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Bamboo Bikes and the Zambulance
Guests at the Islands of Siankaba in Livingstone, Zambia will soon be able to participate in a new eco activity – bamboo bike rides through the local villages! These bikes are made out of regionally grown bamboo and produced by a local business to help develop artisans in the community. The bamboo is extremely tough (some even say a replacement for carbon fibre), and yet it is very light so makes a perfect frame. The wheels etc are all assembled from imported parts. The company making them was started by a couple of Americans and is being run in such a way as to develop local craftsmen and promote Zambian business. The Islands of Siankaba have placed an order for a number of these bikes and they will be delivered in a couple of weeks. They will then be able to give guests the chance of going on a walk or a cycle through the local villages.Another new development is the donation of a ‘Zambulance’ by the lodge to the local clinic to enable them to move patients back and forth from the clinic. At present some patients are ‘delivered’ to them in wheel barrows or precariously balanced on the back of a bicycle.