Safaris / Camps / Zambia Victoria Falls / The River Club - Classic

Since 2000, Wilderness Safaris and The River Club have been closely involved with nearby Simonga Village. The River Club has carried out a range of projects in the village, which have been funded by the generous donations of River Club guests in conjunction with the Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust.

Projects to date have focused particularly on assisting women and children, and now include those that will help the inhabitants in general generate an income and therefore help the entire community. In order of priority, focus areas are sanitation, health, education and income generation. The long association between The River Club and Simonga Village has resulted in an excellent example of how the futures of rural communities and ecotourism ventures are intertwined.

For more details and updates on Simonga Village, see the Trust website: Simonga Village Project

One of the most innovative ideas yet is the Elephant Chilli Pepper Project, where farmers of Simonga and other villages are being encouraged to plant a chilli patch around their food crops! The chillies are used to prevent elephants destroying food crops (dried chillies mixed with dung produce briquettes to burn at night, mixed with grease or oil this paste is used to grease a "chilli fence") as well as earning the farmer extra cash (chillies are sold at $1 per kg).

This idea, which helps farmers protect their food crops and generate income, is run by the Elephant Pepper Development Trust, which also advises farmers on natural resources conservation and sustainable utilisation of such resources in relation to the management of conflict with wildlife.

Please visit http://www.elephantpepper.org/ for more information and if you would like to purchase sauces or other branded items you can visit http://www.elephantpepper.com./

The Zambia Elephant Pepper Project is part of the Simonga Village Project, funded in part by the Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust. Read more: Simonga Village Project