Luxurious break on Kariba

Diasporans always book a few days on the water at Kariba, when they come home for Christmas, and sporting stars travel home to Zim to exchange their wedding vows and celebrate their nuptials on the lake, upon the most upmarket houseboat available.
Local professionals and captains of industry are known to visit Kariba at least three times every year, either to cruise peacefully on the placid blue waters or to fish for bream, tiger and vundu.
My horoscope had indicated a lucky break, linked with some travel, and so it came to pass that my partner and I were invited to join a merry band of Zimbos, aboard one of Kariba’s most luxurious houseboats. For four days we would cruise the lake, exploring rivers, bays and inlets. In the evenings, moored in a sheltered cove, we would relax on deck after a day of fishing or game viewing, and gaze up at the Milky Way, unpolluted by city lights or exhaust fumes.
Getting to Kariba involves a tedious five and a half hours’ road trip. Back in the day it was possible to admire the scenery while motoring through savannah grasslands: Now that the country relies so heavily on imports, the motorist does battle with cavalcades of haulage trucks and petrol tankers, travelling around the clock in both directions between Harare and Chirundu. Stopping off for a chicken pie at Twin Rivers Motel outside Karoi, however, provides a welcome break.
During the winding descent from Makuti to the lake, the temperature rises and baobab trees loom in the landscape. Fresh elephant dung on the road is a reminder that we are visitors in wilderness territory. The first glimpse of the vast expanse of water on rounding the final bend is thrilling.
On arrival at Marineland Harbour, the crew meet us and help load our luggage on board the elegant craft that awaits us, moored in the harbour. When everything is ship shape, we set off for Gordon’s Bay, four hours away, towards the distant blue horizon.
The days merged seamlessly, one into another, starting with dawn fishing trips out in the tender, followed by breakfast prepared in the galley by chef Allowance and served promptly at 9.30am. Meals were a highlight of the trip: When Allowance was not impressing us with his culinary skills, fellow traveller foodies took over the kitchen and cooked up a storm.
Fishing sorties alternated with game viewing and sunset cruises into the peaceful expanse of the lake.
Bobbing gently on the golden waters, we sipped a variety of sundowners – beer, soda water, rum and coke, and neat whiskey. Before long, the cries of the fish eagle were drowned by the noise level of shaggy dog stories about the one that got away, or the pontoon that sank in a storm.
When our trip ended and we disembarked in the harbour, excited holiday makers from Gauteng and the East were arriving in their numbers. As we prepared to return to Harare, the new arrivals were about to experience untouched nature at its finest.