
In 1959, as a fifteen year old expert on everything, I was fortunate enough to accompany my father on a trip to the construction site of the Kariba Dam wall in what was then Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. My father had been commissioned by the Federal Power Board of Rhodesia and Nyasaland to produce a documentary film on the construction of the dam. He made many trips by road to Kariba from Johannesburg, and sometimes flew to Kariba in his Aercoupe aircraft until the landing strip there was submerged by the rising waters of the dam. I had the good fortune to be given the opportunity to accompany the game rangers of Operation Noah, which was the project mounted by the late Rupert Fothergill (later Sir Rupert) to rescue as much of the wildlife as possible that became trapped on newly formed islands as the dam waters rose around them. Rupert was a giant among conservationists. I was still in high school, and this trip coincided with school holidays. I had an Exacta Varex IIa with 50mm f2.8 CZJ Tessar and a Rolleiflex f2.8 Planar. The heat was unbearable, generally around +40C daytime and +25C at night. Because of the rising waters the humidity was around 80%. My father demonstrated by frying an egg on the fender of our Ford F350 truck. You can see some of my images here:https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVcyETK