Kariba Moods

Kariba - Images of the moments

The winter-hazed green is framed by distant-mountain blue and breeze rippled grey.

The dominant moods of Kariba are blue and grey, but Kariba is not only about blues and greys. It is a place where the sun rises and sets in a fiery passion that burns into the soul leaving you scarred forever.

The names of the islands and places of Kariba ring with the memories of the dramas of the past, of a time of great change and uncertainty, a time of hope for the future and despair for the past. The echoes of Operation Noah – that momentous feat to save animals stranded by rising waters – can still be heard in this man made wilderness.

An island called Starvation

A name borne out of drama
A testimony to a struggle
Borne out of change,
Development
Man’s testament
Now merely a name
An interlude in nature, in time

‘.. the colours of green, the baobabs, the brooding Matusadonna mountains embracing the valley and the clouds spilling over the escarpment‘…. and we are drifting toward the hippo. A goliath heron stands motionless at the waters’ edge and a baobab, arrogant, ageless commands the valley …..’

‘The water shimmered, sun-touched jewels dancing to the tune of the wind, stretching to the distant hills of Zambia, hills etched in shades of blue ...... we drifted toward the shore, the only sound the water lapping the boat, the scene before us timeless. The elephant showed no reaction as the boat came to a stop, touching the shore a mere ten meters from him. All around waterbuck, zebra, warthogs, guineafowl and more elephants filled the senses. Impalas, tawny touches on the landscape ....'

‘The shadows were lengthening, casting their intent on the golden-green grass of the floodplain. Acacias, drowned and bough-broken, glistened in spider-web. Herons and egrets hunted motionless in the shallows .....'

Winter sunrise – Gache Gache Estuary

The oranges of dawn reflected on the still water, broken occasionally by ripples of passing scene-stealers. Dead trees, gaunt yet dramatic reminders of a not-so-distant past, were silhouetted. The colours were changing, lightning, each moment more dramatic than the last.

The sun rose in a dust-stained, smoke hazy sky, peeking watery-orange through the silent bush and I watched as it whitened in its climb from the horizon. A momentary silence was shattered by the turtle doves. And I watched!