Wednesday was a day on the Zambezi River. Ted, Jean and Beverley went canoeing above the falls, while Dave, Doug, Jeanette, Nancy and Tim went white water rafting below the falls. The canoeing report was that it was very relaxing with much wildlife seen. The white water rafting was another story.
It started out inoccently enough with a cup of tea and signing a waiver form. Soon, however, we were decending the 100 metre gorge on rickety hand made ladders made out of tree branches. Dave took a tumble and slid down a few dozen feet of the hillside, while Doug was reduced to climbing down backwards to avoid the same fate. The staff managed it no problem, while carrying heavy loads of rafts. pumps, oars and other gear, all while barefoot! They also made several trips without any sign of fatigue. When I reached the bottom I was wet with sweat and my thighs were shaking.
We soon embarked on our raft which we named 'The Iceberg' in honour of our Canadian status. Dave fell out of the boat even before we left the sheltered bay from which we embarked. The river guides were very good, giving us safety information, but were not above a little mischief on the way, pulling a few people into the water. The Zambezi gorge was beautiful with Zambia on one side and Zimbabwe on the other. We travelled down the river, starting at rapid #10 and stopping at #25. Some rapids had two or three parts, and were designated 12a and 12b in that case. They also had interesting names such as 'the washing machine' or 'the shower'. Rapid 16 A & B were called 'The Terminator' numbers 1 & 2. Our ride was fun until we met Terminator 2. Much debate has taken place over just what happened. Our river guide, Steve, had been taking us through the rougher parts of the rapids, taking a different path than the other boats. Between rapids 15 and 16, Steve stopped and checked our life jackets, tightening all of them saying, "we might go for a swim at 16". Did he encounter a wave greater than expected? Did his 16 years experience fail him at a critical moment? Or, did he plan the whole thing to make the video more exciting? Regardless, our boat was terminated at 16B, and we flipped. It all happened so fast that none of us is clear on what happened. All I remember is thinking that we were going over, and hanging onto the rope (the Oh Shit! line) wasn't going to help. The first clear thing I remember was trying to figure out which way was up in the water. My hand found someone's helmet (Nancy's as it turns out), and then I bobbed to the surface, only to have a churning wave drop over me. I saw Nancy and Jeanette, but we were all quickly separated by the current and waves. Nancy and Dave grabbed onto the rescue kayak (it was rather short, and just labled a 'yak'), while I was directed to swim to another boat which pulled me in, then Dave and Nancy. Another boat picked up Tim and Jeanette. We were all rather shaken, and later confessed we were ready to pack in the adventure right there. Reviewing the video later showed the boat going sideways into a trough, and a large wave hit us very fast. Tim at the front is seen being blown backwards across the raft into the water. The rest of us disappear into the froth, with our heads bobbing up a few seconds later (it only seemed a long time while living it).
The rest of the trip was simple after that, though we were quick to grab the Oh Shit! line for much lighter rapids. We pulled up on shore after #25 where there was a cable car to carry people and gear up to the top of the gorge. In true African fasion, it wasn't working, but would be fixed 'soon'. Since 'soon' didn't seem to be in the next hour or so, we climbed up the switchback trail, feeling every step. The trail was a great improvement over the makeshift ladder we used to get down the gorge, but it was still a struggle to the top. The porters of course, made several trips with heavy gear without breaking a sweat. A cold bottle of water, then a cold beer revived us at the top.
Thursday was a travel day, flying from Livingstone to Lusaka, where we met up with Moira and Daphne, then on to Mfue and Flatdogs Camp. Flatdogs is a nickname for crocidiles. We rode in an open topped Toyota Land Cruiser over a good (for Zambia) road and reached the camp in about 30 minutes. The camp is along the Luwangwa river which is the boarder for South Luwangwa National Park. We were warmly greated and given our safety talk. The animals here are wild. The elephants and hoppos will trample you if they feel you are too close. The baboons and monkeys will eat any food you leave unattended, including food inside your tent, and the crocs will just eat you if you come too close to the river. A bit of paradise here. Jeanette and I are in a solid chalet building while the others are in luxury safari tents with a view onto the river. Did I mention the wild animals? Right. They come into the site any old time they want, so there are watchmen on the camp trails with flash lights to walk you to/from your bed just to keep you safe.
Thursday night from 16:00 - 20:00 was a night drive (sundown around 18:30) in the park and we all went in two land rovers. We saw many animals; elephants, impala, hippo, warthog, giraffe, and too many birds to mention. A small pride of lions had brought down a water buffalo the day before, and were lying around like house cats in the sun, with noticably round bellies. One group saw a lepard, while the other a hyena. It was a great experience and it was great fun.
This morning the younger 4 all slept in while the older 6 got up for a 6:15 departure back into the park. We saw many birds, as well as zebra this time, plus the usuall impala, elephant, warthog and hippo. It was a great morning and just wonderful to be out and about. This evening is another night drive, and tomorrow is a full day drive, going deeper into the park. Looking forward to it.
Doug
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