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Floating down the Zambezi river in an inflatable rubber raft, Martin suddenly feels a little uneasy as he ponders the name of the approaching rapid—Stairway to Heaven.

Rafting the Zambezi River

Martin
2003-11-11 22:59:09

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The Zambezi is the longest river in southern Africa, originating in Angola and winding through five countries before emptying into the Indian Ocean, on the east coast of Africa. Above Victoria Falls, the Zambezi wanders idly across a broad floodplain and stretches several kilometers wide. Below the falls, the massive volume of the Zambezi is forced through a deep, narrow gorge, sometimes only a few yards across. The water cascades through this gorge with a fury that can be heard from a kilometer away, creating enormous angry waves, violent whirlpools and powerful currents that have earned it a reputation as the world’s most formidable whitewater river. Many of the best whitewater kayakers come here to test their skills. For me, it was to be my first whitewater experience.

I woke early in the morning and climbed into the back of a run-down pickup truck for the short trip to the Zambezi. As the truck bounced down the road toward the river, I sized up the three other people who would be joining me in the raft. Sitting next to me was an American, in his early fifties, who’d rafted a few smaller rivers a very long time ago. Across from me were two British women, in their mid-twenties, athletic and enthusiastic. Only one had rafted before. No one really knew what we were getting into.

Arriving at the river, we picked up our lifejackets, helmets and paddles, and descended a hundred meters to the base of the falls. Face-to-face with Victoria Falls, I looked up at the largest sheet of falling water in the world, a kilometer wide and twice as high as Niagara. We were standing in the Boiling Pot, directly below the falls, where the plunging waters of the Zambezi explode on the rocks, creating a thunderous storm of mist and turbulence.

We lowered our inflatable raft into the water. With our guide and the four of us aboard, we practiced paddling and maneuvering the raft. "Forward! Left turn! Backwards! ...