Zimbabwean oars

girl rowing time!

in the third day, stern frames were added to both paddle boats to get us through the flatwater... and Laurence, Lori and I rotated on the oars to keep us moving. the oars were literally carved tree trunks, and the left was definitely heavier than the right. took a bit to get used to it, and I was slow for sure... but it was awesome to row a bit!! :)

rockstar erica!

the porters brought a kayak down into the canyon on day two for erica, and she ran about half the rapids in 1-21. such a rockstar! it us big scary water fo sho! :)

portage at rapid 9 on day two

same portage as day one, but much better pic of the gnarley water!!

hike back into the canyon

we repeated the first section of the rivet on the first two days. the hike into the canyon was straight down metal stows that often times were closer to ladders! didn't feel too bad, but my legs were shaking in the heat by the time wee reached the bottom!

porters carrying all the gear...

it is really really really weird for me to be so detached from the work if being on a river trip... but there is a crew if awesome Zimbabwean guides, and a small army if porters who take care of all the gear, meals, tents etc on the trip. all the gear is carried in and out of the canyon, boats and cold beers included. it was about a 30 minute hike for us, carrying only our water bottles. can't imagine carrying 140lb boats, oar frames, coolers etc up that hill! very grateful to all who help us on the trip!

dance party at rapid 21

welcome to camp!

on our first night in the canyon, we were greeted by a group of Zulu dancers who treated us to a dance party and show of modern and traditional song and dance that lasted at least 30-45 min! so unexpected, and awesome!

portage at rapid #9

pictures never do whitewater justice... but this rapid is huge and ugly! it was the easiest of our three portages. passengers all jumped out, the boat was pushed over the rocks to miss the nasty, and then a guide took it the rest of the way solo, and we jumped back in at the bottom.

at home a world away from home

hanging out in camp, night 2 on the Zambezi river. i am a world away from home here in africa, but feel so at home sitting in this river canyon.

we rafted rapids #1-21 on day 1, hiked out of the canyon, and repeated the same section on day two. oh my what amazing water! it's huge! and fun! Laurence had Lori in the front of the boat to be the paddle leads, and we took each and every wave in the face! i am so out of my element at the front of the boat, but it was out of this world. day one scared the crap out of me at enormity of it all... but the Zambezi is surprisingly forgiving. the rapids are all water, no rocks. only a few technical moves, and the rest us slapping the waves. there we're a lot of swimmers in the 2 days (the other boat flipped twice, and dump-trucked today!), but the recovery was not too bad. granted, I stayed in the boat claws to the tubes like a scared cat! I'm good at that. as my boat mates have observed, the boat is going to have to go over for me to swim (knock on wood).

for the next two days, we float down from here. fair amount of flatwater from what I understand, so we are putting stern frames on the boats. I have my fingers crossed to get some time on the oars!

oh, I love rivers. :)

standing on the edge

on our first morning of whitwater rafting, we started the day with a 30 minute hike down into the river canyon (think steep metal stairs that often resembled a ladder) just below the bridge crossing from Zimbabwe to Zambia that we had walked across a few days previous. it was already hot, and I was full of a lot of nervous anticipation! it was quite overwhelming just to be there... in the area called the boiling pot. the bottom of Victoria falls was just around the corner to the left. yup. THAT close.

the boats were waiting for us at the put in (carried down the same steep canyon by local porters). still a little weirded out by all the work on the trip being done by others!

vic falls from below!

paddling the boat through the boiling pot, we were able to look back up into the canyon and see the falls from below!

...and away we went!

if you look back at the bridge, you can see a bungee jumper hanging. she jumped just as we were rafting under. looks like it would be a rush, but I don't really have a need to dangle under a bridge by my ankles. some in our group might do it after rafting.

excited anticipation!

last pic before we headed into the rapids....

sunrise over the river...

we spent three awesome days kayaking in the upper Zambezi... cruising, and some fun little rapids. so many hippo, elephant (a herd of 30 were grazing near our camp), birds galore, and even giraffe!

we returned to vic falls for a night to clean up, repack, check the Internet, etc... and this am were are off again fir four days. rafting the Zambezi below the falls!!! the moment I have been waiting for. :) so excited, and a bit nervous. this is some big water!!!!

we will spend the next 4 day and three nights on the river. today and tomorrow we will run the section from rapids 1-21. we have to hike into the canyon just below the falls, and the guides said we will be taking the boats as close as we can up UNDER the falls as possible. photos to look forward to!

dirty river girl... ready for the ride of a lifetime!! :) chat more in a few days....

p.s. thanks for all the comments and emails! It is a bit tricky, but I have managed to read mist of them! xo.

dinner with a view

kayak camp on the upper Zambezi

decadent bush camping on the rivet

complete with matresses, sleeping bags, sheets, pillows, a little door mat... and personal wash basin outside the tent! :)

kayaking...

kayaking the upper Zambezi

in the early afternoon (post-lion walk and lunch)... we loaded up into safari land rovers (open back benches)... attached the kayak trailers, and drove east into the national park along the upper part of the Zambezi (above vic falls).

we saw a few animals along the drive (impala darting across the bush), but as we spent more time along the river it became all about the birds! there were a lot of varieties with familiar names, eagles, cormorants, storks, geese, vultures... but a rage of African varieties if the birds.

the upper part of the Zambezi is a mostly wide expanse of river, zim on our side, Zambia on the other, with a lot of rocky islands, sandy beaches, and green bush all around (it is just the beginning of rainy season so all the trees have lovely green foliage).

we drove for about an hour and a half, and arrived at our put in for the day. we unloaded the big double kayaks, partnered up, and settled in for our boating safety talk.

more words, fewer pics.

just back to the room at the end of another long day. awesome, but long. still bummed that all the blog posts with pics that I composed over the past few days are in nowhere land. Internet access us really limited here, and realizing I just can't keep up. this is all About vacation and relaxing, so I just need to let it go.

couldn't tell you what day of the week it is, or how long I have been here... or how long I have to go. this is a good sign, eh ?! my trip in Africa so far has just been so amazing. and overwhelming array of sights and experiences.

after the first two nights in vic falls at the Stanley & livingstone camp, we packed up and left for two nights. we drove into town, and went to the home of Paul & Marie Connelly, our guides. Paul was raised in Zimbabwe... didn't get the whole story, but I believe his parents were missionaries in the area. they got together, and raised 4 daughters right here in vic falls (in a lovely thatched roof compound if a house). they are wonderful explorers, full of info and insight about the area... and out on one hell of a trip!