AFTER his travel diary following a visit to Zimbabwe in November 2009 [DAY 1; DAY 2; DAY 3; DAY 4; DAY 5], Scott Ramsay returned recently and travelled for four weeks in the western parts of the country, discovering deserted tourist attractions, plenty of welcoming locals and more than a few roadblocks.

Want to find out what it’s like to travel in Zimbabwe at the moment? Can you have a good time in the country? Are visitors welcome? Is it safe? Is there fuel? Is there food? How bad is the poaching?

NO TRIP to Zimbabwe is complete without hiring a houseboat on the vast Lake Kariba (or dam Kariba, as it’s actually a man-made water body). Traditionally, the town of Kariba at the dam wall has been the centre of houseboating, but these days it’s too far from Victoria Falls. It’s a two-day drive on some of the worst roads in the country, and flights are currently non-existent. So local Brett McDonald has moored his boat at the town of Binga on the western edge of the dam, which is a more reasonable four hour-drive from Victoria Falls.

Despite being closer to the tourists, Binga is worlds away from the buzz of Victoria Falls. The area is traditionally impoverished, being the resettlement area of thousands of Batonka people who were forced to move here when the dam was built in 1958. However, the area is surely destined for more tourism development, and a few houseboats are now moored at Binga. Lady Jacqueline, named after Brett’s wife, is one of the most popular.

We boarded the 65-foot triple-storied cruiser late on a hot summer’s evening, and chugged along for a few hours to moor in an isolated bay. “That’s the beauty of houseboating,” said Brett. “You can make up the route as you go along. You’re not stuck with an itinerary.”

The lower elevation of the Zambezi Valley and immense amount of standing water (5,000 square kilometres) creates a pressure-cooker climate in summer, so it was good to feel the evening breeze. We cracked open ice-cold Zambezi lagers, watched the sun set, and ate superb fillet steaks while stars hung low from the summer night sky.

It was too hot to sleep in the cabins, so we bunked down on mattresses outside on the exposed upper decks, mozzie nets hoisted from the ceiling. Through the night hippo grunted, tilapia and tigerfish jumped in the shallows, and I swear I heard a leopard grunt on the nearby shoreline.

 
Behind you ... Boat crew pose for pictures as an elephant appears in background

Days on Lady J are refreshingly simplistic. Up before sunrise, then onto the tender boat to cast a few lines for tiger fish, and then return for brunch at 10am. Afternoons are spent snoozing or cooling off in the on-board pool. If you’re brave, take a dip in the dam itself, although it’s not recommended – by some accounts there is a mature crocodile for every 100 metres of Kariba’s 2,000 kilometre shoreline (that’s 20,000 crocs ready to chomp your toes). But by late afternoon it’s cool enough to venture out on the tender boat again, to explore some of the narrow tributaries which flow into the dam.

For three days we cruised east along Kariba’s south-western hilly shoreline. Terrain here is very different to the east of the lake, where floodplains are common and wildlife more so.  In the upper reaches of the lake near Binga, it’s harder to spot game in the thick woodland and rocky hills.

But certain species were still prominent. Elephants, buffalo and kudu can all be reliably seen, while fish eagles are the easiest and most rewarding to watch. They perch on the thousands of dead mopane trees in the shallows, or sometimes on baobabs close to shore - giving bird lovers the chance to cruise up close. You can get within metres of the eagles, then – just like that – they launch into effortless flight.

Like most of Zimbabwe, Lake Kariba is deserted of tourists.  While on the lake we saw no other houseboats or people, except a Batonka fisherman in his dugout canoe. As I awoke early one morning, I heard him before I saw him. His rhythmic, baritone singing echoed off the rocks of the narrow channel. He smiled and waved at me, then continued paddling past.

Brett is as qualified as anyone to pass judgement on Zimbabwe. He lost everything he owned when his farm was seized by the government, so he moved to South Africa to rebuild his life, and is now running various tourism operations in the region. He’s still madly enthusiastic about Zimbabwe.

“It’s crazy that we can be the only houseboat – the only people –in this stunning landscape,” Brett laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. “When Zimbabwe comes right, this place is going to boom, big time.”