Goodbye and farewell our beautiful Loki Pooch

On Thursday, Loki said goodbye; with a wee wave of his tail, he left us.

The wave a farewell to us; a hello again to Saxon, united once again, chasing squirrels, monkeys, and each other, over the rainbow.

An exceedinly happy pooch and so much loved by so many. His presence leaves a huge absence and a long list of daily activities that we need to learn to do without him being by our side. Our hearts ache but we know that he is in a better place.

Zomba Forest Lodge will not be the same. With Loki gone, we lose our original identity. For nearly 10 years, we were known as Tom, Petal, Saxon and Loki (not necessarily in that order). We were all bound together as one. Guests chose to come to the lodge, often just to see the dogs. With Saxon gone, we forged ahead with the help of lovely Beebs the newcomer. Then Thiea joined us. But without Lokl, we feel a lot lost. It will take us some time to findoutselves again, but we will get there.

The Enchanted Forest:

The Enchanted Forest is a stunning path on the south western side of the Plateau, starting from close to Zomba Forest Lodge and finishing on the ridge, and passing through exquisite afro-montane cloud forest.

This forest remains thanks to the work that TREEZ carries out. The forest is rich in biodiversity, a unique ecosystem that is fast disappearing in Malawi, due to the constant demand for charcoal and fuelwood.

Thanks to TREEZ, the south western slopes of the Plateau have been protected from harm and are actually bucking the trend of deforestation. The number of trees on this side is GROWING!

How? Because TREEZ raises money that pays our conservation group members a survival rate for every tree within their protected areas. This amounts to millions of Malawi Kwacha being poured into the community every year.

TREEZ also pays our community members to patrol throughout the dry season in order to prevent fires - this also costs a great deal but thanks to this, the forests have been protected from fires. In fact, a few weeks ago, over 150 of our community conservation group members came to help put out a fire which would have devastated the Enchanted Forest, and were working until gone 10pm - all so that people can continue to enjoy the benefits of the forest.

But raising funds is hard and we cannot ask the community to carry out the work for nothing - so we ask that hikers contribute a small amount to our conservation work if they want to explore this side of the Plateau.

Guests staying at ZFL do not have to pay as part of their money for staying with us already goes into TREEZ 🙂