The ill-fated voyage of the Malachite

by | Jul 20, 2015 | Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe

Perhaps the fact that the houseboat Malachite Imfant is currently wrapped up in the recently-deceased owner’s estate was a harbinger of things to come. As it puttered out of Marineland at Kariba in balmy conditions however, the group had the distinct feeling that...

Canoe meets hippo at Mana Pools

by | Jul 12, 2015 | canoeing, Mana Pools, Zimbabwe

There we were quietly enjoying the tranquility of the Zambezi from our Mana Pools campsite. As is so often the case, tranquility is an illusion in the wild. Suddenly there was a commotion upstream of us. A canoeing safari group had rounded the bend and one canoe had...

Sisyphean torture at the border

by | Jul 8, 2015 | Victoria Falls, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Crossing into Zambia at the Kazungula Ferry took upwards of  2 hours. Not that there was a queue for the ferry because we literally drove in and on board. By contrast there was a truck queue of kms, where truckers can stand for up to 5 days (the ferry can only ship...