July 1

I have never been one of those people to ooh and aah over Kariba.  For many in Zimbabwe, a trip there is equivalent to a sojourn in heaven, but I have generally viewed it as a hot place with a big lake.  Unless you are a keen fisherperson (note the use of non-sexist language), there is not much to do there except float about on a houseboat.

When I was a teenager, I swam in the middle of the lake as I had erroneously been told that the middle was too deep for crocodiles and hippos.  Now that theory has proved to be wrong - I am just glad I am still alive. 

I always found that the kind of people who lived in Kariba full time were a bit cooked in the head.  Too much sun and booze and not really much else going on in their lives.  I'm thinking of one couple in particular who had such a  wild look in their eyes that you immediately hid all the knives and any other sharp objects when they approached.

However, this afternoon the image I have of Kariba is redeemed somewhat.  We go to a launch of a book about the lake called (surprise, surprise) 'Kariba'.  There are not many people there and it is a bit chilly but the short talk given by the author is quite interesting and I begin to see the lake through different eyes.

The construction of Kariba was a great undertaking, costing a huge amount, not only in terms of money, but also in terms of lives and livelihoods.  The Batonga people had to be moved and thousands of animals rescued when the dam was created.

This year commemorates the 60th anniversary of the opening of the dam wall by the Queen Mother.  I remember a film we were often shown at school about the building of the wall and how legend had it that there were people built into because  - I think - they had fallen into the cement and couldn't be taken out.  However, apparently, that is not true.  Some people did die but their bodies were repatriated back to Italy.  Thinking about it now, that story always was a little suspect.

Another thing I discover is that Nyami Nyami, the river god, apparently does not look anything like the carved wooden pendants that you can buy from curio sellers in Victoria Falls. I'm not sure what he does look like, but it's not like that.

Kariba was built to produce the cheapest electricity in the world and it should still be that way if it weren't for all the corruption and mismanagement.  How unfortunate that so many Zimbabweans cannot afford electricity when it is actually produced very cheaply.