Kariba

Today was a travel day. I had arisen at about seven, folded the mosquito net, and began to pack finally. I decided to leave with the guest house my knapsack full of various things not really needed. But decided to bring this iPad along with me, to keep some notes and to keep the pictures. I am hoping that the charge will last.

Met a nice man at breakfast, as well as two women from England. The women were here to look into a cooperative venture between their organization and on of the universities here. The man was from South Africa (although he had been born in Zimbabwe), and was here to promote some agricultural products. He and I talked about what I was hoping to see, and also about the differing cultures in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He said that the South African culture was more violent, but also that travel was pretty safe outside Johannesburg

I was due to be picked up at ten, so I got finished my meal and my packing, and went to the office to see the beautiful Dorcas again and settle my bill. This I did, and she took my knapsack to put in a safe place.

Charlie and Daphne arrived about 10:20, which is really ten in Zambian time. I met the driver, Martin, and we were off. But of course we had to stop for some shopping, at Martin's insistence. We wove our way through the downtown of Lusaka, with it's incredible traffic and lots of people. Then out towards the country to what would be called in Canada a strip mall, with a large grocery store in it. We bought some bananas and olives and buns for lunch, and set off again.

Once out of Lusaka, we fairly quickly got into an area of more hills (Lusaka itself is quite flat). There were often people at the side of the road, selling produce or wood for fires, or large containers for water. The communities we saw began as flat-roofed houses with tin for roofs, then became more and more circular houses with thatched roofs. And the number of houses per community began to drop as we got further from the city. The hills got bigger and the roads got worse. Pot holes which would swallow my smart car with lots of room to spare.

There were two stops for police patrols, and on one our driver passed over some money, and then we moved on. Occasionally we would see some goats or cows. They would amble onto the road, cross slowly, and we would stop for them (the driver would have to pay the owner if they were killed by the car). We climbed and took some hairpin turns to get to the top of the hills before coming into the Zambesi valley. There was a moment of awakening when we passed beneath a sign which proclaimed the "Sinoelectric corporation", and in fact the Chinese are now in control of the major electric generating plant in the country. As we came down to the river valley, we realized that the road actually crosses the dam itself.

Lake Kariba is the result of this dam, originally built by the cooperation of Zimbabwe, Zambia, and perhaps Malawi. It was built in the late 50's, and is now run by Chinese.

Crossing the border was interesting. We had to do it on both sides, to allow us to leave Zambia, and to allow us to come into Zimbabwe. And of course there was money involved: $75 per person. I didn't have a $5, so gave them $80, expecting change. They claimed not to have any bills for change (although as Charlie points out, if they are charging $75, they must have some $5 bills). Fortunately, Charlie had the right change, so they didn't get to pocket my money today. Our driver had said that we would see more native animals in Zimbabwe than in Zambia, and sure enough, after passing through the border, we spotted some baboons - mother and child - at the side of the road. Saw a few more along the road to the lodge we are at, the Cutty Sark on Lake Kariba. And also some large dung piles which the driver said were elephant dung, and that the elephants are a problem along the roads at night. I'll keep that in mind.

The lodge is very nice, and very quiet. There are only ten guests tonight, so there are more staff than guests. And, apparently, we have to pay for our own suppers tonight, which we had not expected. But we are finding that the rules change seemingly at a whim, so we were not totally surprised.

We got here just before four o'clock, so I sat with Daphne under a thatched roofed cabin and read my novel, sipping on some local white wine. Very colonial!

That evening, we were met by Bono, who was to be our Guide through the entire trip on the Zambesi. He went over some of the things that were going tom happen, and some of the concerns we might have. We had to reiterate that we wished a guide in each canoe, which is what we were promised, but not what he was initially suggesting.
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Location:Kariba