The Great White Zambezi

We were contemplating long and hard whether to go for the rafting trip after hearing so many horror stories from fellow rafters who've been. Every single rafting trip has been accompanied with an accident - a guy air-lifted from the ravine after hurting his back, a girl in a neck brace, a girl who lost her basketball shorts and was left with her bikini bottoms! Honest to goodness!

Anyway, after weighing the pros and cons - we thought what the heck! Who knows when we'll be back again - so we went. (Mum - if you are reading this KL put me up to it! :p )

We signed up with SAFPAR (http://whitewater.safpar.com/) for the full day trip with our hostel. Drinks, snacks and transportation were included. Had 30 minutes worth of introduction and safety advice before we ventured down the river.

The guides were amazingly good and very impressive especially the way they manouvered the kayaks & rafts, and efficient and quick in pulling up the casualties who had fallen in. There were 12 rafts out that day, and KL and I were with a group of students from the States led by Babyface, our guide.


We were very fortunate that out of the 23 rapids, we fell in only twice. Once on a Class 4 and another on a Class 5 rapid! We knew we were going down when Babyface 'parked' us at the side of the river before attempting the rapid by checking our vest and helmets were securely fastened! It was an exhilarating experience - a real treat for an adrenalin junkie! We were knocked over then swept away by the massive rapids, struggling to catch our breaths in between the rapids - sucking in more water than air.

Going... going..

GONE....!

Do give it a try - though not recommended for the faint hearted!

Ps: We stayed at Jollyboys Backpacker in Livingstone, Zambia (http://www.backpackzambia.com/) - highly recommended. Though, if you are thinking of getting the private huts - make sure you book before hand.