Kanyemba has about 12 chalets that sleep between 2 and 6 people and is full catering. All they are of traditional design with pole beams and thatched roofs. All the beds have mosquito nets and a nice bathroom with showers and hot and cold running water. All if this located about 10 meters off the Zambezi River.
There is a bar and dining area where some meals are served inside (well under the shelter but not closed walls, and some outside under the stars. The food was generally a fixed menu (you cannot just run down to Whole Foods) but was excellent.
There is also a tented camp in an island immediately in front of Kanyemba and this was the location for the actual wedding ceremony. The main party stayed on the island and there were boats to shuttle people back and forth.
I think there were about 80 guests for the wedding with some staying in different camps a couple of kilometers away. People had traveled from the USA (us three) Australia, South Africa, and the UK as well as Zimbabwe and of course Zambia. There were also 4 generations represented with Tanya’s grandmother (92 I think, and baby Louise at about 3 months)
Most of the guests arrived during the day on Friday and everyone pitched in to help with the preparations. While the wedding ceremony was on the island the reception was back at the main camp and dining area.
The island has many permanent inhabitants but no permanent people. The main inhabitants are some elephants and they have their views about the invasion of people. While we were carrying over some of the flowers etc for the ceremony one older gray gentleman announced his displeasure and was a little agitated for a few minutes. I think they figured out that the invasion was temporary but the day after the wedding they had pushed over some trees where photos were take and generally announced their displeasure.
The wedding venue is spectacular with views out over the Zambezi and some wetlands in the foreground.
All the decorations were ferried over in small boats during the day and the wedding was at 4pm.
Herman, The bride's dad with his tux hanging from his shirt.
All went according to plan and then the guests were ferried back to the main camp for drinks appetizers and soon a delicious dinner that included roast lamb, and some delicious rare roast beef all from Tanya’s family farm.
Ryan’s Mom had made the cake and decorated it beautifully with flowers made of icing sugar and hand decorated. I know that took a huge amount of time and skill.
The celebrations went on until about 3.30am. There were certainly some walking wounded in the morning but all had a fantastic time.
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