Lake Chicamba

Chicamba Real was built across the Revue river in the 1960s and the lake it made sits in green hill country between Chimoio and the Zimbabwean border, with granite outcrops around it and drowned tree stumps standing in the shallows. It is best known for fishing: largemouth bass were introduced and the lake has produced fish that draw anglers from Zimbabwe and South Africa. Lodges along the shore run boats and the water is also used for sailing.

The landscape

• The bass fishing - largemouth bass, the reason most visitors come.
• The drowned trees - stumps standing in the shallows from before the flooding.
• The Manica hills - granite country rising around the shoreline.
• The dam wall - the 1960s structure across the Revue.

When to go

May to September is the cooler dry season and the most comfortable. Bass fishing is best in the warmer months from September to December. Water levels vary with the rains.

Things to know

Facilities are limited to a few lodges of varying standard. The lake has bilharzia and swimming is not advisable. Roads to some shore access points are rough.

Nearby

Chimoio is east, and Chinhamapere rock art is west near Manica.