The Mighty Zambezi

I have been rafting down the White Nile River in Uganda in 2008 and for that reason, I didn't really think much about going rafting here in Zimbabwe. However, almost every other night, someone who works on the river would try to convince us. It was our first week here when Snake, a river guide who has traveled the world rafting, told us, "take my word for it, you girls will not leave Vic Falls without taking a ride down the mighty Zambezi"

Fast forward to a few days ago and we find ourselves strapping on our helmets, tightening up our life jackets, and hopping in a raft. Luckily for us, we happen to have made some really great friends with some of the legends and greats of the mighty Zambezi. Snake (but not the poisonous kind, as he says) is a friendly character we usually run into at the bar, along with the many other locals, of which 99% of them work in the tourism industry, most on the river. Captain is the brother of Farai, who we moved in with about a week ago. Captain started the Vic Falls Rafting organization and wrote much of the curriculum for the training programs. Pilani works on the Colorado River in his spare time and represents Zimbabwe in the world rafting competitions. So, Snake, Captain, Farai, and Pilani - all of whom have grown up on the river and all of whom (except Farai) have traveled the world as some of the most sought after guides, made up our rafting crew. The heavy discount was great but the best part was being able to be in a raft with these men, our friends, and especially Farai who is the biggest goofball if I have ever seen one and not much of a rafter. I think Farai was still a little drunk from the night before as we dragged him out of bed as the truck pulled up to his home to pick us up, Farai kept us laughing on the river the whole entire day. When you learn more about what makes the Zambezi so special, you get pretty nervous:

"White Water Rafting on the Zambezi River below the Victoria Falls has been classified as Grade 5 - "extremely difficult, long and violent rapids, steep gradients, big drops and pressure areas". This is a high volume, pool-drop river. The Zambezi is world renowned for its extremely high volume and steep gradient - treat it with respect." Actually we also learned that many class 3 rapids in the states are considered class 1 rapids here on the Zambezi. We also went down the largest rapid drop in the world, 16 feet! It was something. Luckily my nerves were replaced by sheer adrenaline and excitement, especially because I knew that seated beside me were not only my friends, not only locals, but some of the best rafting guides in the world, I knew I was in great hands.

Before every rapid we would get instructed on how we would get through it and then, most importantly, what to do if/when we flip - for example, they might say, swim hard left, or get on your back and let the water take you, or - for the most heart pounding moment - "there is only one way to take this rapid, that is to go straight through the middle of it, there are three standing waves, we cannot avoid them, we will flip over. You will be sucked down into the water up to three times but you will pop back up, remain calm, breath, get on your back, and enjoy the ride" I remember flipping and holding my paddle in my hand and then I remember one of the many safety kayakers that are always by our side paddling over to me, I went to grab onto his rope thinking he was going to "rescue" me, instead, he gave a big smile, took my paddle for me, pushed me away, and said, "enjoy your ride, swim the rapids, you can do it!" I zoomed by Farai and we have each other a thumbs up and before we knew it, we were on the other side.

When our full day of rafting was done, I had never laughed so hard or smiled so big, we were a great team and I was in awe and continually impressed by the men in our raft and their skill, knowledge, and pure muscle! It was like they were one with the river. And as Makayne and I struggled up, climbing almost vertical out of the beautiful gorge we had spent our day in, our friends took our paddles, our vests, our helmets for us, cheered us on our way, and had a cold beer waiting for us at the top. The fun didn't end there though, at the bar where we go each night for a soda, a beer, a bbq, good conversation, there was going to be a special showing. On the big screen TV, with all of our friends gathered around, we all sat down to watch a video of our rafting day. We bought the video so if you want to see it, we would love to show it to you!

Now I can say that I have taken a ride down the mighty Zambezi, and for that, I am very grateful!