Venda is one of South Africa’s most impoverished regions. Luxury lodges in the bushveld representing the best of Limpopo’s blooming industry appear as unapproachable monuments to the shack-dwelling communities that surround them.
In the past none of the money that filtered into these lodges reached the communities, who have struggled along in a region where unemployment is rife. But now Shiluvari Lodge is helping a nearby community, Elim, to develop skills and encouraging visitors to support the villagers by buying their unique crafts.
Clare Wilkie-Girardin, general manager of Shiluvari, is enthusiastic about the community-based tourism the lodge is offering. ‘It gives our visitors a rich cultural experience of Shangaan and Venda customs they would not find anywhere else.”
Set in the heart of a natural conservancy on the banks of the Albasini dam overlooking the Luonde mountains, Shiluvari is the ideal base from which to explore this ‘land of legend”. It is situated in a part of Limpopo that is one of South Africa’s little-known tourist destinations.
Wilkie-Girardin says the lodge has always had a close relationship with the surrounding communities and this relationship is developing further with time.
‘Our lodge and its sister company, Kuvona Cultural Tours, have been at the forefront of responsible community-based tourism in the Limpopo province.”
Shiluvari Lodge is part of the local community-based Ribolla Tourism Association, which provides tourists with the opportunity to experience a rural lifestyle long forgotten in urban South Africa. The association was established with numerous artists to market the region.
‘We have gone from strength to strength in the past few months,” says Ribolla CEO Joseph M Mashimbye. ‘More tourists are coming to buy crafts and we even had representation at the [World] Summit on Sustainable Development. But we still have a long way to go to reach our full potential.”
The Ribolla Tourism Association and Shiluwari have also established strong links with Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA), and the lodge recently earned the privilege to use FTTSA’s trademark for marketing purposes.
The lodge has built up a network of craftspeople in Elim who it trades and deals with. It runs tours to the homes of the craftsmen, who provide visitors with excellent deals on products that would otherwise cost a fortune. The rich and diverse mix of local talent includes beadwork, clay pottery, hand-printed textiles and batik work.
The arts and crafts community in Elim boasts a number of world-renowned artists including Noria Mabaso, Jackson Hlungwani and Lilian Munyai.
‘They have showcased their talents and pieces in the buildings of Parliament as well as the Sandton Convention Centre,” says Wilkie-Girardin.
These artists welcome tourists into their villages and share their unique talents with guests who take the trouble to visit them. ‘The difference being that tourists visit the artists on site, where they live, and not in some over-commercialised structure,” says Wilkie-Girardin.
A typical tour arranged by Kuvona Cultural Tours includes spending four or five nights at Shiluvari Lodge and then going out to experience first-hand the cultural lifestyle of the Shangaan and Venda communities.
The tour is based on sensitivities towards host communities. If a group of tourists are fortunate enough to be attending a traditional festival or event, they are not given preferential treatment but are included as part of the group of villagers attending the festival. This enhances the experience as it is not a commercialised event, but a genuine festival taking place in the community.
‘Where else do you get to sit down and eat a traditional meal with a king?” asks Wilkie-Girardin. ‘Remember, this is the land of myth, legend and python Gods—”
Local performing artists are regularly invited to perform at the lodge, ensuring the local Shangaan culture is shown to the world. Many children participate in the dancing, which gives them the opportunity to learn a new skill and to discover more about their culture, while promoting it at the same time.
FTTSA national coordinator Jennifer Seif says the lodge’s willingness to engage in social responsibility practices is remarkable. ‘Hopefully our trademark will help tourists choose between outfits such Shiluvari that have good practices and those that only operate for profit.”
Apart from helping the local craftsmen, the lodge pays its staff fair wages and provides good working conditions. It also buys most of its stock from local suppliers, supporting the region’s emerging black businesses.
Not even a tornado was able to destroy the spirit of the lodge. Though the freak natural disaster destroyed a large part of the 100-year-old farmhouse, which was the headquarters of the lodge, Shiluvari will soon reopen bigger and better than before.
‘We will have even more to offer tourists and improved plans for helping the community once we are up-and-running again,” says Wilkie-Girardin.