Norman Carr Safaris and Responsible Tourism

In 1950 Norman Carr set up Zambia's first photographic safari camp. He did so in co-operation with the local chief and in partnership with the local community. This was the first example of responsible tourism in Zambia if not in Africa and was the forerunner to many modern day concepts of community-based natural resource management.

Identifying and nurturing potential in individuals was always one of Norman?s strengths and our Company has led the way locally in training and empowering people from the surrounding Mfuwe area.

The staff and management of Norman Carr Safaris are proud to uphold the legacy left to us by our founder. We have outlined here a few of the issues which are close to our hearts and we encourage guests that come to stay with us to ask us for more detail about any of these subjects.

In short, when guests come on safari with us we like the experiences that they enjoy to leave as little mark on the natural environment and as big a mark on the local population as possible.

Education

The Kapani School Project was established in 1986 with the intention of offering an education to children who otherwise would have grown up without the opportunity to attend school.

Paying for children's education is still the main emphasis of the project and we currently finance and support 40 kids at primary school, 134 in secondary schools and 15 studying further education courses at college.

We also provide building and logistical support to Yosefe School which is close to Kapani. Over recent years we have installed a borehole with a pump, and have built and fully stocked a library and a laboratory as well as various classroom blocks, teachers' houses and ablution blocks.

Healthcare

The Company is an active member of the Luangwa Safaris Association Medical Fund. This medical fund manages the upkeep of the Kakumbi Clinic, which is the only source of medical care for a population of around 30,000. Through donations we supply essential medicines and medical supplies. the Fund also pays for a volunteer doctor to be stationed at the clinic. This doctor is on stand-by for Lodge staff and guests but their main role is to provide health-care to the thousands of residents in the area whose closest doctor previously was stationed over 50kms away at Kamoto Hospital.

As a company we actively promote awareness raising and education about HIV/Aids through workshops, drama presentations, discussions and literature. We regularly organize ?peer education? courses both for our staff and for the general populous. Issues including how to avoid HIV infection, the benefits of voluntary counseling and testing, and how to live positively with HIV are addressed as well as general health matters such as TB, malaria, STI?s, clean water and family nutrition. The aim is to empower staff members and the general population with the knowledge they need to stay healthy.

Conservation

The Company is a corporate member of the South Luangwa Conservation Society (SLCS) and two of our management are founding members of the Board of Trustees.

The Society works in partnership with the Zambia Wildlife Authority conducting anti-poaching patrols as well as being involved in many other conservation, education and poverty reduction programs. For more information on SLCS and the valuable work they do please see www.southluangwaconservationsociety.com

Waste Disposal

We are conscious that as one of the larger safari companies in the Luangwa Valley, we produce a certain amount of waste, both bio-degradable and not. We bring what waste we can out of the National Park from our bushcamps for burning and burying at Kapani.

With no organized waste disposal facility in the area we are concerned about the increasing amounts of waste being produced. We send teams out regularly to collect the litter that accumulates by roadsides outside the National Park and we are discussing longer term solutions to this problem with the local community.