2016 when the camp was expecting low...
Isabel Fiona
Throughout our 10 month stay in Flatdogs camp we have made many friends with staff and there families. We have experienced many celebrations birthdays, deaths and births. One of my buddies in the work shop is Chisoni Zulu who I spend most of my days with fixing all...
Dedicated to “Love & Laughing”
The peak season in the camp came to an end 31 October and Jamie and I flew home to Australia on our "love and laugh" holiday. We had not seen our friends and family for 5 months and Nanna was desperate to cuddle and play with our grandchildren. It is over 28 hours of...
Girls Pampering Night
Thanks to Donna from Los Angeles who stayed in Mfuwe for 3 months with her partner David we now has a trained manicure, pedicure and massage local lady Esther. Donna is a highly experienced and qualified beautician and started "Girl Power" and trained our Esther....
Safari chic
What does Wendy wear to work? I am a girly girl and love wearing jewellery, dresses and sandals and making an effort with my hair and makeup though working in a bush camp that requires me to walk up to 15 k's a day around the camp inspecting tents, meeting game...
Birds Beautiful Birds
Birds beautiful birds! The South Luangwa is famous for a variety of beautiful birds and thanks to a number of our generous guests including John Starr, Paul and Emma I am able to share some of their amazing photos with you. Pictured are our year round Pied King...
Jobs for Mfuwe Kids
When Jamie and I talked about moving to Zambia one of my goals was to "give back" to Africa based on how much we had both personally loved our experiences in Africa and how much Travel Specialists Mosman, Travel with Kidz and Africa Specialists had benefited over the...
Celebrations
September 1, 2016 and it's 6 months since we arrived at Flatdogs Camp, what an exciting 6 months of our lives! Highlights: our guests, the wildlife, our staff, the simple life in Mfuwe, walking to work and viewing truly amazing wildlife that you never tire of,...
Guests, guests and more guests
It is now the middle of the peak season and the camp is full almost every night, about 30 - 38 guests in camp. It is our job to welcome them into camp, show them around the camp along with the wildlife safety talk and show them into their accommodation. We both work...
Spoiling our guests
Being Camp Managers Jamie and I love to spoil our guests though this guest received more than I ordered. Ulla Stina and Carl from the UK were staying in the amazing Jackalberry Treehouse to celebrate Carl's 50th birthday. During their stay I asked Ulla if she would...
Sleep over in the bush
We had our first adventure into the South Luangwa National Park in July for a sleep over at the beautiful Norman Carr Safaris small bush camp Nsolo. Jamie and I stayed at a sister property Mchenja Bush Camp back in 2007 with Jenny my sister and Ameika her daughter. It...
My fitness buddies
I have a fitness routine in Mfuwe of gym/run and bike ride. Gym work out is at a near by lodge Track & Trails and the owner Pete has set a small gym (as below) for guests and he is a gym junky and allows me to visit anytime. Due to Mfuwe having flat roads and...
Happy Babies worlds apart
Meet Chabota, she is the daughter of Harold Shumbwamuntu Flatdogs Camp Human Resource, Hospitality & Camp; Community Manager who not only secured our Zambian working permits for us back in December 2015 though both Jamie and I work very closely with Harold on a...
Palazzo Flatdogs
We love our home at Flatdogs, it has a beautiful karma with lots of windows, light, kitchen, big bathroom, bedroom downstairs and one upstairs, enormous walk in pantry for our mountain bikes (not much food) and a huge lounge & dining area. I went with a Moroccan...
First family to visit Flatdogs
Jamie and I flew out of Sydney June 12, 2016 heading back to work at Flatdogs with Jenny and Alyson my sisters on board. It was so sad to leave our family and friends though having Jenny and Al with us made it a bit easier. Emily (our deeply caring granddaughter )gave...
Richard said
My desk is located in an office off from the Reception area which looks up the main access into the camp. I arrived at work on Friday and Richard our Nightwatchman who had worked the night shift escorting guess and watching out for the safety of the camp called me to...
Elephants rule
Elephants rule in our camp, well not really rule though Flatdogs Camp is committed to protecting and working with these awesome animals. They are one of the most stunning and intelligent creatures on this planet and Flatdogs has herds walk through regularly eating the...
