Fothergill Island carries the name of Rupert Fothergill, the ranger who led Operation Noah as Lake Kariba filled behind the new dam wall in the late 1950s. The camp stands on that same shoreline in northern Zimbabwe, at the edge of Matusadona National Park, and its safaris still run in two elements: boats along the drowned lake edge, vehicles across the mopane woodland and floodplain behind.
Buffalo work the shallows, and hippo pods grunt through the night.
Most of the roughly 6,000 animals Fothergill’s teams carried out of the rising water were released into Matusadona, and their descendants hold the park still. Elephant herds graze the floodplain in front of the suites. Buffalo work the shallows, and hippo pods grunt through the night. The lions here have learned to hunt along the water’s edge, and African fish eagles call across the lake all day.
A privately owned safari lodge opened on the island in 1977. The island later changed hands, and through the years of instability that followed in Zimbabwe the buildings were abandoned and left to fall into ruin.
Water lilies open across the surface of the camp’s eco-pond.
Two Zimbabwean financiers took on the Fothergill Island lease in 2019, cleared the ruins and opened the current camp under canvas. Water lilies open across the surface of the camp’s eco-pond. Their colours became the palette of the new camp: soft olive, lily pink, turquoise, chalky yellow. The camp runs largely on solar power, and guests who ask are walked around the plant.
Kariba’s fishing is the reason a good number of guests come at all. The boats are rigged with sonar, and the guides know where tigerfish hold along the drop-offs and the drowned timber; whatever is caught goes back into the water, along with the vundu and bream the lake also holds. Longer runs cross to Sanyati Gorge, where the cliffs close in and the water goes still. Other afternoons the boat simply follows the shoreline, past crocodiles hauled out on the sand and elephants feeding in the shallows, and ends with drinks out on open water as the light turns.
Meals rarely happen twice in the same place. Breakfast might be laid out on a shaded, dry riverbed inside the park after a morning drive, and dinner comes in the open-sided dining tent, around the fire, or on the sand at the lake’s edge. The cooking draws on Zimbabwean flavours worked through a contemporary kitchen. Children eat when they want to, off their own menu. Afterwards a telescope is set up on the lawn, and a lake-facing gym waits with exercise bikes, kettlebells and yoga mats.
Longer runs cross to Sanyati Gorge, where the cliffs close in and the water goes still.
Children of all ages are welcome here. A Mini Ranger course teaches them tracks and basic bushcraft, trail walks are open to anyone over five, and the lawns absorb archery and lawn cricket, while guided walking safaris begin at sixteen. Two of the suites are built for families, a bedroom at either end of a shared sitting room, each with its own plunge pool. Three more stand apart as Little Fothergill, with a lounge, chef and pool, taken privately by a family or combined with the main camp.
Guests reach Fothergill either by light aircraft onto the island’s own airstrip or by boat from Kariba town, and for much of the year it is not strictly an island at all: as the lake falls, dry lakebed opens tracks through to the mainland. Drives range across mopane woodland, grassland and riverine forest thick with leadwood and sausage trees, and half-day trips run over to Kariba town and the dam wall. Out on the lake, drowned leadwood branches still stand where the flood caught them in 1958.
accommodation
Ten tented suites stand on raised timber decks, canvas-walled and cooled by a system that channels air only inside the mosquito net. Seven sit in the main camp, five doubles and two two-bedroom family suites, each with a private plunge pool. Three more form Little Fothergill, with its own lounge, chef and pool.
activities
Boat safaris, catch-and-release fishing for tigerfish and vundu, sunset cruises and runs up to Sanyati Gorge. On land, game drives inside Matusadona National Park, guided walks from sixteen and gentler trail walks from five. Archery and stargazing by telescope on the camp lawns round out the day.
conservation
Matusadona is co-managed by Zimparks and African Parks under a twenty-year agreement signed in 2019, and Fothergill Island supports anti-poaching patrol logistics under that partnership. Local school leavers are recruited and put through funded qualifications in guiding, cooking, boat handling and mechanics, alongside a strict catch-and-release policy on all fishing.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
Two ways in. A private charter can land on the camp's own airstrip, five minutes from the tents, which is the simplest arrival and usually a Cessna Caravan. Otherwise you fly to Kariba airport, drive to the lake and come the last stretch by boat, around forty to forty-five minutes on the water.
The boat arrival is worth having if the timings allow, because it introduces the lake properly. We arrange either version with the booking and match it to your other flights.
Yes, the Kariba and Zambezi valley carries a real malaria risk, so this is not a malaria-free area. It is lower through the dry winter from June to October, which is also the prime game-viewing season, and higher through the wet summer months. The CDC recommends antimalarial tablets for anywhere in Zimbabwe at any time of year.
Confirm the current advice with a travel clinic or your doctor before you travel. The tents draw cooled air inside the mosquito net, which helps, but repellent and covered arms after dark still earn their place.
Yes, all ages are taken. Under twos stay free, child rates apply broadly from three to sixteen, cots can be arranged, and children up to sixteen can share a suite on an extra bed. There is no professional babysitting.
The lake is the making of it for families: boat safaris, fishing for tigerfish and the sheer novelty of arriving by water hold attention far better than a long game drive. The camp is unfenced on the shoreline, so children are escorted after dark.
Dry-season days from June to October are warm with cool early mornings, and it can be breezy on the water, so a light layer for dawn starts and sunset cruises matters more here than inland. The heat builds from September, and October is intensely hot before the rains.
Pack light neutral clothes, a hat, sunglasses and strong sun protection, a warm top for the boat, and swimwear for the lake shore. Soft bags for the light aircraft, and a dry bag if you care about your camera on the water.
June to October is the classic window. The lake drops, grass comes up on the shoreline, elephant and buffalo move down to feed on it, and the game viewing from a boat becomes the easiest in the country. Tigerfishing is strongest from around August to November.
The green months from December to March bring storms over the water, spectacular light and very few visitors. The bush is thicker and the animals more scattered, so it suits a returning visitor more than a first one.
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our approach
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