The next day was big. 8am pickup, over the border into Zambia (incidentally where most of these farmers ended up thanks to the government handing out free land and free loans. Guess who sells Zimbabwe most of their maize now?). We were promptly decked out in life vests and helmets and sent with our paddles down a gorge and into the mighty Zambezi River for some white water rafting.
I’d opted to do half of it river-boarding, so two others and I were at first given two flippers and a board, and in we jumped! Before we even went through a rapid I was getting really stuffed just kicking around in the open water getting through currents. Going through the rapids on the board was almost just like being sucked through a dishwasher, but it was quite fun to be put through the ride. After a couple of runs on the boards we jumped into a raft, and then back on the boards. I really enjoyed the raft more, and I was also dunked quite severely by one rapid (lost my board, sucked down and just when you think you’re close to reaching the surface again you still can’t see it). After that I was dragged over to a big side pool by a whirlpool that took absolutely forever to kick out of, by which time I was so stuffed that I didn’t want to do the boarding any more. Actually all three of us boarders had had enough by then, and hey, the rafting was more fun anyway!
The rafting was far better than what I’d tried before in Austria – lots of Level 5s (highest level commercially raftable) and a good long run too. Towards the end the rapids got easier and we started doing tricks, like all sitting in the back and leaning as far back as possible while going through the rapid, to try and tip it over lengthways. We were also allowed to swim through some of the rapids – which I thoroughly enjoyed; more freedom than the body board and as much fun sloshing around as being in the raft. You could dive down before a crest, making use of the downwards sucking to pull you down a little more, and then the lifejacket would help to shoot you up the other side. Great fun!
At its best time of year (mid-late October) the Zambezi is rated the best commercial rafting in the world! On top of that, it has one of the meanest hill climbs to get out of it at the end – taking some of the people well over an hour to make. But the buffet of food and beverages at the top made it entirely worth it. And I’m informed we were lucky to get in as the first third of the rapids were closed the very next day because of dangerous water.

Flight DT233
Sydney --> Brisbane