Life in Kariba sure was a BIG change from life on a farm in Zambia! I think the 1st big adjustment was the abundance of wild animals! Sadly, the poaching is rife in Zambia, and the farm we were living on literally had NO wild animals except for a couple of jackals and flocks of Guinea fowls. Everything else had been poached and eaten. So, when I went out on one of my first bike rides around the Mahombekombe area (the name Mahombekombe coming from the Shona word meaning ‘shore’ or ‘beaches’ due to the location in closeness to the edge of the lake) in Kariba you can imagine my surprise and delight at coming across a very friendly zebra! He came RIGHT up to me! What an unforgettable experience!
Another drastic change from life in Zambia was the fact my husband didn’t have to work weekends, so we were now able to spend more time together as a couple. On one of our 1st free weekends we asked a friend to show us how to get to the Nyaodza River Bridge (a favourite with locals). It had been raining a lot and we’d heard it was a pretty spot for a picnic and indeed it was! Just make sure you don’t go in the water as there are LOADS of crocodiles you don’t see at first! We spent a lovely afternoon by the river and now always make a plan to take our visiting family and friends to this pretty spot.
One of my favourite hobbies is fishing, again not something we did a lot of in Zambia, although we did live right on the edge of a beautiful river there, the fishing was not good. Now I live in Kariba and can go fishing just about whenever I like! Well … not really … someone has to work – but still! In my opinion Kariba offers one of the most diverse fishing options in Africa. You can catch anything from Mellie to Bottlenose to Vundu or the world-famous Tiger Fish! Woody and I try to make sure we get out on the lake as often as possible. The fishing isn’t always good, but even if you don’t catch, you don’t mind when you have such a stunning backdrop. Kariba Sunsets are in a class all of their own.
