Archive for the '2013-10' Category

October 2013

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GM Zero

Anyone who keeps reasonably in touch with current affairs, both local and international, will not have been able to avoid reading about GMO (genetically modified organisms.)   The GMO controversy is a dispute over the comparative advantages and disadvantages of genetically modified food, genetically modified crops used to produce food and other uses of genetically modified organisms in food production. The debate […]

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National CARDres?

Although a globalising world is popularly propagated, it doesn’t take much more than the FIFA World Cup process or a well-publicised battle for top office in a UN Agency to explode the myth. A feverish alignment invariably occurs amongst competing countries representing millions of people often with little in common but ashared language or national […]

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Swamp People

The Bangweulu Wetlands is the only place in Africa where the black lechwe still occurs in significant numbers with the population is estimated to be 75,000 strong. The wetlands also support a population of sitatunga and tsessebe. Bangweulu is classified as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International and the Chikuni area was designated a […]

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In The Garden

Bulbs are a wonderful asset in the garden.  They are easy to grow and often have very impressive flowers.  The well-loved amaryllis flowers in September/October and their large showy blooms come in many colours.  I keep mine in pots as it is so easy to forget where they are in the long dry season when […]

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Birds, Bugs and Bushes

Ansellia africana      Family: Orchidaceae Common names: Leopard Orchid   This is the largest of the epiphytic orchids and grows in magnificent clumps in trees in the subtropical areas of southern Africa.   This orchid is an epiphyte, which means that the whole plant, roots and all, grow above ground, attached to the branches of trees. […]

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Fool on the Hill

I’ve always maintained a vivid mental image of a female cheetah with cubs perched on a termite mound scanning a wind-rippled grassland peppered by herds of antelope. I’ve always hoped to fulfil this little fantasy on the Busanga Plains of the Kafue National Park (KNP). For one reason or another (and an excuse or two […]

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Mole in the Hole

The Barman   The silence was palpable. It was noon in the vast, dark space that was the ballroom of the Kings Head, a large post war built pub opposite the Bus depot and the chemical works situated in the sprawl of buildings on the west side of Luton. As an impoverished young employee of […]

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Beauty Naturally

EYE REMEDIES This month we are talking about eyes. As the saying goes “The eyes are the mirror of the soul”, of course (I assume!) it refers to the light that shines through your eyes, not to the skin around them, but the skin around them is “the frame of the mirror”. The two annoying […]

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Book Review

      A Visitor’s Guide To Kafue National Park By Peter de Vere Moss   Guide books to Zambia are now two a penny. In the travel section of any bookshop you will find at least three or four. But few of them will be able to compete with Peter de Vere Moss’ A […]

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Camp Zed

With the decision to convert the camp tents into chalets at Samango Camp, the Heroes and Unity long weekend was the ideal time to kick-start renovation building works with a solitary effort devoid of any distractions.   With the vehicle loaded to the gunnels with building materials and the usual refreshments, my two helpers and […]

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afFAIRS of the heART

As we sit here preparing articles for the October edition of The Lowdown, the temperatures over the last few days have suddenly risen. Yes, suicide month is almost upon us and that will be closely followed by, we hope, the start of the rains and then Christmas.  We are also reminded that October, November and […]

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Caring for Nkala

Nkala, the latest elephant calf to join the nursery herd at the Elephant Orphanage Project (EOP) at Lilayi, was rescued from Kafue National Park area.   Nkala was discovered by the local community alone and distressed amongst their cattle after his herd had visited the village and the cattle had stampeded.  The little chap got […]

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October 2013

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