WHEN the elephants finish leaning on the ever-weakening walls of the bank in Kariba, they are wont to deposit themselves in the backyard swimming pools of various alarmed residents.
It is said that the ultimate revenge on an enemy in this part of the world is to stash a bag of oranges under his car, thus ensuring that it turns turtle by morning.
Kariba, the pretty 30-year-old town which burst to life as a construction camp for dam workers, is the main staging area for journeys on to and around spectacular Lake Kariba, one of Africa's greatest wildlife sanctuaries.
Before 1960 there was no lake at Kariba, just the swiftly flowing Zambezi River, fresh from its dramatic plunge down the awesome Victoria Falls.
Then on May 16, 1960, Queen Elizabeth concluded 10 years of labour by flicking the switch to start the giant generators attached to the 128-metre high Kariba Dam wall.
By 1961 a giant inland sea had formed, stretching back 290 km from the wall and spanning 42 kilometres at its widest point.