Blog 12 -Silver Fox

Blog 12 -Silver Fox

Day 1 –Silver fox

What an interesting start to our houseboat trip . A single cab ute(bakkie) fully loaded tray with large icebox and all the Leaches fishing gear including fishmeal, stock block and worms in large crate. Thrree girls in cab and all four boys having to ride on open back of ute on  top of the all the luggage added to the existing load from Harare. We travelled 40 minutes like this back from Charara to Andora Harbour in Kariba. 

We off loaded some of our baggage into the boot of our car and only took 2 suitcases on houseboat. Quaint monohull called the Silver Fox with skipper Fred and cook and boathand Peter. Whole bunch of xtra labour available at the waters edge where the boat is just moored to beach with a ladder leading up to the bow and everything having to b loaded up the ladder. The big ice box was transferred fro the beach to the pontoon tender so that it could be loaded onto the back deck of the boat. We left at around 10h00 heading for Gache Gache river. Wee motored for 30 minutes and cook discovered he had no gas in his bottles so we had to wait around an hour near the large bream farming nets to await a delivery of new full gas bottles by fast launch from the harbour we just departed. Fascinating seeing these huge nets floating in the lake with their permanent tenders. The nets are anchored to the bottom of the lake and from all reports contain around 35000 fish each. They are introduced into the pods as fingerlings and fed twice daily on fishmeal. Wee saw three large units of multiple pods all around Antelope Island. 

The fishing has been particularly good at Antelope over the last month as two of the nets broke free releasing 70000 new fish into the lake in that area. Friends of Sonia Leach had been catching in excess of 50 - 60 bream of reasonable size per day. Their best catch was 97 fish. They fish with a triple hook and a ball of fishmeal made into a doughball. Sonia had been catching with worm as well.

Once the gas arrived we were able to proceed on to Gache Gache where we moored in a small bay surroundded on 3 sides by the banks of the river and a small island. Crocs were present in abundance and provided a constant reminder that swimming was not an option.

 We have heard a report of a recent tragic accident where two large  catamarans came into the Gache gache and were mooring themselves on beach with ropes to the trees. A gentleman was standing on the waters edge between the two yachts and was snatched by a large croc and never seen again. There were also pods of hippos floating around and blowing spray and snorting in the bay. Also some terapins which the crew assurred us were "water tortoise". We took the tender for a drive and fish without much success but it was good to see the local lodge who have been instrumental in reversing significant fish and game poaching .

We had a fantastic evening meal on the top deck after some evening finger snacks and a few cold beers and wines. The mossies were numerous but Graham Leach had a innovative light extension which he hung off the back of the boat which attracted most of the insects. The moment one turned on a torch you were inundated with mossies and midgies. Renene and I with the two Brendan's slept in a small cabin with 4 bunks, Courtney slept in rear cabin with Elaine  and Graham Leach slept on the deck. The forward cabin was hot and stuffy with only two small portholes and with little wind there was no airflow. We did not sleep well in the forward cabin as a result and the two Brendans elected to sleep on the top deck the following two nights .

Renene and I tried to use a mossie net on our top and bottom bunk the first night. I had about 20 cm space between the roof and my nose so had to stretch the mossie net with my two feet and tuck it under the pillow just to have sufficient space around my face  and to breathe. The net just hung alongside Renene's bunk so she was okay but had no ventilation.

 Day 2 –Silver Fox

We woke early  and had a coffee and rusks before we went out for an early tiger fish opportunity throwing out flying ants as an incentive. they started to rise to feed and we cast across the trail we had left . Fred the skipper landed the only Tiger of around 2.5  kg. We did get a couple of other strikes but lost the fish before we could land them. Most disappointed !

We returned to Silver Fox and had a full breakfast of eggs, sausage ,bacon, tomato  and beans whilst the skipper took us from Gache gache to Antelope island where Elaine , the kids and I were dropped off in the tender where Sonia and her friends had been feeding and catching their fish. Unfortunately the bay just nearby was already hosting another houseboat so Renene and Graham Leach went off around the island to another bay in "the Gap" between antelope and Zebra Island. It was a disappointing trip and bay for Renene as she saw no animals ,hippo or anything else really. It  also turned out to be a major boat and kapenta rig highway out to the lake from the coastline. Noisy to say the least..

Grahame, Elaine , Courtney and the two Brendans spent four hours in baking sun fishing off the tender rafted up to Sonia, Rod and Nic plus a further fishing boat full of Afrikaans speaking South Africans.

