We woke up with heavy heads. The few drinks with the crew from Abseil Zambia and the waterfront turned into an all night affair. It was 07:00 and in forty five minutes we had to be at our rafting briefing.
We walked into the rafting briefing room/bar/conference room/auditorium of Safari Par Excellence. Luckily breakfast was served with the briefing. Signed in, fed and briefed we set off to the mighty Zambezi River with paddle, life jacket and helmet in hand.
Our guide was to be Scotty, one of the craziest and funniest Welshmen I have ever met. Our crew were Matt and Michelle, Shivon and Joel and Marc and I. Michelle is Irish so excused for anything out of the ordinary; Matt is from England. They both are living in Australia. Newlyweds, Joel and Shivon are from the States.
We arrived at the Boiling Pot. Water rushed past and bubbled around before flowing deep into the Batoka Gorge. Scotty showed us the boat and we cautiously boarded. Now that we were all aboard, we were shown what was expected of us. We slowly drifted upstream on a rip current into our first rapid.
We drilled the three main commands: “forward paddle” – we all paddle forward in clockwork precision. “Backward paddle” – we all paddle backwards like a well-oiled machine. “Well done team,” Scotty praises us and we smile and gloat. “GET DOWN!” The well-oiled machine grates its gears as we all get confused on what to do. We drill it again until Sergeant Scotty is happy. “Like a well-oiled machine!” smiles Scotty. “Let’s go get wet, hard forward paddle, hard team!”
We were pushing into rapid number one of twenty five. Through it safe and sound but definitely not dry, we cheered, hangovers instantly cured. Rapids two and three installed our crew’s confidence. We paddled towards rapid four, The Morning Glory. Our first graded rapid for the day. Scotty called us into the rapid.
“Hard forward paddle! Hard team, paddle hard!”
Our hearts starting racing; we were paddling hard and anticipating the “Get down” call. Michelle gets down. We push in two more hard strokes on the paddles.
“GET DOWN!” shouts Scotty. The team slips into the raft and grabs the safety line. The raft glides over the rapid hitting the wall of water, jarring all of us. Water floods the vessel, and the Zambezi engulfs us, boat and all. We pop up drenched and hit the second wave. The nose lifts over and we jolt back into momentum.
“Forward paddle team!” We all heard Scotty’s drowned call and jumped up into position to paddle. Over the flow, into the calm pool at the end. We all salute with our paddles in the air and give a cheer! Everyone is through our first graded rapid. We watch the rest of the boats ride Morning Glory, losing paddles and people and Captain Babyface, Scotty’s Zambian buddy and fellow guide, flipping the raft and sending his crew through the drink.
The Saf Par boats all regroup and a head count is made. All paddles are retrieved and people cough out the rest of the Zambezi River. Team Scotty watch the carnage and build spirit, we pulled through in one piece.
“Onwards we go.” Laughs Scotty. “Forward paddle. All together. We are a well-oiled machine!”
The rest of the rapids passed us, the team adrenaline soaked and serious through the rapids and jolly and relaxed, joking about in the calms. We walked around rapid 9. It does not have the name “Commercial Suicide” for nothing.
After rapid ten, “The Gnashing Jaws of Death” we stopped for lunch. Two Australian girls joined the crew and we ventured off to tame the rest of the Mighty Zambezi. Through the “Three Ugly Sisters” into the “Mother”, where we almost lost Shivon. She hung on and before we had even got the call to get up, Joel had swept his wife back into the boat. No flipping for us today.
Rapid 16 called “Terminator” raised its ugly head as we dropped over and got down, the nose hit the wave and launched into the air. We all hung on, white knuckled to the safety line, Marc and I at the nose, suspended in the air. Gravity took its course, and we dropped over the wave, Scotty still with his paddle in the water steering us through. We made it through and we all poked fun about Governor Arnie and the “Terminator”.
As quickly as you start the rapids you are through them. There is no better way to get the adrenal glands working and lungs gasping for air. After a full day on the river and 25 rapids later you are treated to a cable car ride (only on the Zambian side) and a cold beer. A visit to Livingstone is not complete without rafting and should be as important as viewing Victoria Falls itself.
Scotty explained rafting best in his strange Welsh way. “What could be better than getting wet and so scared that your bum flutters like a little rabbit’s nose! “
