VICTORIA FALLS, DAY 2
A bloodied nose, cracked rib and saving a life. Dad and I signed up for white water rafting after a strong recommendation from an adventurous friend.
I’D LEFT MY GOPRO ATTACHMENT IN THE HOTEL
Jumping into the raft and making up way slightly upstream we caught a glimpse of the falls towering ahead. It was a short moment but long enough for you to gauge the sheer size of the falls.
BLOODIED NOSE
It didn’t start well; I forgot the GoPro screw, missing some of the best footage. Dad accidentally hit a German’s nose within five minutes of starting. In all fairness he had it coming as they were nothing but a liability.
The river is considered grade 5 which is the highest grading possible and it sure showed. The rapids were insane and every single one of us was getting thrown around the raft.
A bloodied nose, cracked rib and saving a life
BROKEN RIB
Health and safety here leave much to be desired; I often wondered about our safety. Even the guide got it bad when he was thrown out only half way through. He broke a rib but had to continue as we were in a 100m gorge.
A side note; it wasn’t until were were half way through that we noticed the river has crocodiles in it. Now the ones we seen weren’t big but surely if there are small ones, then there will be big ones to, right?
A bloodied nose, cracked rib and saving a life
STUCK
All the fun begins around rapid 16 but seeing how we have been before hand I knew exactly what was going to happen. Approaching the rapid 16 we came down too far and got wedged between a rock and the rapids. I looked at the guide for direction; he seemed hopeless, and the raft flipped violently.
A bloodied nose, cracked rib and saving a life
GASPING
This was easily the most difficult time for some as you had to get away from the rapids and whirlpools. I noticed the German girl gasping for breath, disoriented and clueless. It sounds dramatic but its safe to say there was no fight left in her.
I got her by her jacket, pointed her down stream and starting kicking, but you could see she was panicking and burping at the same time. Once away from the rapids, we aimed for the rocks to avoid rapid 17. Again this was a struggle, as I’m not a great swimmer and considering I was now responsible for two of us I was well and truly baked!
A bloodied nose, cracked rib and saving a life
We got to the rocks and held on until the boat made its way down to us and the girl was able to relax. The Germans seen what had happened and it was actually the girl who had said I had saved her life, didn’t I tell you they were useless!
THE CLIMB
There weren’t many in the mood for rapid 18 but given there was an 80% chance of not flipping I was putting my money on us going over again and so we did! I had decided to float down to the end point from here as enough was enough.
If anyone has ever done this before you will know the climb up the gorge at the end it almost as challenging as the rafting itself. It was the last straw that knocked my dad, taking him almost a week to recover.
Must need drinks after
ZIPLINE
It would surprise you as to the amount of activities available at Vic Falls. It is no longer just a place to go and marvel at the waterfall and leave the following day. As with most activities, transport is included but nothing is ever too far from the hotel. Even though you can’t see the falls from the zip-line it still makes for an amazing setting.
It isn’t the cheapest activity I have done but how else do you end a day after White Water Rafting down the Zambezi?
Must need drinks after
NEXT UP
Devils Pool a Bungee jump and micro lighting over the Waterfalls!. Click to read
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
123/229
This post is part of the Southern Africa Series, click to explore or for episode 1 click here.
To watch the video of my trip, head to my highlights on my Instagram.
