Lake Kariba houseboat cruising aboard the Matusadona is the perfect way to take in the region’s wildlife, remarkable thunderstorms and history in comfort, writes Paul Steyn.
Matusadona steaming up Lake Kariba
It’s a cool morning on Lake Kariba as the sun peeks up above the Zambezi escarpment. I’m sitting on board the motor cruiser Matusadona, enjoying the view over Africa’s biggest inland body of water. We’ve spent the last few days steaming up from Kariba town in Zimbabwe, appreciating the incredible vastness of this man-made wonder.
Kariba was built with amazing ingenuity in the late 50s and now holds over 180 billion tons of water – the largest dam by volume in the world – producing electricity for massive areas of Zimbabwe and Zambia. The dam itself covers 5 400 square kilometres and is a rather prominent feature on the landscape, commanding some of its very own weather patterns.
Precipitation from the body of water results in spectacular thunderstorms, often emerging in the afternoons with a remarkable displays of colour and lightning.
A thunder storm over Lake Kariba
We are now anchored on the shores of Matusadona National Park and I look out towards a herd of elephants quietly drinking from of a small inlet. Tim Featherby, owner of the vessel, regales us with a story about spotting a big pride of lions on the shores of the lake not far from here.
This park is an ideal habitat for lions as well as one of the last strongholds of the endangered black rhino. One of the parks major assets is its inaccessibility; sandwiched in by the Zambezi escarpment and the lake itself.
But this does not prevent some poachers accessing the area via helicopter to get to the valuable rhino and elephants that roam the reserve. According to Tim, the animals here still face serious poaching issues and he hopes the contributions his guests make to tourism in the area will assist in efforts to curb these problems.
Elephant drinking with Matusadona and the National Park in the background
The engines fire up and the captain manoeuvres the boat away from its overnight mooring. Matusadona is a luxury charter cruiser – by far the best looking of all the houseboats that were on display at the marina outside Kariba town. It’s the type of vessel that makes exploring the lake a stylish and comfortable experience, like a premium floating safari lodge.
10 reasons to go on a houseboat safari on Lake Kariba
We make our way out of the bay and steam along the shoreline, taking in the view, the bright greens of the escarpment contrasting beautifully with the dark remains of distant thunderclouds.
Lake Kariba is an important economic feature for both Zimbabwe and Zambia. Other than the essential electricity production, it supports a number of subsistence and commercial fishing operations.
Tiger fish thrive in these waters, making this dam one of the premium fishing spots in Africa (alternatively, check out tiger fishing on the Zambezi). Matusadona drags three smaller speedboats behind it for excursions out to secret fishing spots and sundowners on close by islands.
We begin the steam away from the National Park, off to explore some other corner of this great lake. Tim suggests we stop in the middle of the dam for a swim, assuring that that crocodiles don’t venture out far into the middle.
Diving off Matusadona into the middle of the lake
Motoring around Kariba is quite simply to only way to enjoy the vastness of this body of water. The sheer scale and history of the dam project is awe inspiring, and to think it was all completed long before I was born is even more impressive.
The views, the storms, the wildlife and the comfort of Matusadona makes this hardly your average houseboat adventure.
Click here to find out more / book a Lake Kariba houseboat cruise on the Matusadona
Budget option
On a budget? Check out this alternative seven-day houseboat cruise on Zimbabwe’s great lake.
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