Trail Food Meets the Mighty Zambezi

Early morning paddling down the Zambezi – Pictures by Trish Scaife.

Our head of Marketing is also a devout adventurer who hikes and bikes and climbs and canoes wherever she can, and just last month she set off for another adventure over the border in Zimbabwe. A canoe safari on the Zambezi took Trish and her husband Colin down one of the greatest African rivers, dodging pods of hippos and paddling between Mana Pools on one side and the Lower Zambezi National Park on the other.

Naturally, this trail needed fuelling, and Trish knew of no better way to put our trail food to the test than out in the field! A few packs of our lightweight, nutritious, and totally tasty meals made it into Trish’s canoe and they were quickly and easily rehydrated and simmered to perfection on the banks of the Zambezi.

Here is Trish’s wrap-up after her journey “canoeing in the time of Covid” – and if anything, we hope it inspires you to get out there and hit the wild trails, whether it be on foot or by boat. Adventure awaits!

Due to various Covid restrictions around the world, hubby wasn’t able to get back to South Africa so we decided we would meet in Zimbabwe for a little rendezvous. We wanted to ‘do’ something, not simply sit in a vehicle and look at the wildlife – and so the decision was made to be adventurous and go on a canoe safari.

A couple of easy flights later we met in Harare. Abel from Hersov Tours, who has been driving for over 10 years, shuttled us up to Kariba with no fuss at all. A quick stop at Saucy Sue’s near Lion’s Den refuelled us and we picked up a stack of excellent biltong from their butchery for the onward trip.

That night was spent at a newly refurbished Kariba Safari Lodge overlooking a now nearly full Kariba dam. The lodge was quiet but we certainly weren’t the only guests and sipping a cold Zambezi beer and crisp glass of white wine whilst watching dusk settle over the dam was a wonderful way to end our first night in Zim. The rooms were spacious and the food and drinks delicious.

The next morning saw us being collected by our lead river guide Kenneth (Kenny) Kamando and driver Clever from Natureways Safaris. We bumped our way down the gorge below the Kariba dam wall to the spot where the canoes had been offloaded and were being packed. The adventure was about to begin!

We were the only 2 on the trip, accompanied by Kenny and back up guide Emmanual (Manu) Chinokopota each in their own canoe. It’s difficult to describe what it feels like to be almost the only people on this huge, iconic river. The huge sky, the silence and peace, broken only by the call of a Fish Eagle or mournful cry of a Tropical Boubou – it was awe-inspiring. A couple of Zambians passed us poling by in their mokoros – and I couldn’t help thinking how unbelievably lucky we were to be right here in this place in the world, surrounded by this beauty and silence that felt like it must have felt 100 years ago.

It was sad seeing so many lodges shuttered up, and we were the only people camping in Mana Pools on the last night – but it did mean that we virtually had the entire iconic river to ourselves – which is a rare thing these days.

Nights were spent camping on small islands that dot the Zambezi. Sadly campfires are no longer allowed by Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife but it did mean that the stars were absolutely glittering. No moon, the Milky Way, shooting stars, a glass of wine – if this wasn’t Heaven it was pretty close.

Zimbabwe has had some great rains in the last season which is fantastic because the last 7 years or so have been a long drought. This meant that the bush was lush and thick and only now starting to die away for winter. We didn’t see many animals, but being in the canoes meant that we got up close and personal to those we did see, in particular hippos and elephants.
There is nothing quite like quietly drifting up to an elephant who hardly even sees you there.

We would stop for either lunch or brunch on the mainland, followed by a siesta, some bird-spotting and general relaxing. Kenny and Manu were well-informed, helpful, friendly and truly excellent guides – a credit to Natureways.

Hippos – well yes, there were a lot of them. The Stealers Wheel song kept popping into my head with revised lyrics,
“Hippos to the left of me,
Hippos to the right,
Here I am
Stuck in the middle with you”

There were a few dry-mouthed moments but quite honestly Kenny and Manu did the most phenomenal job and we genuinely didn’t feel afraid at almost any point. And when we had to paddle faster, we did! We survived the Zambezi and it was magical and I would absolutely do it again.

The quality of the guiding was fantastic. I recall on the first day asking Manu whether you could tell the difference between a male and a female fish eagle – to which he replied that “fish eagles don’t display sexual dimorphism.” Yes, quite I thought.

As a Trail Food representative I felt honoured to be out there and I can’t wait for my next adventure!