The lodge prides itself in outstanding personal attention to service. This is due to the fact that the owners of the lodge live there too. Also as the staff are part of a trust that makes them owners of the lodge as well they take exceptional pride in what they do.
25.1% of our shares are registered in the name of the staff trust – any staff member who works for us for 5 years and longer will be registered as a member of this trust – when dividends are declared 25% would then be divided amongst the members of the trust – this to me is a true form of empowerment and will hopefully mean that in a few years time all our staff will be shareholders. Of the 7 registered members 5 are female, 1 European and 2 male. If they leave the company they do not take the share with.
More than 80% of our staff are PDI. Local staff are in management positions. Staff are financially assisted with funeral arrangement/payments. Local contractors are used for building, refuse removal, wood collecting, laundry and grocery deliveries. Our local village is Molatedi – we regularly take the school children on game drives in the reserve and then a tour of the lodges – this allows them to experience the thrill of wild animal encounters and see an operating lodge and the tangible reasons why the community is benefiting from Lodges like ours.
Our laundry is done by Mr. Ramorula of Molatedi – he also delivers our wood, gas and has done building at the lodges in the past 2 years to a contract value of about R300000.00. We have purchased 3 bakkies for Mr. Ramarula (as he was unable to get financial assistance from the banks!) and he has nearly paid for all of them within 18 months. Most of our curio stock is locally made by independent individuals.
A true ‘safari experience’ is enjoyed by all our guests as the lodges which are constructed from materials found in the veld blend into and complement the natural surroundings making us as unobtrusive as possible to the game that comes to our waterhole to drink.
Use energy saving bulbs and gas as well as paraffin as opposed to electricity. We reuse grey water to feed into a waterhole near the lodge. No game drives or guest vehicles are washed with hoses but rather bucket of water. We used mostly natural products to construct the lodges. We used thatch, wood, stone, canvas. Hardly any metal or glass is used. We support conservation by promoting it. All guides inform guests of important issues of conservation facing South Africa.
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