Lake Kariba Hotels & Resorts

Flying across the African bush on a light aircraft is always a fantastic experience, but flying into and out of Lake Kariba is an experience you’ll never forget.

Kariba, on Zimbabwe’s northern border, is the world’s largest manmade lake, in terms of volume of water. Seeing it from the air makes you appreciate its vastness – you feel like you’re at the edge of the sea. 
Guests book the flight as a way of travelling from A to B and getting between camps but it’s a very special flight. As you cross the countryside on the Bumi to Mana Pools flight, part of the Zambezi river comes into view. You get plenty of time to appreciate the spectacular landscape beneath you while enjoying views of the rugged Matusadona mountain terrain, the islands and the petrified trees.

Flying times are dependent on whether a Cessna or Caravan is being used but the flight from Somalisa to Bumi is around 1 hour 15 minutes and from Bumi to Mana is around 1 hour and 20 minutes. Sometimes you get a glimpse of the Kariba dam wall – a must for any engineers – with its magnificent concrete arch. The amount of water that pours over is quite phenomenal. The pilot will give commentary especially if they see wildlife as sometimes you can see elephants grazing at the shoreline.\