On 5 of September 2009, the 12th grade seniors arrived in Kariba. We were welcomed by the guides Dolph, Andres, George and Lance. There were 6 boats in all and each were titled with Zimbabwean names, my boat was called Sibilobilo, what a great name, for such an amazing boat. With absolutely no sailing experience we jumped right on and learned very quickly. As the 1st day went on I was able to distinguish wind direction and being able to utilize the wind by performing (tacks). In the evenings we were treated to pleasant game walks that provided an inevitable chance of seeing game. (Every time!) One day we went on a game walk and were so lucky to see a pride of 14 lions. This was one of the highlights of the trip. Dolph told use that being able to fiscally view wild lions, is an opportunity of a life time and that later when we grow up we will understand, this made me think an realize that he was right , how many people can say that they have seen wild lions before. The Kariba experience was amazing; words can’t describe how fun it was. We learnt how to make fire, identify and track animals by reading their spore. Best of all I learned how to sail!

 Some photos from our school trip..

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Our senior class including 5 of our teachers went on a sailing trip to Kariba on the 6th of September until the 10th of September. We got into Kariba at around 12:00 in the afternoon and quickly got on to our designated boats and started sailing. I Allan Okiror was on a boat with 3 of my classmates as well as one of the most experienced sailors and I must say most hilarious guides called Andreas. Mr. Andreas taught the crew how to turn the boat around in case a crew member fell off, how to work the tiller arm that stirs the boat, how to run the motor, how to raise the sail and how to adjust the foresail according to the direction of the wind. The convoy of boats that carried my classmates and our teachers sailed for about 6 hours a day and in the early evening would dock on an island for the night. On the island the guides would organize for us a game walk, so that they could show us different species of animals that live on the island. My classmates and I got the pleasure of seeing many different animals such as: Hippo, Impala, Warthog, Buffalo, Egyptian Geese, Crocodiles and best of all a pride of lions. On this whole trip one got three different rewards, one of the rewards is be able to sail on one of the greatest manmade lakes ever made, the second is to be able to see game up-close and the third is to see the amazingly beautiful sunset on our boats every evening as shown in the picture above. I thoroughly enjoyed this Kariba trip thanks to the teachers that came along with us, the guides that took their time to teach us their knowledge on animals and survival in the wild and best of all my class of 2010.

The sailing experience at Lake Kariba was exciting and very relaxing. We went with our senior class and a couple of teachers. It got really hot though when the winds died down thus the need for very light clothing or swim suits. This also led to lots of splashing of water! A water gun is a must carry-along item on this trip. I really enjoyed the African sunset and sunrise. Sleeping on the catamaran under the stars was cool too. The isolation from mobile phones and television is very relaxing. Lake Kariba is definitely a place to go when you’re feeling down or stressed. There’s so much quiet a vast water to sail on…it’s the perfect place to reconnect with yourself. The animals were beautiful. One of the most fascinating things that I saw was calcified hyena poop! We had very close encounters with the animals and this added to the excitement; On one particular walk we actually stood at around 100meters distance of a pride of 14 lions! That was pretty exciting. A leopard also passed by our mooring site one night too! The nature walks were great and true workouts. We had some of the most skilled, experienced and interesting guides I’ve ever met. They taught us about the bush; all the fun and serious facts. I’ve learnt great survival tactics and that elephant dung is never to be smoked!  I’m happy to say that I can now track an animal from its spore (that’s tracks for all you townies out there). I can’t wait to go back again…it was a perfect 5 day retreat. I loved it to bits! Bring a really good camera because the scenery is fantastic.

Some pics from last weekend.