Turbo Charge 2013

And we are back...

Sunset through the wake

Firstly I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the annual Turbo Charge. We had a total of 33 participants this year and with Zimbabwe’s economy being a bit hit and miss, this was a great achievement!

Oscar - Our House Boat

We left the Victoria Falls garage at around 7.30am with the intention of getting to Olive Beadle camp for no later than 2pm the same day... This was a great idea, until the ‘must stop’ 123km peg rest stop!! The fun truly began here. Games for the trip were introduced and everyone got to meet one and other with the first of many jokes being spread around.

Enjoying the comforts

From there we pushed on to Olive Beadle, most of us arriving at around 2.30pm or so and all of us in high spirits! River fever had certainly kicked in by now!!!

Our first night (as always) was a HUGE party and a bit of a blur. Super gobbies (men on their first ever Charge) were initiated and welcomed to the trip and the men who have done the Charge before buckled up and got prepared for the eight day ride!!

On Saturday morning (25^th May) Oscar, the house boat set off at exactly 6am. There were eleven people travelling on her and only two got up to help with the departure, all we heard from the bank was a crescendo of snoring!! The rest of the Turbo Charge didn’t get up so early... We launched all the boats, packed what was needed for the trip, had our safety lecture and waited for the water to get lumpy before setting off at around 10.30am. With ‘The Grand’ (a raft capable of topping 70kph!) and eight various Turbo Glass boats plus ‘Oscar’ the house boat, we had a very manageable number of boats this year.

The Grand & Oscar getting ready

Below is a map of Lake Kariba, I have marked with a red star our evening stop overs. Olive Beadle is approximately 30km’s West of Milibizi (as the crow flies) and was our start and finish point.

Our stop overs

We topped up with petrol at Masumu River Lodge (thanks to Masumu for securing the petrol) and pushed on to Chete beach for our first night. We had to fix a couple of engines at this point and I am happy to say, this was the last of the niggles. As the smaller boats arrived at the beach, Oscar was mooring. Great timing I’d say! Dinner that night was beef stroganoff and RICE.

It is difficult to explain what goes on at night on the Turbo Charge... Other than to say we all join together, sit around a big fire and chat about the days events, past scenarios and generally reminisce, laugh and laugh some more!! You really have to be there!

An evening by the fire

The next morning we watched Oscar untie and slip off into the sunrise for what is and will always be the hardest day on the Charge... Today we cross the Sengwa basin...

To put this into perspective, the basin stretches to 35km’s wide and is about 75kms long... A HUGE piece of water. There are points in the crossing when you do not even have a land mark in eye sight to guide you and if the wind picks up, the trip can be quite hair raising! Now is the time I shall thank NyamiNyami... We had 15 minutes of choppy water the entire Turbo Charge, this made for a spectacular trip, not just in comfort but in fuel consumption and times it took us to do our daily travel. The calm water gave us a lot more time to relax and enjoy the mighty Zambezi and Lake Kariba.

Crossing the Sengwa basin

We reached Nyamanbiri island safely as as we pulled in we found a Turbo Glass boat proudly showing a flag 'Welcome to Mashonaland'. Steve and Clive could not make the trip this year and still found the time to meet us for two days. Great effort lads! With a female elephant for company, we set up camp, made our fire and enjoyed a chicken casserole and RICE for dinner. An early rising for the guys showed evidence of Hyena spoor around the camp, it obviously came for a look and heard snoring and vanished! As too did the elephant, we didn’t see her again...

A warm welcome

We left Nyamanbiri early enough on Monday 27^th May to ‘nip’ across the water to Tashinga. This is where, in 2010 a Turbo Charger got mauled by a lioness. It is our tradition to stop there every year to toast a friend. Before you ask questions, Andre (the lion tamer) is fine, still lives in Zimbabwe and still enjoys the bush like the rest of us, it was an unfortunate incident but at least we did not lose him.

Calm waters

From Tashinga we passed a regatta of sailboats (I didn’t count them but perhaps fifty) making their way towards Bumi Hills, an amazing sight on such big water! We then made an impromptu pit stop to Spurwing Island, a fantastic lodge and camp where we sat down on proper chairs and had cubed ice in our fizzy drinks for the first time in four days. Thank you to Clive (shareholder at Spurwing) and Steve for this kind offer. We pressed on to Gache Gache from there where we would spend our next two nights in comfort.

Gache Gache bar and verandah

With Famous Grouse and sodas waiting for us on the point, this was the start of what can only be described as an EPIC two days with Gache Gache Lodge. Thank you again to Ray & Pat Townsend and team. You will never cease to amaze us with your hospitality, kindness and FOOD!!! Please do look at Gache for a holiday, it is truly awesome!

Enjoying an early breakfast

On Wednesday 29^th May, we filled up our boats with petrol for the return journey, waved goodbye to Gache and headed off back up the lake.

Vundu

As our stops at Nyamanbiri and Chete were so successful on the way up we decided to use these two points for our return leg this year. Lovely sandy beaches, a safe mooring spot for all the boats and a familiar destination to return to were the main reasons for this. With the lake being so high it was difficult to find decent beaches to accommodate us all. At Nymanbiri we ate Impala curry and RICE and at Chete beach we ate oxtail stew and RICE... Can you see where I am going here? NO MORE RICE!!!

Thank you to Hugh and Billy for the lesson on how not to cook rice!! They can cook a good RADZA though!

Roast beef joint for snacks

With the weather as good as it was we managed to spend an entire day on a beach where we sat under umbrellas, ate lovely snacks and even managed to cook a roast beef joint. The games and laughter here was just epic! What a great day... We did have a small problem with bees when it came time to leave and clear up all our litter - all part of the adventure I suppose!

Beach snacks

With the trip drawing to a close, our final push was from Chete island, back to Masumu to top up our petrol and then to push through to Olive Beadle. We all did this in the same manner as a naughty school kid having to go to the headmaster’s office... Slowly and using every excuse in the book to stall!! But eventually, we were all safely back at our final destination. Our boats back on their trailers and vehicles packed for the long drive home...

Last stop - The Gwaai

Our final night is always full of thanks... Thanks to the participants who, despite the situation in our beloved country always manage to make every Turbo Charge different and FULL of laughter. Thanks to the various staff at Olive Beadle, Spurwing, Gache Gache and Masumu for putting up with us and helping make the trip even more comfortable, thanks to ABJ Engineering for transporting the petrol we needed for the journey, Rusty Hatton from ‘Up North’ in Botswana for sponsoring caps and of course, thanks for always clearing up litter and leaving our spots just as we found them. Last but not least TURBO GLASS... For twenty three years your support and efforts in organising and holding these trips has not gone un-noticed. Everyone is very appreciative of the dedication you show, not only for the Turbo Charge but for the boating industry in general in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa.

Our Christmas party

Until next year... Tight lines.

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