Binga

Binga is a small town at the western end of Lake Kariba, built in the late 1950s to rehouse Tonga families flooded out by the new lake. About 57,000 people were moved for the dam. It is still Tonga country, with a museum and hot springs tied to that history and a harbour where the kapenta rigs and houseboats go out. Visitors come to fish, or pass through on the back route between Hwange and Kariba.

Getting there

Turn off the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls road at Cross Dete and it is 154 km to Binga: 320 km and about four hours from Victoria Falls, 420 km and about five from Bulawayo. The tar is fine as far as Kamativi, where a lithium mine keeps it up, and bad after that: the stretch past the Mlibizi turn-off was very potholed in mid 2024 and the rains of early 2025 made it worse. There is a tarred airstrip.

The other way in is the back route from Karoi: gravel through Siabuwa, at least ten hours, 4x4 only and ideally in convoy. Binga has no campsite, so campers use Maabwe Bay, 23 km off the road between Mlibizi and Binga (see our self-drive guide).

Kariba Ferries runs a car and passenger ferry from Kariba to Mlibizi, about 22 hours each way.

When to go

The lake sits at 479 m and the Zambezi valley carries malaria all year, worst from November to June. The rains run November to April, when the gravel roads turn hostile. Operators rate early May to late August best. The tiger fishing tournament is in Kariba town every October.

What to do

The BaTonga Community Museum shows how people lived on the river before the move, with the instruments used in rainmaking and the Nyaminyami river spirit in the pottery. The Chibwatata hot springs, about five km east of the centre, were the rainmaking shrine; by 2023 ZimParks had fenced the site and built a spring-fed pool. The crocodile farm breeds Nile crocodiles for meat and skins.

The harbour sells fishing permits and launches the houseboats, and short cruises leave from Masumu River Lodge. The kilometre of sand near the airstrip is said to be Zimbabwe’s only natural beach. Do not swim: the lake is full of crocodiles.

Chizarira, 1,910 km² of gorges on the Zambezi escarpment, has lion, roan, sable and the Taita falcon. Take the dirt road via Siabuwa, turn left at the 47 km peg and climb 20 km to Manzituba.

Good to know

• Fuel is usually available in Binga, but some stations take only US dollar cash. A deli sells meat, dairy and ice but there is no proper supermarket, so bring groceries.
• Phone signal is patchy and the grid fails often, so ask your lodge about its generator. Our travel essentials cover cash and roadblocks.
• The Tonga call themselves Basilwizi, the river people. Their baskets and carved stools are sold through the craft co-operatives.

Last updated 19 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, Binga District (159,982 people in 2022, Tonga, town built to rehouse people flooded by Kariba in the late 1950s, Chibwatata springs at the rest camp and the old rainmaking shrine, gravel roads bad in the rains), Wikipedia, Binga village (5,283 people at the 2012 census, ChiTonga one of 16 official languages, hot semi-arid climate, sand beach, crocodile farms, poor roads), Wikipedia, Lake Kariba (filled 1958 to 1963, 223 km long, surface at 479 m, kapenta from Lake Tanganyika, tiger fish, Binga and Mlibizi grew to house displaced people), Wikipedia, Kariba Dam (about 57,000 Tonga displaced, wall built 1955 to 1959, opened 1960), Wikipedia, Mlibizi (fishing resort at 500 m, Kariba Ferries terminal, dirt airstrip), ZimParks, Chizarira National Park (1,910 km2, fourth largest park, Binga airstrip 95 km away by the Siabuwa road, turn at the 47 km peg then 20 km up to Manzituba, Cross Roads 50 km south of Hwange then 28 km to Kamativi, 54 km Mlibizi turn-off to Binga turn-off, lion, roan, sable, 360 bird species, Taita falcon, summer September to March), Wild Zambezi, Exploring Binga, January 2020 (320 km and about four hours from Victoria Falls, 420 km and about five from Bulawayo, renovated airstrip, craft centre and small museum, no real shops, hot springs, boat hire, short cruises from Masumu Lodge, grid power with generator, little phone signal), Wild Zambezi, Self-driving the back road, road conditions updated June 2024 (Cross Dete to Binga 154 km, tar to Kamativi kept up by a mining company, very potholed from the Mlibizi turn-off to the Binga turn-off, 10 km tar then 90 km gravel to Siabuwa, at least 10 hours Binga to Karoi, 4x4 and convoy, Maabwe Bay 23 km off the road with chalets and camping, no camping in Binga, fuel in Binga, some stations US dollar cash only), Wild Zambezi, Binga (tar and gravel from the Dete turn-off, tarred airstrip, cultural museum, village tours and craft markets, houseboats and day boat hire, hot springs rest camp being refurbished, fuel generally available, a deli selling meat, dairy and ice), Wild Zambezi, Lake Kariba (boat harbours at Binga and Mlibizi where fishing permits are sold, tiger fishing tournament in Kariba in October, Tonga carving and basketry, never swim, crocodiles), Kariba Ferries, The Voyage (Andora Harbour to Mlibizi, leaves 10:30 and docks about 07:00, passes Chete Gorge, Binga and the Sebungwe Narrows, reclining chairs, meals on board), Kariba Ferries, home (about 22 hours each way, saves over 1,250 km of driving, provisional booking by enquiry), The Herald, Mineral-rich Binga hot springs continue to attract tourists, 31 August 2023 (ZimParks built a spring-fed pool, fenced the site and added ablutions, sand beach about one km long), The Herald, Major overhaul for Cross Dete-Binga road, 11 March 2025 (rains left the road full of potholes, Kamativi Mining Company, a lithium investor, fixed a 20 km stretch, pothole patching planned for the whole road), The Patriot, Rainmaking hot springs of the Ba Tonga, 16 October 2014 (Chibwatata some five km from Binga Centre, a few km east of it, Tonga rainmaking shrine, more than six hot spring sites in the district, Kabila springs at Lubimbi), My Guide Zimbabwe, Focus on Binga (BaTonga Community Museum, Tonga life before resettlement, rainmaking instruments, Nyaminyami; crocodile farm; harbour; Masumu River Lodge with eleven chalets; Chete and Chizarira nearby), Kariba Houseboat Safaris, Binga (houseboats launch from Binga harbour, kapenta rigs, crocodile farm breeds Nile crocodiles for meat and skins, early May to late August best, sand beach near the airstrip), Community Podium News, Binga tourism potential neglected, 7 September 2021 (Cross Dete to Binga 160 km and nearly three hours, neglected airstrip, Tonga call themselves Basilwizi, the river people), Small Holiday Big Dream, The infamous Binga-Karoi road, 5 January 2025 (corrugated gravel, broken tar and deep potholes on the back road), UK NaTHNaC TravelHealthPro, Zimbabwe (malaria all year in the Zambezi valley, high below 1,200 m November to June, low July to October), Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, health and safety (malaria high November to June below 1,200 m in the Zambezi Valley, cover up after sunset), UK FCDO, Zimbabwe safety and security (rainy season November to April, roadblocks and toll gates, fuel shortages, small US dollar notes, long power cuts, no night driving).