White Water Rafting

Upon arriving, we found out there were five tourists. Japan, Belgium, currently living in Australia but from UK, currently living in Australia but from Ireland, and myself. Because it is low tourist season and high water season, we were blessed to be able to go. The owner of the company, a local,  and two other locals who are being trained as guides rafted with us to complete the necessary eight. 

The weather was cloudy and cool. Windjackets made for rafting were given out. These were also beneficial on the 20 minute ride in the open air vehicle to the top of the canyon at rapid #11. We all piled out of the vehicle and donned PFD (personal flotation devices), helmets that come in two sizes as the guide said (too small or too big) and walked to the overlook for our safety talk. While we were doing this, porters carried the raft down into the canyon and inflated it.

We began the hike down the steep canyon taking care not to slip. We had to negotiate two ladders and rocks.  Once all seated nicely in the raft and practiced paddling in all directions, the guide ordered us to jump out of the raft. We were all pulled back into the raft with the confidence that if we tipped or fell out of the raft in a rapid we would be able to get back in the raft.

Away we went paddling down the river. Having made it through the first rapid which was class 5, we all felt much better and began to truly enjoy the experience. After a few more rapids, we took a break to jump off cliffs 9 meter high into one of the deepest parts of the river. In between the rapids, we enjoyed the beautiful green canyon walls.

We were given the choice to go to the left and have 50 %  chance of falling out or the middle with a 98% chance of falling out. We let Japan make the decision. He voted middle. In we went. Before I knew it, I was indeed in the water. I had no idea what happened or where I was. With in seconds, I had surfaced and saw a fellow crew. We both reminded each other to get into the "swim" position to ride out the rest of the rapid. Once everyone was collected and safe in the raft, we could not stop laughing and replaying it.

We continued on through more rapids. We even had the opportunity to "swim" class 1 and 2 rapids.  It was a blast. After rafting to #28, we gathered our paddle and began the hike up. We stopped a couple times briefly to catch out breath. It was quite a steep hike. The locals, however, hiked right up without rest while carrying the raft or kayak.  At the top, we were rewarded with ice cold drinks, grilled chicken, sausages, homemade potato salad and green salad. The view was amazing overlooking the river.

After a leisure lunch, we all piled into the vehicle to drive back to Victoria Falls. The scenery was forest and small villages. A wonderful, fun, day. Oh yeah, it was cloudy so no one got sunburned.