KARIBA !
From the Batonka word "Kariwa" meaning "little trap"
My first visit to Kariba was nearly my last!
In an ill-advised attempt to take this photograph of the lower part of the dam wall it was necessary to completely ignore the enormous sign written in several languages which warned of the direst consequences which could & would befall anybody who ventured beyond the point where the notice stood.
After descending down the stone stairway for some 30 or 40 steps & pausing briefly to take this shot of the closed floodgates, a booming voice was heard from up above with the now famous greeting, "OH-Ha, now you're in the big shit!". Quite how we managed to talk our way out of that situation has now melted into the inaccessible recesses of memory. Maybe we didn't really look like saboteurs or gooks!
The broader picture taken from a safer vantage point.
………..and after the rains have filled the lake for 4 of the 6 gates to be opened.
and a rare occasion when all 6 were let loose unleashing an estimated 100,000,000 gallons per minute.
and just to prove that I went over onto the northern bank before the border was closed………….
But there was more to Kariba than just a Dam Wall ……………….
Fishing and game viewing being high amongst the other popular activities.
and the opportunity to combine both activities at the same time was not uncommon.
who hasn't fished for tigers hasn't fished!
Trips along & across the lake were popular tourist attractions. The hydrofoil "SeaFlight" came to a somewhat ignominious end, as I recall, but what became of the Ferry boat "SeaLion" I do not know but I have fond memories of sailing all the way the lake down from Karribea Bay to Mlibizi on board this boat. It was a full day & night trip, with frequent pauses for game viewing and for swimming.
Sunsets in Africa are always a splendid moment but few are finer than those at Kariba.
This view from Kariba Heights looking north-west along the lake could be a seaside view in the Mediterranean…but notice the 3 flags, Portuguese, South African & Rhodesian.
The Santa Barbara church in Kariba town was built by the Italian workmen who were employed in the construction of the 420 foot high Dam and was dedicated to the many who lost their lives in this epic venture which began in 1955 and was completed in 1961.
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