Things they never tell you when you’re planning a trip to Kariba & Matusadona

You have to Plan Ahead

It’s a Huge Lake

Matusadona National Park is 80% in-accessible Mountains

There is only 3-5 km of flat inland shoreline before you hit the Matusadona mountains and these extend fully to the far park boundary. Matusadona’s limited road network is confined to the mopani scrub “valley floor”. Roads avoid both the mountains and the seasonally flooded grassy lakeshore. Most animals tend to concentrate on these grassy lakeshore areas where there is abundant water and grazing They slope down to the water, creating a stadium effect for boaters with you as “Bono”, center-stage, surrounded by animals in the “stands”. By boat is by far the best way to experience Matusadona National Park.

Right, now we have that settled, here are:

12 Things to Consider when Choosing a Houseboat

Houseboats come in all shapes and sizes from from 50m steel Multihulls to 20m mid-sized monohulls to agile 10m Sailing Catamarans.

It is vital you select the right boat for you based on :

1. How far you want to get up the Lake: The lake is 300km long and 25km wide, it takes time to cover these distances on the water. A 3-5 Night trip will seldom get you further than 20% the way the up the lake. The further you want to go, the more sailing time (& fuel) you will need to budget. Very few motorized houseboats are reliable and fuel efficient enough to traverse the whole length of the lake. You should rather use the Kariba Ferry and/or Sailing Catamarans for that.
2. Cruising Speed: Houseboats are all displacement hulls, so, they seldom cruise above 10-15km/h, about brisk walking pace. Monohulls being generally faster than multihulls.
3. Most boats are very fuel-inefficient: Motorized displacement hulls experience diminishing returns to volume of fuel burned. Bigger boats use more fuel and most burn around 20l of fuel per hour (up to 70l/hr for largest boats). At USD1.50/l and 2 l/km, Fuel can add greatly to the cost of a “Dry” Charter . Guests tend to only work this out when they are already onboard, then have to curtail their route, spoiling the experience. Often it works cheaper and more predictable for smaller groups to sail on a per-passenger, catered basis. Sail boats obviously use a fraction of the fuel of motorized ones.
4. Large parts of the shoreline are shallow & still covered in “sticks” (drowned forest from 60 years ago). Boat agility is important here; the larger the boat and the the deeper it’s draft (monohulls), the less agile it is in accessing the animal-rich shoreline. Mooring options are limited for such boats and many end up mooring right next to each other every night. Sometimes 4-5 big boats per bay.
5. Most larger boats stick to the same “Milk-run” route: Large boat skippers tend to confine themselves to the same route where they share known moorings and known safe routes through the sticks.
6. Most rates are quoted on a “Dry Basis”: this can be deceptive when you add in the cost of fuel and hassle & expense of catering. It is also customary to tip the hardworking staff and additional costs can arise for use of tender boats, fishing gear etc.
7. Match your boat to your group size: Most Houseboats are designed for groups of 10-25 guests with 3-5 crew. The biggest boats on the lake can sleep up to 50 people with 10 crew whilst the Sailing Catamarans are optimized for groups of 2-8 plus two crew. If you try put a small group on too large a boat the fixed costs will make it very expensive on a per-person rate.
8. Monohull vs Multihull. Most recent new-builds have been multihulls which benefit from shallower draft, more useable space and increased stability. Monohulls tend to be older builds from the 1980s (when it was cool to have a fluffy carpet and a Sony Triton TV in the lounge). Mono’s tend to cruise marginally faster.
9. Ask yourself “What do you want from your voyage?” Some value a TV and air conditioned en-suite cabin, others want to sleep on deck under a thousand stars. Word of warning: houseboat sewage & aircon is notoriously unreliable and larger boats have to run noisy diesel generators to run aircon. They generally cut gensets at 10:00pm so everyone can sleep and cabins quickly warm back to ambient.
10. Private charters vs shared boats: Some value taking selfies on the top deck and mingling with strangers, others want to experience wild animals and wilderness close up and personal. Decide what you want from your trip before you book your boat. Read Tripadvisor reviews and chose accordingly.
11. Safety: As Leonardo Di Caprio taught us; no boat is unsinkable. Various boats have sunk over the years, some of them remarkably quickly if they are made of steel and have no bulkheads. Make sure your boat is professionally designed, has all the necessary safety equipment, is well maintained and has a qualified, experienced crew. Some Kariba boats were designed on a farm in 1991, are aging now and in all honesty look a bit ropey.
12. ……..and finally……..No, there aren’t any crocs in the middle of the Lake! Next time you hear someone tell you their “pilot friend” saw a 15-footer trailing a houseboat in the middle from 10,000 feet, ask for that pilot’s name and contact details. Then go speak to the Kariba Ferry captain, who has stopped in the middle on every voyage since 1974 to let his passengers swim and never seen a croc more than 1km from shore. They can settle the argument with a cage-match in the Cutty Sark bar (I’ll hold their beers!).

Usefull links to help you chose a boat

Heartveld Adventures – (Bryony) Variety of Motorised charter options

Sail with Elephants – (Les) Sail Catamaran Safaris (ideal for 4-7pax)

Baobab Bookings – (Lorraine) Variety of Motorised charter options

Zambezi Cruise Safaris – (Bookings office) Ticketed Fares

Manapools.com: – (Ant) Zim 4×4 Rental & Bookings

Sunbird Guest House – (Sally) Decent Harare Accommodation

Kariba Ferries – (Allan) 22 hours the length of the lake

Do your research, read reviews, be wary of glossy videos and chose what truly suits you, then go enjoy the wildest lake on earth.