BACK TO THE BANANAS. ZAMBIA

 8th - 12th Jan 2021

The River Club main building

Before I left the Waterfront Lodge I was introduced to the owner/manager of an extraordinary establishment called The River Club. It is situated on the east bank of the Zambezi about 20 miles west  of Livingstone. It is a 'hotel' in the style of a British Army Officers' Mess from the days of Empire; very lavish and not cheap. It caters for  'well heeled' foreign visitors, not the likes of me with my tent at the Waterfront!

I was given a conducted tour so, short of anything else to write about at the moment, I will show you some of the facilities.

Left: The entrance hall in the main building.

Right: The library. Note the polo sticks on the wall. Polo is actually played in Zambia mostly in Lusaka by the White and Indian communities.

The owner has a military background and is a fount of knowledge on military aspects and history concerning Africa. In 2018 he organised a grand ceremony to commemorate the Imperial German army's surrender to the British in the northern town of Mbala on 24th November 1918. This was after their surrender in Europe. The story of the 1st World War in Africa makes fascinating reading. Look up German General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck (The Lion of Africa) if you are interested. His grandson attended the ceremony.

Left: A silver bugle which belonged to the King's African Rifles (KAR) which is in the dining room.

Right: The 'Officers' Mess' style dining room

Left: The 'ante-room'. There are hundreds of pictures and framed photographs, mostly concerning historical military scenes and groups.

The were also several photographs of competitive rowing events on the river. The owner had in the past organised a full scale 'boat race' with eights from Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

The main building is surrounded by outlying 'chalets' all named after people who helped shape the country. They come in varying shapes and sizes but all are top-of-the-range luxurious and in immaculate decorative condition. Right: One of the smaller chalets, called Edward after a former Prince Edward...I think.

Left: A bedroom, with a verandah overlooking the river.

It is on two floors. There is a posh loo upstairs and an even posher bathroom downstairs (right). Very elegant I thought.

Left: The outdoor 'infinity' swimming pool. Guests arrive by boat from the far side of the river (which is in Zambia).The spit of land to the left is Zimbabwe.

There are several other buildings including a full sized snooker room. Also a sauna and gym called, in honour of the late Queen Mother, The Gym 'n Tonic.

The snooker room displays many photos of famous celebrities and sportsmen born in Northern Rhodesia and, subsequently, Zambia. Some of whom became well known in UK, including Wilbur Smith (author), Phil Edmunds and Neil Radford (cricket), Bob Hesford and Dafyyd 'Daffy' James (rugby) and Johnny Wilkinson's mother.

Right: There is also a full-size croquet lawn. The hoops and the post are there but for some reason are invisible in my poor photo.

Altogether this is a very smart place suffering, as many other tourist oriented places are at the moment, from a lack of guests.

Left: A rather charming little coffee shop in departures at Lusaka airport.

That concludes my short stay near Livingstone and thence back to the banana farm.

,,,,,where the normal social scene was resumed.

......and I was even persuaded to do some much needed excercise!

As an afterthought from a previous blog from December I attach a video clip of a trip around a part of Stone Town, Zanzibar. I was the pillion passenger on a scooter driven by an amusing Austrian with a Go-Pro camera on the front. It ends going around a wall of the Old Fort. Spot the only person (tourist) wearing a face-nappy!