South Africa
Southern Africa
UK
Campsites (Africa)
It had been our intention to visit Mana Pools National Park - it's said to be the best park in Zim - before going to Kariba but we discovered that it was going to cost us $100 a night to camp there plus park fees of $20 each ( I should have checked the prices on the website before we left). The campsite fee allows for up to 6 people but for just the 2 of us it would be far too expensive - what a shame. Lake Kariba forms part of the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. It was created in the 1960s by building a 139m high dam across the Zambezi river. The lake is 280km long and 32km at its widest point and provides electricity to both Zimbabwe and Zambia. We visited the dam after getting a puncture repaired in Kariba - the same tyre that had been repaired back in Bulawayo. We were able to leave our passports at the border and walk across the dam to the Zambian side. The day before we visited the dam the 3 gates had been open to allow water out it was apparently a spectacular (and very wet) sight. The closed gates. The Zambezi river downstream of the dam. On the Zambian side of the dam. We stopped for 3 days at Charara Fishing Camp (S16 33.130 E28 57.254). We were the only people at the campsite so the owners let us have the keys for one of the chalets rather than having to open up the ablution block. As we arrived we saw this hippo munching on the grass right by our campsite! One evening, just after we’d eaten and were sitting round the campfire we noticed a hippo moving around and then saw a couple more smaller ones. They were eating the grass and gradually getting closer to us so Kev shone a torch at them but to little effect. I got up and stood next to the truck. Then another hippo appeared from behind our chalet and as soon as it saw the other ones it bellowed and charged towards them – they ran off into the lake. There was quite a bit of snorting for some time and a little while later we saw a single hippo feeding on the grass – don’t know if it was the same one. Very glad that we’ve got a rooftop tent as I wouldn’t want a hippo wandering around if we were in a tent on the ground! Every day we saw (and heard) hippo in the lake and on the far bank. One afternoon a group of 4 elephants spent a couple of hours by the lake. We would have liked to hire a houseboat for a few day but it needs at least 6 people to be cost effective as the minimum price is $300 per night plus fuel. 1, Kokomori Bush Camp, South Africa 9. Senyati Safari Camp. Botswana Diary (Word '97 document) Sunrise.
Zimbabwe 2010 - Lake Kariba
