The Tour - Part 2 (Marc White Water Rafting)

Whilst Evelyn was up before the sun, going to play with Simba, I was laying in bed worrying about rapids...

Of course, I wasn't really scared - at least not until we had our safety talk, and got told about what to do WHEN we fall out of the boat - no ifs or buts. I never contemplated that I might fall out ;) Then they talked about what to do if the boat capsizes, but then flips over we me underneath - I then had a flash back to a story from Craig when he said he almost drowned when this happened...

Now a bit scared, down to the boats in the Boiling Pot. We were the last of 3 rafts to go - this was quite tricky as, from the bank, we had to join the main flow of the Zambezi before it meandered sharply right… 1st and 2nd rafts went and made it in 2/3 attempts. Quite frankly they made it look easy and we wanted to be the best and do it first go. However, we didn’t quite make it first go, and we (well me) were knackered. We didn’t make it 2nd go, or 3rd (when Belinda took a dive out the boat), or 4th, or 5th despite all the grunting and shouts of “Paddle… paddle… paddle”. 6th go we made it, and all clapped our paddles together in celebration. Were thoroughly embarrassed – Still, it made the commentary on the DVD is funny ;)

Obviously at this stage, we were a bit disheartened to have such problems on turn 1 – there are still 10 more to go. Needless to say, the rest of the ride was pretty cool, bouncing over rapids, swallowing water, admiring the scenery, and watching for crocs (and I’ve now found out the Zambezi has great whites!!) .

Its great fun, though was maybe a bit slow as one of the girls in the raft (not Belinda) was in tears after turn one. She was clearly not having a good time and wasn’t paddling too much. Still, we did get some good speed and thankfully our guide still took us on some tricky lines (he originally told us they were they easy route to comfort the crying girl).

Typically, I was the only one to fall out (apart from Belinda) and it wasn’t even on a proper rapid – rapid 7 ½. Personally, I feel that this was the most difficult rapid to ride when sitting on the back left of the raft (that was my seat at this time) ;) One big bounce in the air, then when we landed I was in the water!! Luckily the team liked me, so saved me. Then as I recovered, one of the other rafts floated passed, their guide grabbed my jacket, and splash, I was back in the water ;)

Rapid 9, Commercial Suicide, was ferocious. It was a real dangerous rapid, and Im thinking its worse in the low season. This is where we saw how good the guides are – we all got out and watched the guides negotiate this one alone. They almost came out, but just held it…

This was great fun, and loved every minute. The scariest moment was the walk back to the truck. It was basically a 60 degree climb on rubble. There were “steps” which consisted of three sticks, one on each side, with one joining these to (like a ladder on the ground) - there were no barriers or hand rails!! Quite a few of the “steps” were broken and the rest felt like they would break under my 80kg (ish) frame ;) And it was a high climb, and it was hot, there were loads of flies buzzing on me, and I was carrying 3 paddles!! So I was virtually crawling up, and then a canoeist would power-walk passed, with the canoe on his shoulder, like it was nothing. Crazy fool ;) I was so grateful for the nice cool beer when I finally reached the summit.

The Zambezi is the safest place to raft in the world. You get wet, it’s fun, and it’s in Africa. If you’re still not sold, then watch my DVD

(PS I don’t have any photos at the mo, but hopefully I can get some… )