Home » Zambia » Day 2. Sun 18th - April Kariba Dam.

Today is a fairly easy day, and we get to lie in until 6:30. The day dawns bright and sunny and I decide to have an early morning swim. However it would seem that crocodiles are not the only danger in the lake - a party of three hippos have beaten me to it and are wallowing in the shallows. Keeping a keen eye on my escape route I venture cautiously down the beach to photograph them, much to the consternation of the others who are watching from the safety of the wall. There are two things to remember with hippos, arguably the most dangerous of all African mammals. 1. although they have an impressive turn of speed they have very short legs and can't jump, so anything higher than about 6 inches between you and the charging hippo affords protection. 2. the one sure way to provoke a hippo is to get between it and the water. As these were already in the water and looking very relaxed

Day 2. Sun 18th - April Kariba Dam.

DaveMidgley
2005-10-22 09:59:38

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be a good idea, in view of the situation in Zimbabwe, to build another generator on the Zambian side. Each side is capable of generating about 600MW, but it is clear from the water flow out of the exit tunnels that the Zimbabwean side is working a good deal harder than the Zambian side.

A possibly apocryphal tale tells of the Managing Director of B. P., who has a large house downstream of the dam, ringing the dam authority and offering them $10M on the spot to close the sluice gates because the water level had risen so high that his house had flooded.

We decide to visit Sambu crocodile farm, but have some difficulty finding it. Eventually we stop at a village whose primary industry seems to be fish, as they have huge racks of them drying in the sun. We ask the head woman for directions and eventually find the farm. It is a working farm not a tourist attraction and we have been warned that we may not be allowed in, but the event we are welcomed, and shown around the farm by Charles. However, it is not all that exciting, and I suspect that the world trade in genuine crocodile-skin handbags is probably not large enough to keep it going much longer.

We return to the Eagle's Rest for lunch. As we sit down to eat clouds begin to gather and there are ominous rumblings from Zimbabwe. By the time we have finished our steak sandwiches the wind has reached gale force, lighting is flashing and the rain is being driven through the glassless netted windows of our chalets.
Despite the maelstrom I fall fast asleep. When I wake the storm has passed, the sun is out, the hotel staff are out in force with mops and buckets, and the group is just about to go off for a sunset cruise on the Zambesi in Ian Kennedy's houseboat. We load up with beers, and he takes us up the river until we can see the dam from the water.

Ian has organised a barbeque for our return, and he and his wife Tricia join us for dinner. While the meat is cooking he shows us a fascinating video about the construction of the Kariba dam, and about Norman Carr. Widely regarded as the founding father of walking safaris, Norman Carr was more influential in developing conservation policies and a wildlife tourism industry in Zambia than any other individual. His son Adrian has carried on his father’s work and now runs Norman Carr Safaris. (For more information about Norman and Adrian Carr see the Project African Wilderness site. Adrian Carr has agreed to be the advisor on conservation and game breeding for the PAW project). Unfortunately we don't have time to watch to the end. I mean to ask Ian if he has copies for sale, but never get round to it. Oh well, next time.