Whitewater rafting at Vic Falls - 12.sept

We took a whole day rafting tour. They just opened the first half of the river 4 days ago so we are getting the full experience. During high water the first half of the ride is closed as it is too fast and dangerous. There are total of 21 rapids, 10 of them we'd do before lunch and rest afterwards.

Got picked up from the hostel before 8 in the morning, drove by few other places and gathered more people. Briefing took place on a scenic little house on a cliff overseeing the river and historic bridge right next to Victoria Falls. Went through all the basics here, made us sign a paper that we do it voluntarily and then off to the rafts we went. Everybody got the mandatory life vest, helmet and a paddle. Now the tricky part was to get down to where the rafts are :) Tricky because the river runs between cliffs and the way down had to be at least 500m if not more. I'm guessing it took us about 30 minutes to get down there :) It was steep - very very steep. There were metal stairs built for most part but later on when we were going on the same level with the water it was a different story, then it was kinda like rock climbing :) Imagine doing that with a paddle in one hand and sunscreen in the other, wearing a life west and a helmet :) It was quite a challenge to many I must say. Eventually we all made it down there, about 20 minutes of waiting for the rafts to get ready and off we went.

Mandatory practice round to see if everybody knows the commands and we headed towards the first rapid. I was positioned to the front left side and there was 6 of us in the raft plus the guide. Before every rapid the guide goes (just an example): this is rapid number 2, level 4+, we try to take it from the right side, if you fall into the water it will be about 5 seconds before you make it to the surface, keep calm while underwater, once on the surface try to keep to the center or swim back to the boat if you can.

I can't remember if it was rapid number 3 or 4, but either way the guide goes: if you fall in it will be about 10 or 15 seconds before you get back to the surface. It must have been at least grade 4 rapid or perhaps even 4+. And so we get to the edge of the rapid and basically immediately I get thrown off the raft. It happened so fast that I could not even comprehend what happened. I managed to get hold of the rope by the raft, but the current was dragging me underneath the raft so I just let go. And what happened - the longest 15 seconds of my life happened :) I was like in a washing machine going round and round not understanding where the top or the bottom is. So there I went and at some point I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and stuck my head out of the water. The guards with their canoes where right there and instructed me to grab on to the boat, so I did. I was taken to the closest raft and the journey continued. After a bit I was let back to my home raft :)

The first half was way more challenging than the second, second was like a walk in the park ;) Got to look around and at some point even got to rest as the guides were pulling as around. There was only one boat in the afternoon as all the others did a half-way tour.

In the afternoon, on one of the easy level 2 rapid the guide gave an option to take it swimming - sure thing, so me, my friend and another guy jumped in. We were instructed to form kind of a train where we hold on to each other's life jackets and keep the feet up by the hips of the person in front. Oh that was fun, went through the whole thing nice and smooth, took us about, well, 5 minutes maybe... until... the guide from one of the boats yells that we must get back to the boat immediately, I also heard the word crocodile. The rapid was over but it was quite nice in the water so I figured I won't hurry as they are probably kidding anyways. But they were yelling really loud and waving with their hands, I look over to the guide in the kayak closest to me and his eyes were triple in size. Then I got the point - there really was a crocodile close by and we must get out fast. 50m sprint up the current towards the boat was quite fun - had my sandals and a helmet on and was wearing a life vest. Oh uh :) Turned out the crocodile was just laying a bit further away on the rocks, but I guess it is not very safe to swim with them ;)

At the end we had another magnificent climb with our whole gear straight up the cliff, little bit of waiting, 40 minute bus ride back to town and we were dropped off at our hostel. The day was fun :) We were both so tired so just went over to the backpackers to watch the video the company had made of the day. I was so disappointed that there was no photographer :( They said that usually there is, but just today there was only a video taken. Quick dinner, back to the hostel to pack all our things and to bed we went.