News from the Gache Gache: We saw our ALBINO hippo in
the Gache Gache river again this
weekend, he must be about 15 months old now and we have named him Chipolata!
Very special... Quite a lot of decent sized bream were caught in the long grass
by our fishermen guests. We all enjoyed the ''Supermoon'' which was enormous,
bright and beautiful reflecting across the river. About 80 people came to enjoy
a day at the lodge and braai with us on Monday, so a good day was had by all
and we had a highlight of humour by stand up comedian Carl Joshua Ncube to end
off a brilliant weekend. Thanks to
everyone who came over.
…………..
We had a very good weekend. The walk
was very well organized. There was no litter. The fishing was good
and amazingly the trip home was a pleasure.
……………..
I was staying with a friend at Kariba at the end of
July. I was disappointed in The Heights, it looks rundown
and derelict. The view is still nice if it is not hazy but look down
from the edge of the wall and it is a rubbish dump. The drive up the
hill to the Heights is an eyesore with the trees on the side of the road having
been indiscriminately slashed. A neater job could have been made of that
if they had to be cut. I shall not be taking my Canadian visitors
up there when they come at the end of September. We went to Lomagundi
Lakeside and had a very nice lunch at The Dome from where we
watched a crocodile at the end of the boat ramp and another swimming
across the harbour. The hippos were snorting and doing their
thing. When we came to leave an elephant was having a snooze at the boom
with his trunk lying on the ground. We waited about 15 minutes for him to
amble on his way. Except for the Heights. It is still a magical place. Regards.
………….
We were fortunate enough to be in kariba
this last weekend. We arrived on Friday to see cleaners on the roadside doing a
fantastic job in cleaning up all the litter and neatly placing it in black bin
bags for collection. Marineland was busy but well coordinated and efficient.
The staff there are always happy and friendly, willing to help. We set off on
the Shenga houseboat and had a wonderful 5 day trip. The weather was stunning.
Warm days and cool nights. The fishing wasn’t fantastic, although we still did
catch enough to eat. We saw the usual elephants, crocs (not too many,
thankfully!), hippo. Also a couple of kudu and wonderful bird life. It was full moon, which was spectacular
to watch. The one early morning saw an orange moon
setting with the sun about to rise. The last night we spent at Antelope, which
was a lovely end to the trip watching the buffalo and baboons eating the hay so
generously provided for them by the committed wildlife people in Kariba.
Regards Trish
…………….
Had the last minute opportunity to
go camping in Kariba this weekend with my son, daughter and her family - her
two tiny boys experiencing their first camping trip ever. Unfortunately the
experience was not an entirely pleasant one due to the drunk and uncouth young men who decided to spoil things not only for us, but
for many of the other residents at the camp site we were at. Total lack of
manners, consideration and respect for personal boundaries, coupled with far
too much alcohol, money and illusions of power left a bitter taste in our
mouths, especially after them vandalizing the pool area and targeting our
particular camp site with kicking over bins in
the middle of the night and then
coming in and throwing things onto our tents whilst singing, yelling, laughing
and egging each other on, then taking off into the night when we attempted to
confront and deal with them. And yes, we have names and the car
registration number of some of the people involved and if the management of the
site don't manage to take the necessary action they have said they will do in
order to deal with it I will be - believe me - either with parents or the
law if I have to!! That being said Kariba
is still AMAZING and we were
determined to enjoy it and create special and lasting memories for us all, and
especially these little boys - and we did. Annoyed Camper
…………………..
I don’t think anyone mentioned this but an
observational comment is that we have dammed the Zambezi at both Kariba and
Caborra Basa. I think that one of the big clean outs for crocs in the past were
the 50 year and 100 year floods. During the floods in the lowveld some years
ago many crocs and hippo got swept away. Anyone who is older may have seen the
film of the massive flood that swept away part of the Kariba construction in
the late 50s or early 60s. This would have been a natural clean out of many big
crocs. It no longer happens as we have dammed the river. Management of the
crocs has become essential as a result. It could be a well managed and
financially viable project, where quotas were given, crocs used for leather,
meat etc, while controlling the population. Without it we have a big problem on
our hands. We have created the false environment and have to seek to manage it.
Best wishes, Ken
…………….
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