Jackie:

"I recently stayed at the Covane Community Lodge and visited the LNP with my brother and 1 year old daughter, Ava. The accommodation and the reception we received at Covane Lodge was warm and welcoming. The lodge is situated on a hill above the Massingir Dam, and the sunsets over the dam from the viewing and picnic area were spectacular. The food prepared for us at the lodge by people from the Canhane Community was delicious and served with care.

The LNP was a beautiful park, although the roads were a little challenging at times – the infrastructure is being developed in the park, so it can only improve. Of course if you are a fan of 4WD, now is the time to go. We visited the sanctuary and saw plenty of animals and interesting plants. The best thing was that these animals may have been coming back and forth across the border to South Africa – Transfrontier, which is the whole point of this initiative.

I look forward to watching the development of the park, and visiting more and more – and of course staying at the Covane Community Lodge."

{From Great Limpopo: Talk of the Transfrontier: Official Newsletter of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. July 2004 – September 2004, Issue 3}

Gavin:

"Venda wasn’t the only place where rural communities were looking to brighten their future. In Massengir, Mozambique, we stayed at the Covane Community Lodge, which is a lodge operated by the local village on communal land to benefit the community. In two years they have already been able to use the proceeds to construct a new classroom for their primary school. When we reentered South Africa to stay at the Witswatersrand University rural facility in Acornhoek, the sense of economic optimism continued to pervade our encounters with locals. We met a woman named Martha who began to sell needlepoint creations several years ago to help cover the cost of living. She has since moved to a roadside stand and sells many items and is now putting her children through higher education."

{From Dispatch from Africa. Written by a UVA Student Majoring in Systems Engineering}