ZimbabweZambezi

A huge four wheel drive jeep that holds about twenty-five people picks us up to transport us to the Zambia side of the river. The only way to get to rapid one at the base of Victoria Falls is from the Zambia side. We all go through immigration and it takes about an hour for us to get through. On the Zambia side we are dropped off at the Safari Par Excellence staging area for instruction and safety gear. Handsome, well muscled guides greet us and start to separate the group. Scooter, Mark and I go with Gordon, Ron, and Thembu and everyone else goes in the other direction. We are taken through a serious briefing: signals, safety gear, technique etc. It was very thorough. Just like in diving you have your hand signals for "I am okay", "I need help", "Shark", they added a new signal for "Crocodile." We are all starting to get very nervous.

Our gear included a helmet, swim fins with Velcro ankle straps, life vest, and a high-tech boogie board with a wrist leash. Instructions are given and the indemnity contract signed, we were off to our first rapid called "The Boiling Point." Our first maneuver requires us to hike down a steep rock pathway to the river carrying our gear. We are told that we start by putting on our fins, which makes it very difficult to walk on large slippery boulders and to jump in the river. I don't feel nervous so I can't figure out why my knees are shaking. I try hard to be cool and pretend this is just a normal day for me. Don't think I pulled it off. Suited up we jumped down about five feet into the raging Zambezi. Our goal is to practice maneuvers and a quick learning of the basics. The hardest part is swimming out of the currents into the calmer eddies on the side. Our only job was to follow the lead guide Gordon and do everything he did-easier said than done. Behind us Ron and Thembu are ready to rescue us in case we get in trouble.

Rapid #1 was a quick in and out practice to get used to the feel of eddies and currents. No problem this should be easy. Rapid #2 is more challenging because they want us to try and catch a wave to surf in the middle of the rapid. The water comes to a point that it creates a permanent nonmoving wave. Our goal is to swim down river backwards and at the point we hit the wave we have to start kicking as hard as we can upstream, with the hope we catch the wave. In theory it sounds simple enough but in practice it extremely difficult. I was sucked downstream before I knew what happened. This is a level five river and the rapids are fast and furious. Scooter didn't fair any better and had some difficulty swimming out of the current. Our goal was to swim to the side of the river and walk back up for a second try. Scooter is kicking hard trying to make it to the eddie, when Gordon sees this he shoots over grabs Scooter's board and pulls the two of them to the safety of the calm water. Gordon's leg strength must be incredible because he did it all without effort. Mark is next down the river and he does not have a lot of experience using fins and gets swept down past the rapid. Gordon again to the rescue but he is unable to bring Mark upstream and they swim safely to the opposite bank downstream. That experience put the fear in Mark and if he could have gotten out I think he would have. The entire process is exhausting and should not be attempted if you are not in great shape and have experience in the water. Scooter and I climb out of the water to repeat Rapid #2 and a second attempt at catching the wave. This time we jumped from a boulder straight into the rapids. This is a little weird because the jump is fairly high and we have to land on our board and immediately begin kicking for speed. The whole thing is not very graceful because as I hit the water the board smacked me in the nose but I had other things to worry about like, not drowning and getting out of the main current. Scooter ended up with a little more serious injury. He made a big jump with the board and he had his elbow in a locked position. So when the board hit the water the energy was transferred through his elbow and he cracked a rib. No time for pain because you have to swim for your life.



Rapid #3 was a hang on and go for it rapid with a long gentle flow after it. I was getting more comfortable and the water felt great, the sun was shining, what a perfect day to play in the water. The guides stayed close and we all shot down the rapids in a single line. Rapid #4 is a little dangerous and we swim to the side to catch a ride on one of the rafts. They put us back in the water for rapid #5 called, "Stairway to Heaven" or "Highway to Hell" depending on the mood of the river and the result of your ride through. It is the longest riverboarding rapid in the world. This is a series of three rapids with huge waves. You can go over them, through them, under them or you can let the river decide. Ron informs us not to worry if he disappears because he is going to swim underwater and pop up down river. We hang on for dear life trying to catch a breath when not crashing into a rapid. We are spit out the backside a little worse for the wear. Down river we practice some tricks by swimming in and out of whirlpools and letting the currents carry us around in circles. You can actually select an entire day of riverboarding but we were all exhausted and ready to end our half day. Which means we climb into our raft and spend the rest of the day fighting the Zambezi from the safety of a rubber boat.

