Downstream of Victoria Falls Kariba Dam slows the flow of the might Zambezi forming one of the biggest man made reservoirs in the world. The dam supplies power to both Zimbabwe and Zambia. Our team was lucky enough to run accross the wall as we entered into Zimbabwe from Zambia.

Lake Kariba stretches for 330 km upstream and in places is 40 km wide.

Shree who comes from the seaside town of Durban in South Africa couldn't believe that a lake could be so huge!

When the lake basin was filling up many animals were saved in a massive exercise dubbed "Operation Noah". The list at the bottom of this sign shows the almost 5000 animals saved from the rising waters.

The river is protected by Zambezi River God "Nyaminyami".

A kapenta fishing boat heading out for an evening of fishing.

We were extremely fortunate to meet Shingirai, the chairman of the Kariba running club when we arrived at our accomodation.

Shingi is a 2:12 marathoner and completed the 156 km Karoi to Kariba race in 9 and a half hours. He instantly shared our enthusiasm for the run and we arranged to go for a training run with some of his team at 7:00 am the next morning.

The next morning dawned bright and warm. It was 39 degrees when we arrived the day before and the interpol rep at the border said that it was a cool day!

The camp still had one brave hippo wandering around. The night before you had to be very careful if you walked around the camp as about 30 hippos walked out of the water to graze the irrigated green grass just as it was getting dark.

This low lying area is scattered with the prehistoric looking baobab trees.

At 7:00 am we met the Kariba Running Club. We were in awe of Shingi's team - they had pretty impressive running credentials!

We set off with Rumbidzai carrying the torch.

She had impressed us all a few minutes earlier when she had taken of her smart shoes and started running barefoot on the gravel road.

Bakari also had a turn - a little after this he got tired of our slow pace and started running circles around the main pack of slower runners!

A few minutes later we had to turn round as some elephants were blocking the road about 200 m ahead. They seem like specs in the distance here but Shingi thought they might get excited by all the white tee shirts.

It was a great run through the Zimbabwe countryside with much joy from all.

Shingi and Balarka running fast behind the van.

The elephants had moved a little closer to our camp on the way home.

We finished the run back at our accomodation with the World Harmony Run song and parted as good friends.

– Abhijatri

Team Members:
Balarka Robinson (Zimbabwe), Dhiraja McBryde (New Zealand), Steve Polykarpou (RSA/Cyprus), Shree Chirkoot (RSA), Adhiratha Keefe (USA), Abhijatri Robinson (Zimbabwe)

Gallery: See more images!