Kariba
Zimbabwe · Mashonaland West · 490 m
Description
Kariba is a town on the shore of the largest artificial lake on earth by volume, made in 1958 when the Zambezi was dammed in a gorge and fifty seven thousand Tonga people were moved off the valley floor. The drowned mopane forest still stands out of the water in grey skeletons across the shallows, which is what Kariba looks like in every photograph of it. Almost everyone here is on a houseboat, drifting for a few days with fishing lines out and elephants coming down to drink. The dam wall is also a border crossing into Zambia.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 3 to 7 days (optimal 5 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: May – October
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Houseboat on Lake Kariba
- Matusadona National Park shoreline
- Drowned mopane forest of the shallows
- Tiger fishing on the lake
- Kariba Dam wall
- Elephants on the Matusadona shore
- Sunset over the lake from Kariba Heights
- Church of Santa Barbara
- Fish eagles & waterbirds of the bays
- Operation Noah story & the Tonga resettlement
- Antelope Island & Spurwing
- Kariba crocodile farm
Getting there
- Airports:
- KAB
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry
- Border town:
- Zimbabwe