Kariba Houseboat Safari – Day 2

March 12, 2009 | Posted by Safari Guide

Kariba Houseboat Trip Report – March 2009

Day 2 | Day 1 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 & 6 |

Awaking just before sunrise, I went for a walk on Antelope Island, I wanted to see if I could get a photograph of the sunrise with a Fish Eagle in it, the birds wouldn’t play ball and even with my new 1.7x Teleconverter lens on my camera, I couldn’t get close enough before they flew off. All I managed, was to get dive bombed by a Blacksmith Lapwing, protecting it’s nest and to see what can only be described as the biggest Baboon (excuse my French) turd on top of an anthill ever (I would hate to meet that boy down a dark ally late at night!)

Antelope Island to Palm Bay, Kariba
After breakfast we left for the long 5 hour trip to Palm Bay, a wonderful spot at the foot of the Matusadona Mountains. I could see plenty of elephant through my binoculars as we passed Fothergill Island, Spurwing Island and Bed Island (Yes someone has actually cemented down some bed bases and all you need is a matress, should you want to sleep on this tiny mosquito infested island. Although I am not sure if by now they have rusted away or not?)

‘Holy Croc infested Sandbanks Batman’
On arrival in Palm Bay we saw that another houseboat had taken the inlet that we had planned to use. Whilst searching for another in very shallow water, we hit and got stuck on a sandbank. After nearly two hours of shouting, sweating and using the small tender boat (usually used for fishing) to push and pull the big boat, we finally managed to get free. By the time we had, the spot we originally wanted was now free! Drama over and now in our preferred position we were rewarded by an elephant bull, who shortly before sunset, wandered out of the bush down to the lake right next to us to drink and to cool off.

Trip Report Menu
This post is part of a series of posts on a Lake Kariba Houseboat Trip in March 2009

• Day 1 – Harare to Kariba to Antelope Island
• Day 2 – Antelope Island to Palm Bay
• Day 3 – Palm Bay
• Day 4 – Palm Bay to Spurwing Island, Kariba
• Day 5 & Day 6 – Spurwing Island to Antelope Island to Kariba

For more Information Check out the Safari Holiday Guide to Lake Kariba Houseboats & Safaris

Kariba Photo Gallery
For more photos of this trip, check out my Kariba Wildlife Photographs.

Photographic Equipment Used
All the photos in this gallery were taken using the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 Digital Camera. I also often used the Olympus TCON-17 1.7x Tele Conversion lens (TCON-17). For more information check out:

• The Best Digital Cameras for Safaris
• Telephoto Conversion Lenses for the Panasonic DMC-FZ28 & DMC-FZ18 Digital Cameras

Categories: Trip Report, Zimbabwe | Tags: Houseboat, Kariba, Safari, Trip Report, Zimbabwe | No Comments »