The
Kariba Trip
9th
– 13th August 2000
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while this page loads. There’s a lotta stuff on it. Thanks.
It’s a l..o..n..g page !
Click on the links, I had a bit of fun with this page.
There are a lot more photos,
which I will save to a separate page and upload
it in the next day or two.
I had been looking forward to this short break for months, and
it was exactly what we all needed after the stress of the election period. We
were looking forward to boarding the “Kestrel”. We had packed all the food we would need for the 5 days. There were 6
adults and one hopelessly bored teenager ! who complained bitterly about the
fact that she was stuck with 6 “old people” for 5 days. She thoroughly enjoyed
herself, but of course, would never admit to it ! We are all keen fishermen,
and love the outdoor life, so fishing tackle was our first priority when
packing. I had been so busy with my tackle, and everything else I would need,
that I forgot to take the chocolates and sweets that I had promised to provide
! This did not go down well with the sweet-tooths among us, me included, and I
was ragged about it for the whole trip !
On the last night, my brother (amid great laughter), brought out his
“private stash” of chocolate (what was left of it !) and shared it among us !
We all attacked it !
The Kariba Dam wall. Half an hour
earlier, the floodgates had been open, but we missed it.
For information on Kariba,
you will soon be able to link to a special page I am preparing
on the tourist attractions in
Zimbabwe.
We
set off at 4.am on the 9th. The journey to Kariba was uneventful,
and we arrived at the small harbour where the boat was moored by 9am. The weather was warm, and the jackets and
tracksuits came off as soon at the car stopped. The crew, were, as always, thrilled to see us, and set about
stowing away our luggage and packing the food into the freezers etc. The men
went off into Kariba to buy loads of ice. We were under way by 10am. The lake
looked beautiful and stretched before us like a huge sea, the breeze was warm, and
we could all feel the tension leaving us as we left civilization behind.
One
of the thatched rooms at the Tiger Bay Hotel. This hotel complex is on the.
Ume River, in the middle
of nowhere. Hippos graze on the lawns leading to the River’s
edge. If you look
carefully, (I was too far away with the camera) the brown blobs at the
edge of the water are hippo. The hotel is accessible by boat or a
small light aircraft can
be chartered from Kariba. There is a road, good tar for a long
way, but then awful
roads for the last 200 kms.
Not a pleasant trip by road. We have done it,
but didn’t enjoy the
journey.
We
set off for the Ume River mouth, a 6-hour trip from Kariba.
The Ume flows into Lake Kariba from the South. It runs through the Matusadona
National Park, and the area is usually teeming with wildlife. We planned to
moor for the nights at different spots along the river (which in some places is
over 2 kms wide). We would also be sheltered from the strong winds, which can
come up suddenly.
Baboon Buffalo
We
had moored just inside the river mouth by 3pm. There was not a soul to be seen.
The thick bush on either side of the river was teeming with birds, and the call
of the fish eagles was heavenly music to my ears ! Of all the wonderful places
to visit in Zimbabwe, I love Lake Kariba the most. I could settle there, and maybe,
one day, I will. I can only hope.
The
Kestrel tows two smaller boats, one a pontoon, which idles along the river,
more for game viewing, and the other a small speed boat. By 4.30 we had the
boats kitted out with the fishing tackle and we were off.
A Baobab tree in the
Valley Hippos at the edge of
the Lake
We
passed quite a number of yachts on the way back to Kariba.
I think it was a regatta.
An Egret A Fish Eagle
It
is so peaceful there. The trumpeting of elephant can be heard in the distance,
the water laps gently against the side of the boat, every now and again a tiger
fish leaps from the water in front of you. We had been fishing for half an hour
when we saw the most beautiful sight. There were five rhino moving along the
river bank. One of them was a baby. In all the years we have been going to that
area, we have never seen a rhino. We found out later that they have been
brought in from a rhino shelter. Poachers have, over the years, killed off the
rhino population, and the remaining rhino had to be moved to sheltered areas
for their own protection. Let’s hope these wonderful creatures survive to
repopulate the area.
Every
day was a wonderful adventure. We fished, ate, slept when we pleased. The bird
life was amazing. We woke every morning to the cooing of doves
and the cries of the fish eagle soaring overhead. We saw elephant, many kinds of buck, buffalo, monkeys, baboons
in all shapes and sizes, crocodile - on the 3rd evening I saw the
biggest crocodile I have ever seen. My brother, sister-in-law & I were
fishing in the small boat, and we saw the croc lying on the bank. She (we think
it was a she) was enormous, and as our boat moved, she flopped gently into the
water. We idled closer to get a good look, and the creature was fearless. She
didn’t go under as they usually do, but lay still, watching us. When we were
not 10 feet from her, we stopped, and she just continued to stare at us. She
was longer than our boat ! We backed away gently. On the night before we headed
back to Kariba, we fell asleep to lions,
a few kilometers away in the hills. The sounds
they make carry for miles at night.
We
saw no-one except friends who were staying in a cottage at the Tiger Bay Hotel
complex. We did see the odd boat in the distance, but were not disturbed by any
other holiday-makers. It was bliss ! We caught quite a few fish, kept some of
them for the pan, and on the last night had a fish evening under the stars.
Delicious !
Tiger Fish
Kariba Bream
No
pictures, no words, no poetry – nothing I can say, could adequately describe an
African sunset over Lake Kariba. There is a magic, a mystery about it, and you
have to be there to believe it. Below
is what I wrote that first evening, sitting on the top deck of the Kestrel, and
these are the photos I took.
“The
sun is a red ball on the horizon. The Lake is absolutely still apart from a
splash now and again when a fish jumps through the surface. Baboons chatter on
the banks, and the cry of the fish eagle pierces the dusk. Further up the bank
on the left, an old bull elephant, up to his knees in water, lets out a loud
bellow, throws his trunk over his head, and showers his back. The sky is filled
with puffs of gray cloud. The sun sinks a little lower, and suddenly there is a
burst of colour across the sky. Reds, pinks, oranges, blues, violets – it seems
as if a heavenly artist has splashed colour everywhere. Brighter and brighter,
the colours dance on the water. A gentle breeze has come up. It’s warm and
refreshing. The colours continue, and begin to deepen. The sun drops lower, and
the sky above the horizon starts to darken. The colours fade as a light-gray
canopy descends. It’s over – as suddenly as it began. The artist has put away
his canvas till tomorrow night.”
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Uploaded
19th August 2000
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ă 2000-2001 Lorraine