The Beagle draws a lot of attention in Zimbabwe. It is South African-made and due to sanctions and VAT (value-added tax), not many exist here. At a crowded campground on Lake Kariba – yes, crowded for a change – four South African rigs pull in, of which three are Land Cruisers similar to ours. Jim has gone off to look at the lake and he returns to find me surrounded by big Saffies with heavy Afrikaans accents asking questions about the truck. Like I know anything. I show them the kitchen. It pales in comparison to what they have – then again they spend 49 weeks a year perfecting their rigs and only three weeks camping. I try not to smile too much. It is nearly dark before we can get away to eat dinner, but that doesn’t trouble the Saffies – they think nothing of starting the braii fire at 9pm and defrosting the meat at 10pm.

Next morning, another fellow comes by to get a tour. We should start charging. But this Zimbabwean man is interested only in the pop-up tent; he has a boat on Lake Kariba that needs a tent. Oh, and by the way, would we like to go fishing with him later? Heck yeah! The day is ideal, Lake Kariba is pretty and placid. Our only chore for the day is extending our visas at the border crossing office so we make a plan to meet at 3pm. Gavin has fished since 1988 and has fished nearly all of Kariba, no small feat as it is a huge body of water. He is about our age, and to spend the afternoon with him is a pleasure. He zips us out to one of his fishing holes (the boat goes 80mph) and we proceed to worm-fish for tilapia. I cannot remember the last time I fished with worms. We haul in fish after fish after fish while we discuss Zimbabwe, retirement, fishing, politics, travel, family and other random subjects that we all know a little something about. The sun sets, the lake is calm, a crocodile swims by, and we untie to head back and braii a couple of fresh ones in the dark, South African style. An elephant greets us at the dock. A hippo is in our camp but other than that we are all alone. It’s been a lekker day – that’s South African for good/fine/great/excellent – pronounced with a short e.