Exploring Africa’s best kept secrets

I HAVE been busy compiling the Financial Gazette’s list of best holiday destinations. And I will be rolling them out to our readers as we sail into the festive season. Today, I take you through my experiences in northern Zimbabwe.

Supper with man-eaters
The brilliance of God’s artistry and unequalled creativity is partly revealed through the majestic Lake Kariba as it snakes through 300 kilometres of extremely arid terrain and muddy swampland, resting on mountain foothills that stretch from the breathtaking Kariba gorge. For over 50 years, Lake Kariba has become the buffer that has shielded the vast majority of royalty and executives from the hyperactive and demanding metropolitan lifestyles and helps them fulfil their quest to retreat into quieter enclaves that warmly embrace them while recharging.

It is this peace that has always attracted me to this hot part of the world where tourists enjoy extraordinary nights in the middle of nowhere, listening to nothing but midnight booming sounds of Africa’s most dominant man eaters. Everywhere, blue waters stretched out, later uniting yonder to form a false delimitation between earth and the sky, which can only mark how far the eye can see.

Seven months ago, we embarked on a luxurious excursion that would take me 10 kilometres south of Kariba, dodging beautiful outcrops of green land as the watercraft zoomed in, the size of some islands being dwarfed by the massively build vessel in whose belly we feasted on roasted fish and temporarily swayed our minds from the challenges and struggles that have paralysed our battered and dysfunctional economy.

The small islands are visible only a few months per year, before rumbling waters consume them as water levels rise from May to September. We were treated to a buffet of unique beverages, giving us a healthy welcome to the land of Nyaminyami, the mysterious River God. We rolled past a series of freshly uprooted grass twigs, forced out of wet mud by a cheeky but subdued sporadic tempest that seemed to denounce their existence.

Then we propelled through clusters of lush green Mopani covered islands, swept clean on their foot by decades of relentless waves. Impalas and spotted guinea fowl flocks emerged from the thickets. They are the latest generation of dynasties of an unfortunate cross section of creatures condemned to the little islands by an accident of birth.

Lunch with the elephants
From the edge of the bridge that connects Zimbabwe and Zambia, we saw massive waters plunge violently into the Victoria Falls, mercilessly swamping the giant pools 95 metres below, before swinging back into the hot saturated air and defiantly rolling past a series of U-shaped valleys. The mighty Zambezi, Africa’s fourth longest river, offers a buffet of contrasting mysteries.

In sharp contrast to the sun baked flood plains, the crocodile infested river channel was lush green, bustling with a diverse range of creeping shrubs and countless varieties of aqua-culture. Basalt rocks, swept clean by the corrosive attrition of continuously flowing waters formed the frame that has bound the deep meandering valley since centuries before European explorer; David Livingstone claimed he had discovered the attraction in 1855.

The Zambezi is a citadel of plenty in a sea of poverty. In this part of Africa visitors converge to experience a complete package of attractions — the imposing Victoria Falls itself, a mixture of wild animals, birds, trees, cultural dances, the man-made bridge that is a hallmark of Cecil John Rhodes’ ambitious Cape to Cairo dream, and the unconditional hospitality offered by their Zambian and Zimbabwean hosts. We had begun our tour with the elephant ride that morning at the Elephant Experience.

There, a chilling shock had swept through my body after Temba, the 19-year old bull that I chose for the jumbo experience somehow decided to behave strangely.  When he was commanded to walk, he defiantly retreated, gently brandishing his mud-soaked rough trunk as if in revolt against my presence on his massive back. I tightly held my tour guide’s waist, hopelessly gazing into the clear blue sky, regretting risking my life on an adventure that even my hunting ancestors never dared. I was in the belly of the beast.

Riding out the Zambezi wave
A gentle dose of dry and cool air swept to the banks of the Zambezi, giving me deserved relief on a hot afternoon that had been preceded by exhaustive but eventful bush excursions across attractions in Victoria Falls and Livingstone, Zambia.
It was the climax of a day in which I had a rare opportunity to; crawl with the lions, dice with death on the bungee, spent 13 minutes on the Flight of Angels, and enjoyed Zambian dishes at the waterfront Royal Livingstone Hotel. Now, I was enjoying an unforgettable sunset cruise on the Zambezi Explorer, that gigantic…well, floating city upstream the Victoria Falls.

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