Whitewater Rafting on the Zambezi River, border of Zimbabwe/Zambia
After a morning drive, we crossed over the Zimbabwe border into Zambia. The goal of the day was to survive whitewater rafting on the Zambezi river. The biggest waterfall in the world, Vic Falls, drains straight into the Zambezi, which in turn have become home of the biggest commercially run rapids in the world. There are 23 rapids in all, and we planned to take all but one of them. Rapids are ranked from Grade 1-6, from smallest to craziest. Our day would include about half a dozen Grade 5 rapids and a bunch of Grade 4 rapids. There is also one Grade 6 on the course, which is illegal to take amatuer rafters through. We'd walk around this one, which was fine by all of us.
We took a 4x4 out to the edge of the river, strapped on vests and helmets, got a crash course safety/survival lesson and onto the river we went. I found a grade guide below on a rafting website...
A rough guide to classification of rapids
Class I - Small rapids with low waves and no obstructions
Class II - More frequent rapids with few or no obstructions
Class III - Waves up to four feet, with some maneuvering around obstructions
Class IV - Very difficult, extended rapids. Scouting is necessary.
Class V - Long and violent rapids. Large waves that are unavoidable. Complex course. Scouting is a must.
Class VI - Maximum difficulty. Involves serious risk to life.
The photos here are from a video capture taken from the rocks along the river by a guy with the rafting company.
We had five people in our raft, including one 'guide' to steer from the back and tell us when to hit the deck. We were warned that the first rapid was the hardest, but had no idea until we physically saw it. There is a narrow channel that dumps into a 90 degree right-hand turn. So if you get enough speed and the right angle, no problem, you shouldn't even graze the wall. If you don't have enough speed and the wrong angle, no problem, you get kicked back out into the whirlpools. But if you have 'in-between' speed and the wrong angle, you smack right into a 30 foot high rock wall and any number of things can happen. For our raft, it happened to be hitting the rock, flipping sideways and, as a bonus for me and another lucky fellow, getting sucked into the undertow.
I probably wasn't under THAT long, but I didn't get a good breath and because the current kept flipping me over, I couldn't tell which way was up. I still had my oar in my right hand, so I stuck it straight out and hoped it would peek out through the surface of the water so at least they could see where I was at when I blacked out. Just as I did that, I could hear the rumblings getting a little higher in pitch, so I knew I was coming up. When I came up out of the water, I was a couple hundred yards from where the raft flipped. I heard later that day that a girl got held under for 17 seconds earlier in the week. That must have seemed like an eternity. Apparently many people quit after that first rapid, but the guy that pulled me back to raft with his kayak told me in broken English 'Everything here on is easier.'
Regarding the rest of the rapids, I wouldn't call any of it 'easy' but it was a great experience! On the last rapid of the day, me and another rafter jumped out and swam through the whitewater. Once through it, you can float on your back in the black water. The cliffs surrounding are 250 meters high and there are butterflies everywhere. Oh yeah, and our Zimbabwean guide had malaria. :-)
Here's a short video clip from one of the rapids. I'm on the front right.
After a morning drive, we crossed over the Zimbabwe border into Zambia. The goal of the day was to survive whitewater rafting on the Zambezi river. The biggest waterfall in the world, Vic Falls, drains straight into the Zambezi, which in turn have become home of the biggest commercially run rapids in the world. There are 23 rapids in all, and we planned to take all but one of them. Rapids are ranked from Grade 1-6, from smallest to craziest. Our day would include about half a dozen Grade 5 rapids and a bunch of Grade 4 rapids. There is also one Grade 6 on the course, which is illegal to take amatuer rafters through. We'd walk around this one, which was fine by all of us.
We took a 4x4 out to the edge of the river, strapped on vests and helmets, got a crash course safety/survival lesson and onto the river we went. I found a grade guide below on a rafting website...
