Kariba houseboats in the Zambezi Valley on Lake Kariba on the shores of Matusadona National Park offers house boat holidays
07/07/2021
Dear Marineland Boatowners and Customers,
The local rain season is long over, the lake levels keep rising although now much slower. This is very important for Lake Kariba. You may get the latest statistics on Lake Kariba Weekly Levels in Meters | Zambezi River Authority (zambezira.org)
The lake Kariba level of 28 June 2020 was at 481.27m whilst on 28 June 2021 the level was at 482.73m. This represents 52.58 % of full capacity. The Kariba Lake is designed to operate between levels 475.50m and 488.50m (with 0.70m freeboard) for hydropower generation.
As the lake levels continue to increase, Marineland the deepest harbour in Kariba gets more mooring space available now and in the foreseeable future. In the recent past, it appears, the turbine discharge to have reduced too, meaning we have high water levels for a long time. Invite a friend to moor with us, the more the merrier!
This year 2021 we started using our concrete slipway much earlier, for easier launching of tender boats, and this is a pay off with the increased lake levels we now enjoy. Launching from this slipway has become a song. Repairs and maintenance on our gravel slipway at the western side of the harbour has since been done for use when the need arises and especially for particular specialised vessels like yachts that take long to launch.
At Marineland, our understanding regarding the current Covid19 Restriction is that,
1. There are no changes to International Air travel except that Passengers from countries with Delta and Alpha variants (India & The UK) will have to be quarantined on arrival for 10 days at own cost.
2. There are no changes to local holiday travel – This is most welcome!
3. No changes in regards to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF)
4. Operating business hours are now 0800hrs to 1530hrs
Our current operating hours are from 0800hrs to 1530hrs, 7 days a week, 365 days a year with limited staff to decongest as per requirements at law. We are however available 24 hours a day if an essential need arises outside those operating hours. However, we encourage you to request from us travel documentation to prove to the authorities that yours is a genuine holiday travel. This will assist you to travel flawlessly. We encourage you to be patient with Authorities manning roadblocks, they do need our patience during these very difficult times. It would also appear that driving in Zimbabwe is flawless if you have the right paperwork justifying how essential your travel is and that your travel is purely for local holidaying from the reports I am getting from other customers. This is the time to bond with family, other than home, the next best place will be a houseboat. Guess what, Marineland is happy to receive you to achieve this. Again, most of the lake area is covered by almost all telephone networks so, virtual meetings, online lessons etc can still be achieved whilst on Lake Kariba! Please forgive us if we appear to be slow whilst trying to achieve all very important Covid19 Protocols.
During this rather quiet period, we have also taken time to give the whole property some TLC. Buildings are being repaired, Boatsheds are being repaired and cleaned more often, Carpark being repaired, tarmac being repaired, and the greenery very much improved in and around the property. All the above is being done for your comfort when you visit us and we will continue to prepare for your arrival soonest.
Tel/Fax (263) (61) 2845/3134 Houseboat Charters
(263) (61) 2237/2475 Speed boat Charters
(263) (61) 3120 Catering
E Mail [email protected]
[email protected]
P O Box 85,
Kariba,
Zimbabwe.
In these quite times it is always necessary to beef up our security both day and night. This does not come cheap and we are left with not much choice, but it does bring us all some peace of mind. With the increase in the daily water levels, please assist by continually reminding crew to check and tighten their moorings preferably on a daily basis, preferably, one crew member per boat per day to achieve decongestion.
With less movement in the harbour, this has seen a lot of houseboats plugging into shore power. We again request that you remind crew to utilise this expensive resource sparingly – as they would at their own homes. Coupled with this, it is common knowledge that the electricity tariffs have been increased in the recent past, and with the quantity and nature of our consumption, this will unnecessarily throw us into the Maximum Demand Customer category, which is not cheap at all!
One of our resources we need to critically manage is the amounts owing from boat owners. We need them NOW more than ever and we have ample time at our hands to put in our all to recover these outstanding amounts. We try by all means to avoid litigation and shall be leaving no stone unturned to ensure these amounts are paid up and Marineland is kept on track. We will go for litigation where necessary, we do have the time now. Please pay up all amounts outstanding if any, we need these funds to run and maintain the Harbour you so deserve. It is important that we mention here that we are most grateful to the +90% of our customers who are always up to date. Thank you!
We still have customers with a tendency of waiting up until month end or so to pay their fees, possibly waiting for the rate to deteriorate. Our obligations are at the beginning and during the month and they are revalued if we do not pay in time. Your payments in time will go a long way in dealing with this problem. Our fees are due and payable before or on the 1st of the calendar month, but we have been flexible to accommodate our customers to settle by the 7th of each month and if not settled by the 7th, we will be left with no choice but to reinvoice you when you are ready to pay, at the Marineland rate of the day. For those with available free funds, we encourage you to pay in USD wherever possible into our FCA Nostro. This would go a long way in reducing our cost structure if we are able to import and directly pay for some of our expenses in forex, please let us know if you wish to be invoiced in USD.
Our essential service departments are but not limited to Gas sales, Fuel sales, Shop, Boat Repairs and Maintenance (Struik Marine Services). Houseboat Bookings, Accounts, Harbour Office, Laundry & reception. These are operational but with very limited staff. We apologise in advance if we may appear not to be as efficient as usual whilst we uphold the Covid 19 protocols. You will assist a lot by easily following them without our request or calling in advance – All numbers below are on WhatsApp.
Our WhatsApp group for all our customers who are interested to discuss any issues of importance pertaining to Marineland is in place. This is your harbour, any ideas, inputs are most welcome. Please send me a message if you wish to be included in this group. We hope it should improve communication with our Boatowners and Customers.
Please observe Covid19 Protocols, stay safe, and keep well – we are here if you need a houseboat away from home!
Yours in Boating,
Obert Mapara and the Marineland Team
+263 712 632 835 (Calls Only)
+263 772 333 520 (Calls & WhatsApp)
Marineland Essential Numbers – All on WhatsApp:
Harbourmaster – Alex - +263 779 824 356
Shop – Beauty - +263 773 923 517
Shop – Tinashe - +263 773 557 421
Bookings – Chipo - +263 773 923 516
Bookings – Tendai - +263 773 923 500
Debtors – Prosper - +263 772 994 785
Creditors – Emily - +263 772 708 871
Fuel – Maxwell - +263 774 186 437
Fuel – Special - +263 784 514 164
Security – Canaan - +263 774 514 626
Marineland – Your Gateway to Lake Kariba!
