Time and Tide Chinzombo

An image of modern luxury, the safari tents at Chinzombo are spacious and chic, with a muted colour palette which adds to the sophistication, and grass and canvas walls which help the tents blend into their wild surroundings. One side of the tent rolls up for easy access onto your private verandah which includes sunbeds and a sparkling swimming pool. The tents come complete with a private bathroom and a comfortable double bed with surrounding mosquito nettings in an eco-cooled sleeping area, so you can stay cool and bug-free whilst you sleep.

Begin your days watching the sunrise over the bushveld, listening to the sound of birds calling to one another and spend your evenings unwinding in your private pool while the sun sets over the flowing river, keeping an eye out for wallowing hippos. There is one family tent, with two beds and two baths.

Guests can head to the main dining area for meals, where they can enjoy their meals on the decking – so no view or wandering animal is missed while dining. The food is fresh and delicious, made by creative and professional chefs. Enjoy a refreshing drink from the bar after dinner and relax in the lounge while watching the sun set over the sparkling Luangwa River.

Guests can take part in a traditional safari experience of a game drive while staying at Chinzombo. With a knowledgable and friendly guide, guests can traverse through the bushveld in the comfort of a 4×4 vehicle while passing lazing lions, sly leopards, or towering giraffes. Guests can also head out on a nighttime game drive where your guide will be able to point out some of the hiding nocturnal animals.

An immersive and personal way to get acquainted with the bush, walking safaris are led by knowledgeable and friendly guides who will be able to talk to you about the importance of conservation and point out micro-ecosystems and animal footprints.

With the help of Chinzombo staff, guests can arrange to spend an evening sleeping underneath the wide starry sky. Before bunking down enjoy an evening spent around the campfire, drinking and talking – and most importantly gazing up at the wide sky full of stars.

When the river levels are high enough (usually in February and March) guests can enjoy boating safaris along the Luangwa River. Keep your eyes peeled to the banks for colourful reed frogs and wading birds, and if you’re lucky you will come across a lazy pod of hippos lazing in the shallows.

After a long day of exploring guests can arrange for an in-room spa treatment. Enjoy a relaxing massage in the privacy of your own room while you reset and rejuvenate your mind, body, and soul.

A family-friendly camp, there are many activities for the whole family. Children can enjoy cooking classes and the whole family can enjoy an afternoon spent learning about the local culture.

The Time and Tide Foundation creates social value in the Time and Tide communities. As the philanthropic arm of the Time and Tide tourism brand, the Foundation invests in the future productivity of African economies through community and school-based learning. The foundation focuses on five main pillars: female empowerment, health, home-based education, student sponsorship and wildlife conservation.

The lack of education and healthcare growing up in rural Africa means that some teenage girls are more at risk of earlier marriage and childbearing, higher rates of STDs including HIV and AIDS, and greater risk of domestic violence. This cycle is endless, as women struggle to find work and don’t have the money to send their children to school. Time and Tide Foundation have their own initiatives to help with female empowerment in the areas in which they operate. One of these initiatives is the holding of weekly clubs with over 180 girls from across 9 schools.

Parent committees have been formed and curriculum content has been shared so parents are aware and engaged with their daughters’ education, helping towards the aim of 70% of female beneficiaries achieving high enough exam scores to advance to boarding schools. The local communities are educated on the importance and benefit of empowering women, and indirectly around 3,500 students are taught about female rights and the importance of female education.

Living in rural areas means access to healthcare and medical advice is tricky, in 2019 it was reported that only 63% of births were attended by a health personnel in Zambia, and the number was even lower in Madagascar, at 44%. Overall, only 26% of the population in Zambia has access to basic sanitation facilities. The Time and Tide Foundation has helped to provide medical treatment for children who have required hospitalisation and appointments with specialists, as well as financing 14 surgeries for children with conditions such as bowed legs, cleft lips, and life-threatening injuries.

Food for children in their home-based education programme is also provided, to ensure that children are getting the nutrition they require. An example of where Time and Tides work has been successful is in Madagascar, where a part-time doctor and three full-time nurses were employed, which now offers 2,800 local people access to reliable medical care, and over 6,000 who can travel only a few kilometres to receive health care.

The doctor has even helped during Covid-19, educating people on how to stay safe during covid, and distributing over 400 reusable masks. In 2020, 79% of families with children with special needs suffered substantial income loss, resulting in food insecurity. To assist these families, Time and Tide Foundation distributed three months’ worth of food hampers to every family on the programme and the volunteer caregivers.

90-98% of children with special needs in Zambia are out of school. Due to this, literacy rates in the area are very low, with only 3% of adults with special needs in Sub-Saharan Africa being literate. This leads to limited professional and working opportunities in adulthood. The Time and Tide Foundation have a ‘Home-Based Education Programme’ which provides education plans for children with special needs and their families, with the primary objective of seeing 75% of these children enrol in primary schools. In 2021, 172 children are registered in this programme, with 60% so far enrolled in formal primary schools.

As well as helping the children, this programme also supports 16 teaching assistants with full training and deployment to primary schools to help implement inclusive education. As well as supporting children the home-based education programme also benefits 1,400 community caregivers, parents and teachers across the area.

40% of children in Sub-Saharan Africa are not in school. Those who are in school find education standards are low, meaning they have little understanding of the curriculum they have been taught. The Time and Tide Foundation has its own student sponsorship programme which strives to eliminate barriers to education for children with high academic potential, who would not otherwise be able to afford education. After enrollment in this programme, the aim is to see 85% of students retained through secondary school and 50% to qualify for government bursaries to attend university.

So far, 60 students are sponsored in secondary school and college. As a result of the investment in their children’s education, 120 parents directly benefit from the sponsorship programme too, with an additional 170 residents positively impacted through their relationship with sponsored students.