ZAMBIA

from Ng'aali InFlight Magazine Issue 3

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

Ila, Zambia’s greenest eco lodge

Words and pictures by Mark Stratton

You might want to put down your airline snack whilst reading this. At Ila Safari Lodge in Kafue National Park, biogas is harvested from guests’ toilet effluence to be recycled and used in the kitchen to cook meals. But if you’re thinking, ‘oh, that is revolting’, then read on because this biogas production is helping make safaris more in tune with nature.

Over the years, I’ve seen some insensitively designed safari lodges. Noisy generators belching out fumes, intrusive concrete structures at odds with the surrounding bush, fences thwarting wildlife migration, and far too much waste like toilet and bathwater, plastic water bottles - all passed on to the local neighbourhood’s often inadequate recycling provisions.

So how does one create a lodge that offers a greener, more sustainable safari whilst minimising impact on nature? Ila Lodge is situated on the riverbank of the languorous River Kafue. It is four hours by road from Lusaka – which doesn’t sound like a particularly green way to begin the trip, except Ila operates electric vehicles powered by green energy.

The lodge has 10 luxurious river-facing tents and was founded by Dutchman Vincent Kouwenhoven, owner of Green Safaris. He explains that his guiding vision for Ila is driven by conservation.

“We create lodges with minimal impact. We were granted a piece of pristine wilderness by the local chieftainess to develop Ila. But this belongs to nature, and if we ever close, we must hand the land back with minimal impact,” he says.

He also believes that investing in the local community enhances antipoaching efforts. “We create jobs for local people, which increases awareness in the community about the importance of anti-poaching as tourists pay to see wildlife.”

Indeed, I get a rather large eyeful of wildlife when I arrive as a 45-year-old bull elephant enjoys a mud bath very close to the main reception entrance. “Because we don’t fence ourselves in, any animal may wander through the camp,” says Malemia Banda, Ila’s general manager. We slowly edge around the ecstatic jumbo, who is far too engaged in lashing himself with liquid mud to notice us.

This sense of being one with nature is reinforced throughout. All night long, munching hippos browse around my tent and during daytime, vervet monkeys covetously eye the fresh fruits and home-baked cakes provided for guests.

The main reception is an elegant wooden platform with a bar and restaurant, and comfortable seats for quiet reflection across the olive-green river. The tents extend from the reception area and are built on wooden platforms. All Ila’s timber is locally sourced, and any trees felled during construction have been compensated by extensive tree planting.

Besides biogas, Ila is fully powered by solar energy panels . The reception’s walls are constructed from lightly plastered sandbags to avoid the permanency of intrusive steel and concrete. Waste ‘grey water’ from washrooms drains into soakaways to be treated naturally by filtration before re-entering the soil clean. Guests refill reusable water-bottles with purified water rather than single-use plastics. They have also developed a community farm that provides circa 30% of their vegetables. “The farm has created a guaranteed market for the farmers and cut down on the transportation of food from Lusaka,” Banda says. I like how a delicious vegetarian option is offered at mealtimes. Rare for safari lodges, but evidence shows non-meat diets have a less pernicious impact on the atmosphere in terms of methane and carbon production associated with livestock rearing. Food for thought!

Of course, Ila’s core business is wildlifewatching within the wonderful 22,480sq. km Kafue National Park. The lodge is enhancing this experience with what Vincent calls ‘silent safari’. Camp guide Lex takes me out on their electric-powered Toyotas and solar-powered boat. “These vehicles create less stress on animals by approaching them quietly,” says Lex, even if I am a little reticent about sneaking up on an elephant and surprising it.

Nonetheless, the benefits of our stealthier approach are soon obvious. Taking the e-boat one afternoon, we drift silently close to a herd of bathing elephants. It is magical hearing only their gurgling pleasure without the drone of an engine. Likewise, on land, we find ourselves amidst a hundred-strong herd of buffalo, relaxed at our silent intrusion.