Dave was the captain of our raft and had been working as a guide on the Zambezi for seven years. Our boat is setup as a raft/row boat which means Dave does all the work and our job is to hang on. We of course have to be ready at a moments notice in the middle of the rapid to climb to the left or right to keep it from flipping. Other groups are in more traditional rafts requiring them to paddle and navigate the river. I was happy to not have to do anything but Scooter wanted to get in another raft and paddle. I am glad he stayed because as we went through rapid #6, I found myself in the water. I don't know how it happened but we hit the rapid and Mark and I got tossed. I look over and see that Mark is not having a lot of fun. We both manage to grab the side of the raft as it is swept downstream. I guess, Scooter realized we were gone because the next thing we know he pulls us both back in the boat by our life jackets. We didn't have much time to recover because Mark and I lay on top of each other at the bottom of the raft and rapid #6 is still trying to put us back in the water. I just swam through Rapids 1-5 and now I am scared to death about being in the water.

The rapids are big and tough. We have eight boats all together and it least one boat gets flipped on every rapid. Sometimes two or three boats would end up empty with bodies going in all directions in the water. The guys in the safety kayaks are the studs because before you know it they are paddling to swimmers and pulling them to safety. Once again if you are not in good shape or used to swimming in the water don't try the Zambezi. We were fortunate to be in a raft/row boat because they seemed better equipped to navigate the river safely. The rafters who had to paddle found themselves in the river quite often.

The Zambezi has a rapid called "Commercial Suicide" at rapid #9. We all get out of the water and carry the boats around the rapid. Rapid #9 is a level 6 rapid which means "You have to have a death wish to go through it." The safety crew in the kayaks are probably some of the best in the world because with all of us on shore it meant they got to play and play they did. One after the other they shot into rapid #9, they got tossed around for thirty seconds on the face of a huge wave and finally shot down the river with incredible speed. We all stood on the shore in total awe of these skilled kayakers.

Rapid #10 is our lunch spot and we are starving. All that physical exertion, hanging on for dear life, makes you hungry. Lunch is well done, salad, roast beef sandwiches, quiche for me - the vegetarian, coleslaw, fruit, and potato salad. I was having a super time but ready to hang it up after lunch. We still had three more hours ahead of us and eight more rapids. Onward and downward to rapid #11. I was told it was easier from 11-17 but didn't really believe it. In fact 12,13,14 and 17 were O.K. Then the guy shooting video paddles his kayak over to our boat and says, "See you guys all in the water at 18." Oh great, nobody told us about 18 being a sure thing. Asking Dave about 18 did nothing to comfort me - "Anything can happen on 18" - and it did. We made it through without flipping or loosing any passengers. But four out of eight boats flipped. It was a circus with bodies floating in all directions and safety kayaks trying to get to them. Those guys in the safety kayaks are really good. Everyone and their gear were picked out of the water and it was time to call it a day. We would highly recommend Safari Par Excellence for a fun safe day on the water. We lived to tell about it.

Now, its party time - Oh, not so quickly. We have to walk out of the ravine carrying our gear at an angle that can only be called straight up. You are exhausted, not wearing hiking boots and a 45 minute hike up a weird set of steps made of sticks awaits. This was the hardest part of the day but it made the beer at the top taste all the better. They know how to close out a great day because the beer is cold, free and there is plenty of it. We arrive back at Victoria Falls at 7:00 PM for a quick shower and dinner. We then hurried over to the Elephant Walk tourist center to watch our video from the day's adventure on the Zambezi. They did a great job capturing the experience on video and $60 later we had proof that we rode the Zambezi.