Introducing Mfuwe Plaza
Shopping in Mfuwe is a very personal and fun experience and we thought it fun to share the experience with you and have attached a few short video clips.The main shopping street of Mfuwe, actually the only shopping street being the main drag of the town consists of...
Detox in Zambia
Simply put Jamie and I after 8 weeks in camp feel we are on a detox from our fancy first world life we left behind in Sydney. The meaning of detox is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body…well it’s...
Being prepared for the bush
Being a worst case scenario type of person when Jamie and I agreed we would apply for work in a remote bush camp in Africa I wanted to prepare for as I say “worse case situations”. This sounds negative though I do like to take responsibility for myself and people...
African Fish Eagle
The first moment I spotted an African Fish Eagle was at sunset on the Chobe River where it borders Botswana and Namibia back in 2007. The large bird was sitting silently on a high dead tree hunting for its dinner in the river. From that moment onwards I have been in...
Birthday celebrations in Zambia
Due to my birthday falling on a Friday this year and our day off is Thursday each week I came up with a great plan to officially celebrate my birthday on the Thursday. To start we had a sleep in and went to the restaurant area to use the WIFI so I could Facetime our...
Highs and lows
We expected highs and lows on this journey of living away from Australia and working and living in Zambia. The highs far outweigh the lows so here is a snap shot of our life from March 1 till April 1, 2016 in camp. Fresh drinking water from the tap. Flatdogs Camp is...
Will Smith in camp
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,...
First guests checked in
Well Tuesday March 15 2016 finally arrived and Flatdogs Camp is officially open for the year ahead. It has been an incredible experience for Jamie and I to see the staff and management work so hard as team to bring the camp to life. One of the most unique things we...
Meet the Managers
The past 6 days the staff of Flatdogs Camp has been working absolutely flat out ready for opening this Tuesday Mar 15. Jamie has been working with the boys on installing shower boards in tents, bracing tent roofs, painting the camp signs, fixing floor boards in...
Thanks from Team Buckley
Aussie Presents for our Staff We brought some fun gifts from Australia for our friends & staff in camp , turns out there are 71 staff - 15 females and the rest are boys so hope the boys like pink fluffy coin purses with koalas and kangaroos, if not they can try...
Why Zambia?
So why did we say goodbye to our family, friends, our Ingleside neighbours, our favourite Cafes, the northern beaches and our beautiful home ?? The physical and mental challenge, to strengthen our relationship, to immerse our selves in a different culture for an...
First week update
Welcome to Flatdogs camp Zambia we've been here 6 days and so happy, the focus for Jamie and I like any new job is for us to look, listen and learn which is exactly what we are doing . The camp is closed from 15 Jan to 15 March so this time of year the staff who are...
Jewel of Africa
Zambia is living up to its reputation as the Jewel of Africa , I love a good map This is a photo of stunning artwork at the Latitude Hotel in Lusaka where we stayed prior to collecting our work permits
Thatching lessons
Jamie's helping to build the roof made from thatching at the Treehouse ready for first guests March 15, in the back ground were elephant, kudu, giraffe, baboons, a shy leopard and a fish eagle flying over head off to a great start at Flatdogs
First sleep at Flatdogs
Landed nervous and excited in Mfuwe airport March 1st, 5pm to start work at Flatdogs Camp via the Immigration department in Lusaka to collect our work permits, Harold from the camp greeted us with his big smile and welcome and then the local wildlife greeted us at the...
Spectacular Victoria Falls
The smoke that thunders - David Livingstone was amazed and they are one of the Seven Wonders of the World , just don't do your hair before you go to view.
Welcome to Africa
Last minute packing up of our home and good byes to our amazing neighbours - we flew Qantas 14 hours to Johnessburg and caught the shuttle to the D'Oreale Grand Hotel 10 mins from the airport to finally sleep. Next day flew to Livingstone in Zambia to stay 3 nights to...
One sleep to go
Excited, exhausted and emotional, that's what the last few weeks have been on the journey towards our flight tomorrow Feb 25 to begin our new jobs at Flatdogs Camp in Zambia. Thanks to all our cherished family, friends and neighbours who have over whelmed us with love...
Photos
Why Zambia ?
I have had a passion and love of Africa since my first encounter back in 1997 and have personally travelled through Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mauritius including climbing Mt Kilimanjaro & shark cage diving in South Africa. In...