Houseboats on Lake Kariba

Trip Start Oct 01, 2005

116

137

Trip End Sep 20, 2006

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Flag of Zambia Lake Kariba, Zambia
Tuesday, August 15, 2006

A new lot of truck-mates... It was a shame that we had to say goodbye to so many of the people we'd travelled up from Cape Town with but who were only going as far as Victoria Falls. We had (mostly) got on really well (and some had got on REALLY well!) and there were lots of shared jokes & experiences.

Out of the original 23 who started in CT, 6 were travelling on with the Green Mamba (though only 3 of that 6 would be going on to see the gorillas right at the end). 12 people joined us for the final night in the Rest Camp at Vic Falls.

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The new group is very different from the previous group - and again, I think we've been very fortunate with our travelling companions for this leg of the trip

01 - traditional houses in Zambia

. There are Americans and a couple of Canadians most of them living in the UK! There's a Kiwi and a few Brits, and one lone Aussie! The average age now is probably 25-35, so more people our age which is nice. Everyone seems very interesting, and much more 'traveller-y' so it's a very different vibe on the truck. It's nice that the two trucks have differnt feels to them. Fingers crossed the third and final truck will be as good!

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We left Vic Falls early (back to the old routine of 4.30am wake up!) and crossed into Zambia over the Victoria Falls bridge. It all went smoothly and off we drove into Zambia to Lake Kariba. It was good watching the landscape - there's a lot more 'traditional' African living here, groups of thatched rondavel houses with a fence surrounding them all to protect the animals that they bring in at night. The landscape is bush and scrubland with limited colours, just yellows, greys and browns etc., but the women all wear the most amazing brightly coloured fabrics, they are spots of vivid colour in the bush, it's lovely.

We arrived at The House Boat Company on the edge of Lake Kariba. Our boat is really quite nice, we have our own rooms - and we have BEDS!!

02 - passing the cotton factory

! Hooray! (small pleasures!) The boat left straight away making it's way across the lake to stop at Maze Island - a privately owned island that has been stocked with game.

Lake Kariba is a man-made lake, one of the largest in the world, and has been formed by damming a section of the Zambezi. This dam produces hydro-electricity. When the water level rose the animals had to be moved, some of the onto islands like Maze Island. Elephants actually swim between the islands.

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We got up early-ish for a 2-hour game walk on Maze Island. It wasn't very good because the group was too big and made too much noise to enable us to see anything. Before lunch Jono went to a crocodile farm where they grow crocs for their skins.

The afternoon was spent swimming (and writing the journal! that will teach me to leave it a few days & have a lot to catch up!) Lake Kariba is very beautiful and peaceful. It hasn't been as utterly relaxing as our time in the Okavango Delta, but it has been a lovely couple of days that we've spent here.