Andy Murphy: The Harvard graduate changing the Northern story through tourism promotion
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| Zaina Lodge |
In order to better link his intrinsic understanding of the nexus between the land, communities and people he had lived with, and from whom he married, he went back and did his masters in Business Administration, developed a thorough business plan and put it out together with his business partner and former boss, John Mason.
Luckily, investors, including a couple of Ghanaians, who believe in the potential of Ghana’s three northern regions, bought into the idea, and now, Zaina Lodge, the first luxury bush safari accommodation in West Africa, is near completion. PaJohn Bentsifi Dadson just returned from experiencing it.
Before lunch in the afternoon, I had arrived and stood at the balcony of my room, which, like all others at Zaina Lodge, overlooked two watering holes where some elephants had come to splash up!
It was a stunning sight, surreal even! I imagined how Andy, who was with me now, felt when he came to have dinner on my rooftop terrace in Kanda, a few days before, with his marketing manageress, Araba, who had, between him jetting off home to the United States to be with family, and returning and zooming off to the project site to supervise, finally managed to lock down a date.
Having read a bit about his globetrotting to such exotic places as India, where he went to find the operations guys he wanted to run this new hospitality facility within the Mole National Park in northern Ghana, which opens this September, I knew Andy was just as adventurous as me, when it comes to food. So, I told my chef, Alphonse, not to be sparing with the spices and herbs for the dinner I had fashioned for him.
We had met online, on Facebook, where I connected with him to find out more about a post he had made about the progress of work at the site of Zaina. I was most fascinated to notice that even before the buildings were raised, the project had actually recruited key staff and had sent them abroad on training!
Andy had said he was impressed with my menu, and the set up. I used a low table and set cushions on the floor around it where we sat. There were lighted lanterns and candles strewn all over, some hanging, some on the floor and on the table – not only because the power was off that night, but also to create an ambience. But seeing the backdrop at Zaina (which means beauty) I wondered!
On my rooftop, we hit it off, laughed much and were served my signature spice and herb infested jollof with lamb grilled in its juices, and luscious mashed yam, which got quite a bit of praise from him. I held my breath for it, and was relieved when it came. Coming from him, as he nodded with a morsel of the grub in his mouth, the ubiquitous “hmm” people emit when food tastes good, I was pleased. I was glad another well-travelled, adventurous foodie found my nosh a delight.
The Zaina visit
In retaliation, he invited me to the site of the lodge, the first phase of which is about done for the end of September deadline, half of twenty-six spacious tent and concrete style accommodations spread along the ridge of a hill overlooking two watering holes and an expanse of savanna greenery, which rolls into the horizon with a spectacular panorama.
George, a guide, picked me up from the Tamale airport for the two-hour journey to Mole on the newly constructed asphalted Fufulso-Sawla road. I have always loved the landscape of the north, and this morning I feasted my eyes as we zipped past picturesque settlements and communities dotted along the route.
As I alighted from the van, I received a very Zaina “Maraba” – the warmest welcome I have had in years! They lay it on, the Zaina staff. My welcome party seemed like the entire staff of the lodge, including the construction workers and maybe even some locals for the community – I exaggerate – but, a good number of the members of staff were there to bid me welcome, waving enthusiastically, all smiles.
It was unnerving but gave a nice feeling of warmth. Each one was introduced; Lucy offered me a cold towel to cleanse myself and keep cool, as Evelyn handed me my welcome drink, a special zing water blend, in the cutest little calabash I have ever seen, distilled by the very hip in-house mixologist and F&B manager, the earring-sporting PK, who is one of those chosen and brought in from India!
For a moment, I actually felt I had been transported to some exotic destination. It certainly didn’t feel like I was still within the confines of Ghana, for such hospitality is rare here. If these people keep this kind of welcome up, I shall keep coming for a renewal, when times get hectic down south in the capital. Just the welcome is a good enough reason to want to zip off to Zaina in the north every-so-often for a weekend break!
Winning formula
Andy’s formula for the lodge’s success is based on a three-plot model he and his partners devised. The first is the sheer beauty of the location and facility. Second, the quality of their food and then, thirdly, the safari experience they will offer. On that, they have one big score already in their bag. Issah, their lead guide, worked in the park for over 40 years, with the Wildlife Division, and now on retirement, heads the guiding team. Issah was my guide during my stay, along with George. Between the two of them, they can tell, just by studying the ground, which animal has come this way, and by the intensity of their footprint, whether they were running, injured or strolling! All clues that signal if we should carry on in the same direction, before we meet a distressed animal.
On the food score, as I live and learn, the experience beats any I have had here in Ghana! Period. Udit, another import from India, who cut his teeth at Alila Bangalore and more recently, as junior sous chef at GlobeGround India, is Zaina’s executive chef, and a very zealous cook. So much so that he actually has “cook with love” and “cook with passion” tattooed on his arms! Every dish he served me, from the potato in nkontomire sauce, and pounded beef steak to his pork chop with green pepper chimmichuri had Michelin stars flying all over them. Here for over seven months, he and PK have already started fusing local ingredients into their global recipes, including some of their native Indian fare!
As for the location, I doubt there is a spot within the entire 5,477 sq km park, which gives a more stunning view! The hood of their safari truck opens for clear views standing up, and the vehicle is so robust, it weaves through every terrain in the park. Something that comes in handy during the rugged dry season, and also in the muddy rainy spell.
The lodge itself boasts many facilities for the area in which it is located, and the business they intend to run. It had been the dream of one of the lead investors to put up such a facility in northern Ghana, and he was hugely excited when this project came along. Getting to this stage has been organic and from the look of things, they intend to grow that way.
Raising all the funds needed took a good 6 years, and in that time, the team that conceived the idea, John Mason and Andy Murphy looked into all the possible best practices and models around the world to try and incorporate into theirs. So, returning to the drawing board is something they have done several times! The result is what is being built now, with every conceivable need thought through and room made to accommodate other innovations in the future.
Operations are handled by another seasoned expert, Arvind, who, like F&B man PK, joined them from the RAXA Collective. They are a crack team, and when it is completed, the lodge will employ something like 50 more local people. And even here, Andy is picking staff from all over the country.
Already, at this starting stage, they have a third of this number on the ground, and a crack marketing team in the capital where all the potential clients are. General Manager Shan brings 10 years’ experience from the Aman Resorts, the world’s most exclusive hospitality group, with prior African safari bush experience in Arusha in Tanzania. And GIMPA graduate Douglas Nanka-Bruce, who, since joining last year, was sent for further management training in India from Ghana.
Sustaining the business format they have adopted requires very clearly defined and long-term goals. And to make the whole operation viable, Andy’s feasibility indicates operating three such facilities. So, there is more coming from the Zaina brand, one poised to put Ghana’s hospitality firmly on the global safari map and investment opportunities in the savannah region on the stock agenda.
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