Houseboat on Kariba.

Houseboat on Kariba, 

 

House boat on Kariba, a perfect title for a movie that can have tons of sequels. The principle is simple: bring a bunch of people on a boat, and let them float and mature  for a few days,  on a lake full of wild and dangerous animals. And add, as an option, some alcoholic beverages, swords and knives, a fishing rod or two, non-floating children, sun-cream, and kilos of biltongs.  

Depending on the proportions things can go horribly wrong, or beautifully right. For example: throw a non floating child in a crocodile infested lake when the adults are looking for another alcoholic beverage – that can go wrong- , but then add a fisherman and the child is caught and all is merry and good again. Yey. 

There is a story of a houseboat were things went out of hand. A group of friends, happy and jolly good fellows, went for a fishing trip on such a boat, nobody really knows what happened, probably some old frustrations and feud got back on them (most certainly about a girl or a guy on board who had a previous fling with one or more of the partners of the others and drunk eyed them inappropriately, or maybe about the exact size of the bream caught, or divergences on how to resolve Fermat’s problem, or something similar). All we know is that the boat now floats empty, and the people were never to be found. It’s a classic story, the ghost ship etc. but it could be true on lake Kariba. In a place where there is even a paddle steamer, anything can happen.