Kariba

Kariba, Zimbabwe

Kariba is one of the main reasons for going into Zim. My Grandpa Corney was an engineer on the dam, and Mum spent some of her childhood here.
It is one of those places that all the family talk about, so it had to be seen.
The drive from Harare to Kariba took about 4 hours, and took us through some spectacular scenery, especially the turn off from the main road, to the winding road through the park lands. Although it was fairly dry, the trees were so beautifully coloured red and orange. We saw troops of baboons and herds of zebra...nice.
On arriving to Kariba, it felt like we had arrived at a holiday destination, significantly warmer than Harare, and everywhere had views of the beautiful lake, everything had slowed down, smiling people and much fewer people. We followed the signs to Kariba Kushinga Lodge, which was located on an outcrop adjacent to the heights, and overlooking the lake.
Although the campsite was a bit old, we were introduced to the new managers (just in the job for one day) Jan and Anita, and their family, who were fabulous,as was their Jack Russel puppy, who may have converted us into JR fans...Their other dog was sadly eaten by a croc just 3 weeks ago..(now that doesn’t happen back home).
Anita met us the next morning and offered to take us around Kariba, to look at the ‘town’ and to find the old house. We sat in the back of her backkie with her 3 daughters, ranging from 4 -14, who delighted us in their stories of moving from London to Kariba, and how much they loved it here.
We were taken to some stunning viewpoints, and up to the heights, which I guess must have been the epicentre of Kariba in days gone by. We arrived at Jacaranda Close, which is the place where Granny and Grandpa had their house... All the information I got was it was the last house in the left, and the last time anyone came to visit, the school teacher lived there... so, Glen and I climbed out and walked down the close to have a look. Fortunately, there was a lady outside one of the houses, and I just thought, ‘it’s worth a try’ and asked her if she knew where the school teacher lived.. Well, she answered...Here. So, she promptly called him out, and he explained that his predecessor also lived here, a Mr. Botha, and his name was Johnson, I explained that my Mum had spent her childhood here, and he was only too happy to show us around the garden, and pose for some photographs with me in front of the house.
I understand why everyone in my family raves on about Kariba... It is beautiful, and I also understand why Granny chose this house, as the veranda just had the most stunning view of the lake.
We had a quick look round the town, and up to the view of the dam, this had its gates open until a week before we arrived, which apparently was a truly awesome sight, we were a bit gutted that we missed that. However, the view was stunning, and I remarked at what a good job Grandpa had done.
So, back to camp, and a bit of a rest until Anita and co. came back to take us out on the lake in their boat. At about 4pm we met Jan, Anita and their youngest, Tia on their small speedboat. We spent the late afternoon/early evening game spotting...hippos, crocs, elephants, baboons, game etc from the boat. Jan was seeing how close we could get to hippos and crocs, much to the nervousness of me and Anita, as we kept pulling Tia into the boat more. Beers, biltong and great sunset ended this evening, with plans for us to meet up again tomorrow and go fishing for the Kariba Bream and famous Tiger Fish.
Kariba was amazing. Anita, Jan and family made the stay so much more also. They were just so friendly, and went out of their way to make our stay extra special. We could have stayed much longer, hell, I would have relocated there and then, but we have promised to stay in touch, and I hope to convince Mum and Dad to come out, so we can fully appreciate the experience, and maybe even go out for a couple of days on one of the houseboats.
I have no doubt that Kariba is somewhere that we come back to. It is magical. The people, the climate, the views, the dam, the stories, the wildlife....it is, just for me, the highlight of our trip so far.