Kariba

History

The pre-colonial population of the area were Tonga. The town was established to house workers who were constructing the dam in the mid to late 1950s and was constructed by the contractor Costain. After the completion of the dam wall and the power station (Kariba South Power Station) quite a few impressive monuments were built in the early 1960s i.e. the Roman Catholic church located at the Kariba Heights (St. Barbara) and next to it the Pat McClean Theatre named after Patricia McClean a well known wealthy resident of Kariba Heights. On 11 August 2026, the ferry Mbuya Nehanda running from Kariba to Chalala capsized, resulting in the death of at least 72 people, including 18 children. It is believed to be the deadliest boat disaster in Zimbabwe's history.

Geography

Kariba is located on Lake Kariba, a reservoir created by Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River. Kariba has three main suburbs: Mahombekombe, the older poorer lakeshore high density suburb, Nyamhunga the newer high density suburb and Kariba Heights, the wealthier hilltop suburb and location of the Operation Noah monument. As the name suggests the heights overlook the surrounding region and offer impressive views of Lake Kariba and the opposite lakeshore to the south. The town has road links connecting it to Harare and to the border of Zambia. It is serviced by Kariba Airport, and has ferry service to Victoria Falls via Mlibizi Fishing camp.

Most-observed species

• African Fish-Eagle

  Haliaeetus vocifer (Daudin, 1800) · Aves
  86
• Fork-tailed Drongo

  Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein, 1794) · Aves
  70
• Ring-necked Dove

  Streptopelia capicola (Sundevall, 1857) · Aves
  60
• Common Bulbul

  Pycnonotus barbatus (Desfontaines, 1789) · Aves
  59
• Pied Kingfisher

  Ceryle rudis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  53
• Southern Cordonbleu

  Uraeginthus angolensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  53
• Meves's Starling

  Lamprotornis mevesii (Wahlberg, 1856) · Aves
  51
• Wire-tailed Swallow

  Hirundo smithii Leach & K.D.Koenig, 1818 · Aves
  50

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2025-01-05
  32 km S of Kariba, Zimbabwe
• M 4.9 — 2024-12-23
  17 km S of Kariba, Zimbabwe
• M 4.9 — 2024-12-20
  21 km S of Kariba, Zimbabwe
• M 4.6 — 2024-12-20
  23 km SSE of Kariba, Zimbabwe
• M 4.2 — 2024-12-08
  21 km SSE of Kariba, Zimbabwe
• M 4.1 — 2022-08-02
  39 km SW of Siavonga, Zambia