Fothergill, Kariba, Zimbabwe, Fishing, Sunsets

By Emma
For my annual birthday celebration trip I decided to organise a family holiday to Fothergill. I hadn't been to the camp since its new ownership and full makeover and was interested to experience this first hand having heard some great feedback from others. We had a really wonderful couple of nights there and were not disappointed. The lodge is an exceptionally very well run operation in all respects with a great team of staff. It is important to mention that you need to be careful to send the right clients there, as it is more of a resort so not suitable for those who want to be emersed in the bush – the lodge is set in beautiful manicured lawns and does have an electric fence around it. There is amazing birdlife at the lodge and you can see the wildlife outside of the electric fence going to drink from the lake and you experience the most amazing morning sunrises over the lake.  We all really loved our time there and found it very relaxing, with great food, service and guiding. We were guided by Lloyd who was excellent and we really enjoyed our time out on activities with him. I loved that when we were having our private island sundowners he introduced us to a fun game to play as a family. We had a great morning game drive and saw lots of elephants, zebra, warthog, impala, kudu, a very lazy lion and some amazing birds. In the afternoons we went fishing on the lake and Lloyd, Kunda and Colin were very patient and helpful with putting worms on hooks and releasing fish back into the lake. The Fothergill boats and vehicles are very comfortable and I love all the extras that they provide – binoculars, sunscreen, IPAD with the birding app so you can look up any birds you see.We also really enjoyed the archery and air rifle shooting – a very fun on site activity to fill in some time and good family bonding. The rooms are lovely – very well thought out and have everything you need - I just wish we had longer there to enjoy the our room more. Our laundry was returned beautifully and I loved the little note from the staff member who did the laundry. The food was very good – in particular lunch and their wine selection is excellent and their bar has every drink you could wish for!!  I did also have a back of house tour which is really WOW and you can see why they have such a happy and motivated team of staff!  The camp is fully run on solar with two two big back up generators just in case, very nice staff accommodation, a lovely big airy kitchen, water treatment system, worm farm and big workshop as well as their own vegetable garden. I also did a quick site visit of Little Fothergill which I love and is ideal for a family or group of friends wanting some privacy and time bonding together. Fothergill can be accessed by a light air charter from Victoria Falls or Harare into their own airstrip, or you can access the camp via road transfer from Lusaka or Harare and a short 30 minute boat transfer to the island.