Flatdogs Camp in South Luangwa has started 2024 on a high with official Fair Trade Tourism Certification. This means that owner Jessica Salmon and her team have proven a dedication to ‘fair wages and working conditions, fair purchasing and operations, equitable distribution of benefits, and respect for human rights, culture and the environment’.

This all adds up to guests being assured that Flatdogs’ staff and suppliers are treated ethically, and that care is taken to ensure that profit from the ongoing success of the camp is channelled into conservation and community projects in the area.

Jessica explains: ‘It was a two-year process with a lot of help from the CBI [an international procurement, processing and export company] who offered sustainable tourism training and help with the reporting process, which was quite intense and covers all aspects of the business from staff employment processes to safety to training as well as ethical activities, conservation of cultural heritage and waste management. The process really helps you look at your business more deeply and discover options for how to do things in different, more thoughtful and sustainable ways.

‘We couldn’t be happier to be the trail blazers for this process in Zambia and hope that many more camps and lodges will aim for this level of commitment to sustainability of operations.’

The Croc’s Nest villa will go from two to three en suite bedrooms.

Plans for 2024

Flatdogs ended 2023 on the high of the Fair Trade accreditation and going 80 percent solar power to be as off-grid as possible. But Jessica isn’t stopping there: the hugely popular Croc’s Nest – a private villa with its own pool – is getting a third en suite bedroom. This means the Nest will have three bedrooms and three bathrooms; still perfect for parents with kids but now also able to take three couples travelling together or slightly bigger families or groups.

Even better news for those wanting to hit the October peak season and still get a good night’s sleep in the heat is that Evening Breeze cooling systems will installed to ensure beds are at comfortable temperatures – no more tossing and turning, fiddling with fans or getting up to wet kikois that dry in two minutes!