  The kids managed to land only one fish each and Brendan taylor two. Elaine landed a few and Grahame 2 .We were fishing with worm. In contrast the others in the boats were fishing with fishmeal on 3 prong hooks and were landing about 5 to one compared to us. This as you can imagine was frustrating to us all and in particular Elaine. The skipper had made his way by foot from Silverfox to drive the tender home as the Lake rules prohibit clients being in control of the tender.We returned to the SilverFox hot,sweaty and disgruntled. After a further great supper following fish finger and dip for snackwe hit the sack. The boys elected to joing Graham leach on the deck ladling themselves with Dettol and other mossie repellent. The mossies had a field day that night whether you slept on deck or in cabin. The breeze initially kept them quiet but when the rain arrived the breeze disappeared. The boys were up in the night dropping the canvas protection around the deck. Graham Leach told amuzing stories about Brendan jelley’s attempts to drop the canvases to keep himself dry before they all got up and secured all the canvases. Brendan taylor was in trouble for dropping elaines fishing rods onto the back deck so the canvas could be closed.

 Suffice to say we were unhappy with our choice of destination and were determined to do better for our last night.

Day 3 Silver fox

Following some early fishing around the rocks alongside the Silver Fox we upped anchor and moved around to the back of Zebra island in Charara bay where we found a much nicer anchorage with a view across to Charara ,the croc farm and the plains surrounding. There was a flat plane of grass alongside the anchorage and more animals to see. We tried to fish off the back of the boat and Brendan was disappointed to catch a “water tortoise” by its foot.

The afternoon was spent relaxing on the deck spotting various Zebra , hippos and crocs across the bay followed by an impressive storm that moved across the hills on the horizon. Various bets were laid to when the rain would again hit the boat and the teenage boys called back onto duty to secure the canvases. It passed us by and we elected to go for a game viewing booze cruise on the tender to try and spot the two elephants we had seen from a distance the day before.

We saw lots of Zebra  and some Eland or Kudu in the distance and as we approached the bay of the croc farm the numbers and sizes of the crocs increased exponentially. Also lots of Hippos and we even drove right over the top of one hippo only becoming aware when her surfaced not 50 metres behind us with a hiss and a roar.

The whole environ was quite alarming and the situation was not helped when the motor on the tender cut out shortly after passing the hippo and in near proximity to another pod and some huge crocs on nearby island.. I can assure you Renene was not impressed as the skipper and Graham leach fiddled with the engine to get it started and on our way. Grahame Jelley took to the one solitary paddle to at least begin the long journey home. The motor proceeded to run in fits and starts driving us home towards the Silver Fox always surrounded by crocs and hippos’ wherever you looked. It would run for 2-3 minutes then conk out. After much cajoling it would eventually kick back into life for a few more minutes. This cycle was repeated with periods of paddling to try and maintain momentum.

At one stage the two Graham’s were alternating rowing with the single paddle swopping sides to maintain some form of direction towards the Silver Fox.

We did eventually make it and were rewarded with the sight of Kudu herd and impala along the water edge of Zebra Island. Also a couple of feisty hippo’s sparring with each other for supremacy or at least practicing for the real event !!! Just as well there were a few drinks on board the tender for the trip because they were certainly needed to calm down a few nerves on board.

We had a great roast chicken dinner and a further early night again all lathered up with Dettol. The crew provided some mossie coils for our use and we wondered why these had not been offered before. We also noted when walking past their quarters that they were snuggled comfortably under new mossie nets . We spent a more comfortable night in the cabin and the boys elected to sleep up on deck again.

Day 4 Silver Fox

There was much hilarity in the morning when Graham leach showed us his hand that had been severely traumatised by the mossies. He maintained that he was the “martyr” and had deliberately suspended his arm from the roof of the boat to provide the bait and therefore protect the young teenage boys from distress from the mossies.

We tidied up the luggae and all the fishing gear after breakfast and made our way back to Andorra harbour refuelling before docking. $65 in petrol for the tender and $180 odd for diesel for the generator and boat.

All in all a great time though we probably wish we had remained in the Gache Gache a further night. Our fishing can only be regarded a partial success though Brendan Jelley did conquer the art of “putting worm on hook.”

We loaded up the Leaches ute with a camp chair in the back against the cab for Brendan Taylor to sit in for the long journey back to Harare. Graham Leach had not been so lucky on the journey from Harare. Having decided it was a bit cramped with three in the cab he elected to ride in the back perched on the large ice box. No chair for him.

We bid them farewell and we went off to explore Kariba village, the wall and the heights and to search for some overnight accommodation.