Ashleigh Whaley
A Family Day on the Zambezi River- from Chewore to Chikwenya Island.
Camping at Chewore.
Our yearly camping trip to Chewore, on the Zimbabwean banks of the Zambezi River, always turns into becoming long days filled with fun, sun and new adventures.
The most adventurous day of this year’s trip was when we took a boat trip, up river, to Chikwenya Island.
We left Chewore Camp early, with another three families, and headed off to explore fishing spots around Chikwenya Island. Chikwenya Island is well known for its wildlife, abundant birds and good fishing.
The Adventure Day Begins.
In order to get this long day trip underway, we awoke at dawn and quickly enjoyed a cup of coffee, whilst watching the red sun rise up over the river.
–A very stunning way to begin the day!
It had taken us some serious team effort, to be packed and ready for this day trip!
We needed lots of sunblock, petrol, fishing worms and coldboxes, filled with lunch, drinks and snacks.
The children took it upon themselves to cook us a lovely fried egg and bacon breakfast, over the camp fire, whilst Douglas and I packed the boat.
By 8.30, everything was ready, the boat loaded – and so the journey began. It was a cool fresh windy day, which was perfect for the long boat trip ahead…
On Our Way to Explore.
It took a good one and half hours, up river, for the speed boats to reach the island.
The boats travelled in convoy, with the lead boat on constant look out for sand bars, which lie just below the water’s surface. These sand bars are a hazard for the speed boats, so one needs to take  special care to avoid them. Â
Crocodile. 
Hippo. 
Water Buck.
It was a joy to watch hippos, elephants, water buck and some massive crocodiles, as we sped past. Most of the hippos were on the land grazing and would suddenly plunge into the river, as we sped by. This is truly a comical sight to behold!
Chikwenya Island.
We finally arrived at Chikwenya Island and, after a quick group chat, we parted ways, -with each boat heading off in search of good fishing spots for bream. The island was teaming with bird life, so there was a constant background chorus to entertain us.
Pied Kingfisher. 
Lilian’s Lovebird. 
Lesser Masked Weaver. 
Saddle-billed Stork.
We began by chugging slowly up a small waterway, negotiating hippos and enormous crocodiles, until we found a lovely shady fishing spot. The first fish caught was a tiny bream, followed by an ugly barbel fish.
Not a great start to our fishing day! However, barbel always cause a chuckle, as they are just so ugly!
Fishing on Chikwenya Island.
Soon after our first catch, we moved up the waterway, paddling through some shallow water, to find some good bream breeding holes. Murray John immediately saw a shoal of bream swimming away, so we quickly tied the boat up to some reeds and started to fish in earnest. This time we used floats on our lines.
It’s very remote out there on the mighty Zambezi River -and so quiet. A unique and special place, completely surrounded by nature…
One feels very alone and vulnerable out in the wilderness, so one always needs to proceed in faith, believing that nothing out of the ordinary will happen, or that the boat could break down.
Being in this situation certainly pushed us out of our comfort zone… -Here we were, just the four of us, in our small boat, surrounded by wide spaces, wild completely surrounded by nature…
The Zambezi is a beautiful part of Africa, where one can relax and forget about the crazy world we now live in. This experience is food for the soul and certainly worth some underlying concerns, – just to be able to relish the gift of time spent in this beautiful and lonely wilderness area. -Absolute bliss…
Sharing Lunch with Elephants.
Around lunchtime we started to look for the other boats and managed to link up with one other family. Together, we stopped for lunch along the bank of the island. The other boat had definitely experienced a more successful fishing morning than we had, and had landed loads of bream!
Out came the cold boxes and gas braais, as we all sat around cooking lunch, enjoying nature and chatting away. After lunch, we watched two elephants quietly walked up next to us, as they prepared to swim across to another part of the island.
Return Trip with Fishing, Friends and Buffalo.
On our return trip we spotted other boats from camp, enjoying some bream fishing in a shallow pond. The children all had their rods in the pond, whilst the adults were sitting in the shade of a large acacia tree. We immediately stopped, to enjoy some more fishing and chatting.
Such a lovely way to spend an hour or so, before the resident small buffalo herd came towards us. Then there was a quick scurry to the boats, before the buffalo got too close!
Drifting Back to Camp.
Late afternoon is always a good time to drift back to camp, whilst trawling for tiger fish. Paula Joy managed to catch a small tiger fish, whilst we drifted home, watched by hippos and elephants.
-A spectacular sunset then rounded off another wonderful day spent on the Zambezi River.
Now it was time to get back to camp, with a collective sigh of thanks, to have experienced such a splendid day and to have survived, without having run out of petrol, or having had any boat issues.
Our only disappointment was that the other boats in our party had seen a lion on Chikwenya Island. Oh well, one cannot have everything!
Reminiscing About the Day.
The day ended with a communal braai. Everyone clubbed together to make salads and bring meat for a fun evening, whilst we all reminisced about the day on the water, the animals spotted and the fish caught.
The Zambezi River.
The wild Zambezi never disappoints… Each day is unique and full of adventure. These trips provide truly awesome family time, with days filled with banter, joy and laughter.
I am sure we will return to do many more Chikwenya island trips, now that we know what to expect -and how to navigate our way up to and around the islands.
“In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The seas is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.” – Psalm 95 vs 4-5
We give God all the glory!
Previous trips to the Zambezi River; “Our Amazing Adventure to the Zambezi River, Zimbabwe.” : “Trip to “Chewore” on, Zambezi River, Zimbabwe.”
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